Bud Adams

PR 101: The Astros Could Learn a Lot From Other Houston Team Owners

Fame has a fifteen minute half-life, infamy lasts a little longer. - The Insider Owners of sports franchises never have it easy. From Charlie Thomas to Les Alexander, John McMullen to Drayton McLane, Bud Adams to, yes, even Bob McNair, fans are ruthless and we're talking Houston, not Philadelphia o ... More >>

County Commissioners Once Again Fail To Act On The Astrodome

Last August I wrote the following about the County Commissioners, their continued inability to figure out what to do about the Astrodome, and whether a plan for the future of the building should be put on the ballot: And then when a decision needs to be made on whether to put a plan on the ballot, t ... More >>

Houston Sports Stories That Need Their Own ESPN #30For30 Episodes

Red-Blooded American Man's newest obsession -- behind Kate Upton -- has to be ESPN's 30 For 30 series. The sports documentary series takes on notable and not-so-notable events in sports history and gives them the 360-degree treatment. Since 30 For 30 debuted in late 2009, the directors have tackle ... More >>

The Astrodome Will Live Another Year, If You Call What It's Doing Living

So another year's going to pass with nothing being done about the Astrodome. Another year where the citizens of Harris County will be paying three to four million dollars in maintenance fees for a place that's being so poorly maintained that it's not safe to enter and has just become a useless bulk ... More >>

Rest In Peace, Astrodome, You Deserved So Much Better

From April 1988 through January 2000, I spent a lot of time at the Astrodome. About 100-150 nights a year, each year, more or less. My first job was operating the out-of-town games scoreboard for the Astros. I carried camera cables on the turf during Oiler games, dodged Monster Trucks and cattle. I ... More >>

Crisis Averted, Texans Fan -- Peyton Manning Spurns Titans for Broncos

In a Texans offseason that has seen some good (Arian Foster's and Chris Myers' multiyear contract extensions), some bad (Mario Williams' leaving, although the Texans have proven they can survive that), and some ugly (the dismantling of the right side of the offensive line), strangely enough, the Tex ... More >>

Texans Fans: 5 Reasons to (Try to) Hate Baltimore

On the other hand....​The Houston Texans travel to Baltimore Sunday for the biggest game in franchise history, a game that could take them to the AFC championship. So we need to build up a big hatred of Baltimore, right? Turns out that's not so easy to do. Five reasons to hate Baltimore and ... More >>

Saturday: Vans Warped Tour At Sam Houston Race Park

Photos by Matthew KeeverSimple Plan​Vans Warped Tour The Showgrounds at Sam Houston Race Park June 25, 2011 As we made our way into the barren, asphalt-covered desert that was Warped Tour 2011, Aftermath was stopped by a young woman standing just outside the gates. "If I give you my number, ... More >>

For Friday the 13th: Five of the Unluckiest Texans Ever

Investors held on too long.​Beginning with LaSalle, the French explorer who survived shipwrecks and cannibal Karankawa Indian attacks only to perish at the hands of his own men near Navasota, some people in Texas have had some pretty damned hard luck. You might lay some or all of the blame at ... More >>

Why a Fire Gary Kubiak Rally is a Bad Idea

Image courtesy of John RonaldSome rallies just have a way of coming together.​Seems like a lot of folks are down right pissed at Gary Kubiak these days. Texans owner Bob McNair doesn't appear to be among them, but our latest Death Watch has the poor guy on his last legs here and fans on sports ... More >>

Game Time: Whaler Fan Fest -- Houston Oiler Fans May Know How I Feel

Hartford Whalers: They live on as a dessert​"Somewhere along the line, we will see you in another place in another time. God bless all of you fans. Remember one thing, you may have lost the NHL, but you have not lost the memories." -- Chuck Kaiton, the voice of the Hartford Whalers after the Whal ... More >>

Game Time: George Steinbrenner's Death Raises Anxiety of Billionaires

You may be rich, but your heirs may be dangerous come December​If you're one of those people that has tried a thousand different ways to take off weight, somewhere along the way you've probably tried Bill Phillips "Body For Life" program. It's a pretty popular one because (a) it works and (b) it ... More >>

Game Time: Olympic Hockey, You Had Me At Hello, Eh?

​"What---what is this salty discharge?....This is horrible! I care!" -- Jerry Seinfeld, wiping away tearsI have to admit, it was a bit of a strange feeling. As time wound down in the third period of what at the time was a 2-1 Canadian lead over the United States Olympic hockey team, the disappo ... More >>

Jersey Shore: Exile In Guidoville

​MTV has a great deal to answer for -- reducing our attention span to half-second jump cuts and paving the way for American Idol for starters -- but the network still erroneously referred to as Music Television might have finally trumped itself in sheer loathsomeness with their latest foray into ... More >>

Jerry Glanville's Career Slide Continues; Eighth Circle Of Hell Reached

​If you were a Houston Oiler fan, you were divided on Jerry Glanville, who coached the team in the late 1980s.A lot of fans loved his bluster, his defenses, and his cuh-waaazy antics like always leaving a ticket for Elvis at the gate. (Presley, not Costello.)Others thought him a buffoon, and cring ... More >>

I Gave Her a Ring...: Musical Minutiae About Fingers and Birds

​Although we recently discovered how to access the primitive version of Facebook on our non-iPhone (so watch out), Rocks Off generally lives in an Internet-free bubble outside the office. And happily so, so it took until Monday's late local news for us to see - and subsequently laugh our fool head ... More >>

Bud Adams, Owner Of One Darn Expensive Middle Finger

Houstonians have long been aware of the class and dignity that comes in the package we know as Bud Adams.Adams has demonstrated once again his nuanced understanding of the social mores of our time, and it has resulted in some pain to his pocketbook.The NFL has fined Adams a quarter-million dollars f ... More >>

No More Bull

The past, present and future of the Texans breaking our hearts

The Beatification Of St. Bud, Patron Saint Of A-Holes

​John McClain had the latest of his many love letters to Bud Adams inside yesterday's Chron. The excuse for this one revolved around this being the 50th anniversary of the founding of the American Football League.Reading this article, I had several thoughts, the first being that I thought the ... More >>

Remembering Steve McNair, Once An Oiler

Steve McNair was going to be the next savior of the Houston Oilers. Bud Adams decided he didn't want to stick around in Houston, however, and McNair ended up becoming the first savior of the Tennessee Titans. Nicknamed "Air Mcnair," he was the Oilers' number-one pick in the 1995 draft who came f ... More >>

Coming This NFL Season: Vintage Oiler Uniforms! In, Um, Tenne-Freakin'-See

The NFL announced today that they'll be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the old AFL with a series of games featuring the league's original uniforms.Four times during the upcoming season, the famed Columbia Blue uniforms of the Houston Oilers will once again be seen on the field. Just not in Hous ... More >>

Ten Possible Reasons for the Cowboys Missing the Playoffs

Yo. You Live in Houston, Not Tennessee.

New Stadium for the Dynamo in Downtown

The Dome Is Dead. Long Live the Dome.

The King of Houston Sports Anthems

Don't Let Him Go!

Remember the Titans

Down about the Texans? At least this ain't Tennessee

Georgia on My Mind

Rice Village heads in a new direction -- of sorts

Starting from Scratch

Sad Sundays

John Pirkle'Oiler Blues: The Story of Pro Football's Most Frustrating Team

The Insider

More for Les and the Rest. Brown finally figures out that spending equals power

The Killer-est B

Forget Biggio, Bagwell, Bell. Move over, Barkley. The sports figure of the decade is...

No Competition, Please

Letters

Hard Sell

That credibility gap may be too wide for Proposition One backers to traverse

No Contest

Letters

The Passionate Pilgrim

He owns a baseball team, he's spent millions to wipe out a devastating Third World disease, and now he's out to save pro football for Houston. But what does John Jay Moores really want?

The Gospel According to John

Stadia Watch

On the Ropes

In 1966, Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams fought Muhammad Ali for the world heavyweight championship. In 1996, he fights just to get by.

Adams Family Values

Why do we hate Bud so? Maybe we never understood him, or those... Adams Family Values

Farewell to the House that Bud Built

Liberty, Fraternity, Gastronomy

At the Avenue Grill, all things are created equal, and tasty

Forecast: Raining Stadiums

Forget the committee -- the city's sports future already is being negotiated by the mayor

Beat It, Bud

... And don't let the door hit you on the way out

The Year of Living Anxiously

Are We Having Fun Yet? Or is it just the jangly buzz of advanced urban stress syndrome?

Little Big Crony

Bob Lanier's buddy Billy Burge wants to play the power game the way it was played in the old days. . . . . . But the rules have changed.

Wanna Buy a RoboDome?

The city's sports tycoons maneuver for inside position, and the questions mount: Who needs it? Why? At what cost?