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NBA All Star Weekend: 5 Observations And A Plea For More Barkley

In the spirit of full disclosure, I feel like I should tell you that I chose not to stick around Houston for the NBA All Star Game and it's peripheral festivities (up to and including the transformation of the Galleria into some kind of three-story clown car on Saturday) this past weekend. As a br ... More >>

College Basketball: Buzzer Beaters Galore This Weekend! (w/ VIDEO)

Sometimes it takes the trailer to a movie to get casual fans really interested. Take some of these superhero movies, for instance. I don't dork out heavily over Batman or Iron Man movies at all. I don't count down the days until those movies are coming to theaters, and I can't tell you the unfilmed ... More >>

ESPN's Tom Rinaldi And Tim Tebow Are BFF's, Somewhere Thom Brenneman Weeps (w/ PHOTO)

It's been a rough few months for one Timothy Tebow. Despite his excitement over being traded to the Jets during the offseason last year, he's been relegated to punt protect and gimmicky specialist roles (some of them working out with predictably hilarious results), been passed on the quarterback dep ... More >>

NBA Season Jump Starts with Spate of Christmas Day Games Including the Rockets

In 2011, Christmas Day was the literal start to the NBA season thanks to a lockout that kept the season from starting for nearly two full months. Most every other year, the season starts in October, but for the casual fan, it doesn't really get going until Christmas Day. With the NFL taking the day ... More >>

Waze, Echofon, Chrome: My 12 Favorite Apps of 2012

It's been a crazy year in apps. Apple released the iPhone 6, complete with larger screen and new OS, as well as the iPad mini, aka Jumbo iPhone. There were scores of updates from manufacturers and, as usual, thousands of new apps on the market. I wrote about my favorite 10 apps of 2011 last year ar ... More >>

5 Things We Learned From SI.com's Fascinating 2012 Mock College Football Playoff Selection

Since the largely money driven epiphany of the college presidents and power brokers of the Bowl Championship Series finally gave us the promise of a four team playoff beginning with the 2014 season, one of my many questions has been "Why do we have to wait until 2014?" I think I know the answer -- ... More >>

Texans-Bills: The 10 Best Rapper(ish) Tweets From Sunday's Game

Houston has a professional football team, called the Houston Texans. A lot of people like them; some are rappers. The Internet has several forms of social media; one is called Twitter. A lot of people use it. Some of them are rappers. Like we've done in the past, we perused Twitter during Sunday's ... More >>

Roger Clemens Impressive In Start With Sugar Land Skeeters, What's Next?

If you build it, they will come. And if you start a 50-year-old, multiple Cy Young award-winning World Series champion, who has been in the headlines fighting doping and perjury allegations, they will pay more money to come, buy more merchandise, and cheer more loudly. Oh, and ESPN will be there, to ... More >>

A Few Suggestions For Houston Sports Moments and Personalities To Be Memorialized

The greatest player in the history of the Houston Oilers is, without a doubt, Earl Campbell. And Ross Greenburg, the former head of HBO Sports, is producing a documentary on the life and career of Campbell that will air later this year on the NBC Sports Network. And last month the MLB Network did a ... More >>

Craig James for Senate: To Know Him Is to Not Like Him, Polls Say

A new poll for Texas's open U.S. Senate seat has bad news for Houston's Craig James, former SMU star and ESPN analyst. Most people don't know the guy. Those that do, don't like him. James had the biggest gap between "favorable" and "unfavorable" ratings, a whopping 15 percent. Two-thirds of those ... More >>

ESPN's Jon Gruden Mistakes the First Lady for Lisa Salters (w/ VIDEO)

It's hard to find a reason to stick around and watch a college bowl game where the score is 63-20 in the third quarter, so if you caught the moment that I am about to lay out for you from last night's Orange Bowl, then you are likely a) a family member of a West Virginia Mountaineer football player ... More >>

Rape, Scandal, Greed and Cockfighting -- The 2011 Sports Year In Review

2011: Penn State's horrible year​You know how, in the series 24, the way a season unfolds? How just when you think there has been some sort of resolution to the bad guys being bottled up, right then and there a new (often worse) layer is introduced, and ultimately in like Hour 22 Jack Bauer wi ... More >>

5 Things You Shouldn't Do When ESPN's GameDay Visits UH

This stopped being funny 200-plus episodes ago. ​It's a big deal that ESPN's traveling college-football preview show GameDay is posting up at the University of Houston's Cullen Circle in advance of the Cougars' game against the SMU Mustangs. (Who saw this coming, especially after quarterback C ... More >>

Texans RB Arian Foster, ESPY Nominee, Is Chilling by Reading Paulo Coelho and Digging Egyptian Culture

​Yao Ming retired today, the Astros are in the midst of their worst season ever and the NFL lockout continues. But at least there's one glimmer of hope in Houston's pro sports scene. Texans running back Arian Foster is nominated for three ESPYs tomorrow night, ESPN's fan-chosen accolades. Wh ... More >>

Cruel Summer -- Andre Jones (1969-2011)

Notable deaths: They do come in threes sometime​In a recent blog post about Major League Baseball realignment, I expressed the following sentiment: The best memories for most sports fans are the ones that took place from their mid-teenage years through their late 20s. Generally, for most of u ... More >>

Colt McCoy Appreciation Dinner: A Menu Inspired by Rachel McCoy's Call to ESPN's Colin Cowherd

​Rachel McCoy may be getting a muzzle as a wedding present from the University of Texas football program. The wife of Colt McCoy, the former Longhorns' star and current Cleveland Brown quarterback, called radio host Colin Cowherd, out of her own volition, to dish/spill the beans/insert your o ... More >>

Charles Barkley Drops "Jackass" on Billy Packer (And Seven Other Barkley-As-Analyst Highlights)

Don't mess with the Barkley​The unveiling of the brackets for March Madness, which is a scant 48 hours away, takes on a little different meaning this year, for three intertwined reasons: 1. The field has expanded to 68, so now Tuesday and Wednesday will include four play-in games to get us to ... More >>

One Guy's Thoughts On The Sports Year: 25 Things To Remember

So with the end of the year fast approaching, I thought I would take some time to revisit some of the highlights, and lowlights, of this past sports year. Your list is probably different, but these are the things that caught my attention this year. maxim.com Thanks for everything, Jenn​1. ... More >>

Five Other Ways HISD Can Pay Students And Parents

Possibly where this concept originated​The Houston school district, desperate to get grades and test scores up, is offering cold, hard cash to fifth graders who do their math homework. A kid who masters a bunch of "concepts" can rack up $440 from HISD.That can buy a whole lot of....books extolling ... More >>

Game Time: LSU Football Coach Les Miles Breaks Down the Oil Spill (w/ video)

That hat could cap the flow​I think most people are in agreement that LeBron James' decision to broadcast his decision of where he would be playing basketball next season -- for the record, he chose "South Beach" -- on the creatively titled, made-for-sheep-like-us ESPN infomercial LeBron: The Deci ... More >>

Game Time: 2010 World Cup -- USA Wins! Now Awaits Conference Expansion Invite To Become Part of South America

Photo by Monica Fuentes Catching Cup fever this morning​"Soccer is about to cement its place as the worst 'sports bar sport' EVER..." -- Me at the 89-minute mark of the USA-Algeria game today"THIS IS AWESOME!!!" -- Me hugging strangers at the 91-minute mark of the USA-Algeria game today A ... More >>

Game Time: Hating Duke, A Visual Montage

​I'll admit it, I hate the Duke Blue Devils. The players, the assistant coaches, the head coach, the Cameron Crazies. All of them. In all of their floor-slapping, charge-taking, horrid-flopping, leg-humping, press-conference-crying, nose-picking, baby-whining, face-painting, Speedo-wearing Vita ... More >>

Game Time: Nomar Retires And Heads To The Place Ballplayers Go to Die.....ESPN

​I've worked several places in my lifetime, most of them in the corporate world. Easily, my favorite place I've worked is with my current employer, 1560 The Game. After watching Nomar Garciaparra's feel-good press conference this week where he announced his retirement on the heels of a one-day c ... More >>

Game Time: National Signing Day, The Creepiest Day In Sports...And I'm Part Of The Problem

​It's all a matter of how you look at it -- if you're a diehard college football fan, then today is December 25. You woke up this morning and ran over to your computer to pull up ESPN's Recruit Tracker the same way you ran downstairs to see what was under the Christmas tree when you were a kid. (" ... More >>

Today's Bowl Menu: UH And The Texas Bowl, Both With Teams Wishing They Were Elsewhere

​Two of what should be more of the entertaining non-BCS Bowl games should be played this afternoon. They'll be entertaining because of the teams involved and because of similarities among all four teams. Both games feature teams that don't want to be playing that game and have chips on their shoul ... More >>

Game Time: Sure Thing...Betting The Opposite Of The Village Idiot

​If you're keeping track, you know that I've been sucking on my football picks since I started posting here at Hair Balls. My sincere hope is that all of you are doing the smart thing and running to the pay window with picks the exact opposite of mine, and laughing gleefully while doing so. I dese ... More >>

Three Bassoons Walk Into a Bar...: The Near-Classical "Noncert" at Under the Volcano

Photos by Chris Gray​ Under the Volcano does not feel like Under the Volcano. The TVs are off, so no more NBA on ESPN. Hayes Carll's Trouble In Mind has come and gone - in its entirety - on the jukebox, taking its bad livers, broken hearts and drunken poet's dreams with it... mostly. Earlier, a re ... More >>

UH Sells Out For Tech, Expects "Largest Crowd" In Stadium History

​UH announced this afternoon that Robertson Stadium is officially sold out for next Saturday's game against Texas Tech."This is tremendous and is a testament to our great fan base," director of athletics Mack Rhoades said. "This is only the fourth time in the history of the facility we will have a ... More >>

The Texas Bowl Grows Up, Bit By Bit

Well, Houstonians, our bowl game has grown up. That's right, the Texas Bowl is going big time and this year will be joining ESPN's Capital One Bowl Week lineup. The game will be played on New Year's Eve this year, and kick-off will be at 2:30 pm.Did I mention the game is on ESPN this year?That mean ... More >>

Despite What ESPN Says, Here Are 25 Things To (Sorta) Like About Minute Maid Park

Photo by astromark2007ESPN doesn't think much of the fan experience in Houston, especially for the Astros fans, which ESPN ranks at number 68. This ranking is based on things like ownership, coaching, players, bang for the buck, fan relations, stadium experience, affordability, and something called ... More >>

Literacy Advance of Houston to Honor Hannah Storm

Every now and then I like to step away from the snark and write about something good that's going on. Today is one of those days. On May 1, 2009, Literacy Advance of Houston will be honoring ESPN SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm as its Champion of Literacy as part of the organization's Champion ... More >>

Literacy Advance of Houston to Honor Hannah Storm

Every now and then I like to step away from the snark and write about something good that's going on. Today is one of those days. On May 1, 2009, Literacy Advance of Houston will be honoring ESPN SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm as its Champion of Literacy as part of the organization's Champion ... More >>

The Great American Soccer Boom: Not Gonna Happen

Photo by faeryboots Last week, I wrote a post about the Rockets lowering ticket prices, and I made a comment about the Dynamo playing in a minor league. And that is a comment that I stand by, though several of you got upset. And the responses that I got were the same as I always get: soccer is th ... More >>

The Great American Soccer Boom: Not Gonna Happen

Photo by faeryboots Last week, I wrote a post about the Rockets lowering ticket prices, and I made a comment about the Dynamo playing in a minor league. And that is a comment that I stand by, though several of you got upset. And the responses that I got were the same as I always get: soccer is th ... More >>

College Football Preview, Lisa Guerrero Edition

Astros-Cubs: What, Is It Raining Everywhere?

The Spread: Solid Platinum on West T. C. Jester

The NFL Pregame Shows Suck. Here's How to Save Them.

Longing for Sports Sunday

Steroids and Roger Clemens: Jose de Jesus Ortiz Hits a New Low

KGOWTF: Poker on the Radio?

Playing Pretend: Local Sports Media Figures as Political Pundits

Jesus, Willie Taveras Just Isn't That Good

New DVD Releases

Our top DVD picks scheduled for release this week

Need Something to do This Weekend?

Great Moments of the Coogs' Win

Great Moments of the Coogs' Win

Bungalow Power

Is the Heights too wussy about saving itself?

Heavy Heaving

The Scots know about throwing games

Astro Author

Larry Dierker remembers the decades he spent with the home team