*And the 5 most heartbreaking...
The bosses came out their Top 10 Greatest Houston Sports Moments today, so I thought I would share mine.1. September 25, 1986: The magic number for the Houston Astros to clinch the NL West is one game. The Astros are playing a midweek day game against the San Francisco Giants, the team that just ... More >>
Consensus Number OneI am a total sucker for lists.This makes me like roughly 95 percent of society; the fact that I openly admit I'm a sucker for lists makes me a little more unique. There are so many list books, list columns, list blog posts (many by yours truly) that it seems by admitting you ... More >>
Why LeBron said noDespite what we thought were pretty compelling arguments yesterday, LeBron James did not announce last night that he will become a Houston Rocket.We blame the Children's Museum. And the Astros.Still, we're not bitter; we're analytical. And we have determined the five reason why ... More >>
Forget GQ -- You can be on the cover of the Houston PressAs our Game Time blogger Sean Pendergast has ably analyzed, tonight is the big night for LeBron James. Tonight -- on a primetime special devoted solely to the specialness of him and the sheer giganticnessof his decision -- he will announce ... More >>
Like Baccala, Morey's got an unpopped cherryOkay, let me get this out of the way... Daryl Morey knows what he's doing. In Daryl we trust! In Morey we trust! Daryl Morey is the NBA GM version of William Wallace with an undergrad degree from the Jedi academy and a PhD in ninja skills! I love Da ... More >>
Photo by Daniel KramerThe dealing has begun, as Van Morrison almost sangThe Rockets had what most analysts considered a strong draft on Thursday, but its true genius may take another week or two to see.No, former Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson isn't likely to go to Toronto in any long-awaited ... More >>
cutlineAs "must see" events on the sporting calendar go, the annual NBA Draft is highly underrated. If you ask the average sports fan his or her five most watchable sports nights of the year you'll probably get canned answers like the Super Bowl, a Game 7 in the MLB or NBA playoffs, and any inte ... More >>
Houston's history is dotted with albums that, fairly or un, have been swept aside. We'll examine them here. Have an album that you think nobody knows about but should? Email sheaserrano@gmail.com. Pimp C Sweet James Jones Stories (Asylum, 2005) We're not sure where we saw it, but we once read a l ... More >>
In my effort to help everyone prepare for March Madness, I bring you the second installment of the March Madness Preview. (Click here for yesterday's first installment -- you know the part with my picks and what not.) Today, we look at some of the most historical buzzer beaters in tournament histo ... More >>
At some point, other NBA general managers are going to just stop taking Daryl Morey's calls. Nobody enjoys being made a fool of, no one aspires to be the target of an atomic wedgie on the playground, and no one wants to be the Imperial Stormtrooper that gets snowed by Obi-Wan Kenobi on the way into ... More >>
Daryl Morey, as always, had us all fooled.We assumed the Rockets' general manager had little on the table for the dead carcass of Tracy McGrady, save the Bulls' and Knicks' offers centered around future draft picks that could later be used as assets to trade for a star. The offers weren't bad ... More >>
First, I want to thank everyone for their reaction, positive or otherwise, to my post yesterday which chronicled the high points of the era of Tracy McGrady's Expiring Contract I seem to learn something with every new post that I generate here on Hair Balls, and yesterday I learned that there are ... More >>
When it comes to player transactions and contracts, the NBA is a funny league. The classic contractual life cycle of a depressingly disproportionate number of NBA players goes like this:1.) Play under your rookie contract for a few years2.) Impress enough teams for someone to eventually way overpay ... More >>
In many sports, the growing of facial hair is symbolic of success. It's a frequent routine of playoff teams in baseball, for example, including the Astros' franchise-best seasons of 2004 and 2005.But Shane Battier of the struggling Rockets (24-20) has a different idea. On a dare, he's growing ... More >>
I grew up as the oldest child in a family with three boys. There was me, two years behind me was my brother Kevin, and then six years behind him was my brother Ryan. While all three of us were, and for the most part still are, pretty intelligent fellows, report card time meant different things to ... More >>
I was actually going to do my Rockets midseason report card today. I really was. But I got home last night, and despite telling myself that I would hold off on watching the next two hours of the new season of 24 until after I got my "sports related" work done, I just couldn't do it.As outlandish, ... More >>
One lonely, awkward 4x6 picture with Bill Worrell. A Christmas card, two pieces of junk mail and a pair of tube socks. That's all that appears left of Tracy McGrady in Houston.Sure, fights followed by kiss-and-make-up sessions are nothing new to McGrady in six seasons with the Rockets. He's gone ... More >>
First, I want to wish everybody out there a very happy holiday, and thank all of you who have read my stuff here on HoustonPress.com since I started up a couple months ago, especially those of you who leave comments (even if you think what you've just read is utter drivel, and you're telling me ... More >>
Stacy McLady or true superstar?
Maybe I'm biased because I use it all the time, but I'm going to make the bold statement that Twitter has surpassed "fad" status and that it's here to stay. Even at this point, people who don't use Twitter recognize kinda sorta how it works, and even recognize a Tweet when they see it -- "it's go ... More >>
Photo by Jeff BalkeThere's a popular belief in NBA circles that the third year is when a player makes the transition to stardom, if he's going to make it. Among point guards, that worked for Chris Paul and Deron Williams, and much has been said about Aaron Brooks making a similar - though sma ... More >>
Photos by Monica FuentesThe Houston Rockets hosted a party last night at Hotel Icon to celebrate the team's new Red Nation marketing campaign. Other than "alternative jerseys" for this year, the team -- as part of the campaign -- has developed a Bill of Red, "a document passed down from high and ... More >>
Black Guy, Rich White Guy, Lesbian or Hispanic Republican
Richard Justice actually had a decent blog post the other day. In it, he attempted to evaluate which of Houston's big three sports franchises was the smartest -- sorry Dynamo fans, he didn't include them because he says the team hasn't been here long enough, and I won't include them because I con ... More >>
The Chron's Jerome Solomon has another of those endless lists we writers like to do, this one asking for input on the top 10 coaches in Houston college and pro sports history. And he helpfully provides us with some candidates for the list. So I thought I would help out and provide what I consider ... More >>
There have been some tough guys in Houston sports history -- native sons George Foreman, Nolan Ryan, and Roger Clemens (even if you factor in his chemically-aided roid rage) -- all come to mind. Anybody can rattle off a list of ten of those guys -- and we might just do that next week -- but we were ... More >>
Adrian Wojnarowski, a longtime respected sportswriter currently working for Yahoo! (oh, these modern times) has an exclusive report out that the Rockets are quietly getting worried that Yao Ming's latest injury might just end his career.Take it away, Woj: "The realization has hit them that this is g ... More >>
Photo by Katharine ShilcuttThe ending was all too familiar, but the ride was so, so different. Sure, history will show another Rockets season concluded without a title, this time on an 89-70 second-round, Game 7 loss to the Lakers on Sunday afternoon at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. And ... More >>
Photo: Jeff BalkeScrapper Chuck HayesThirty-seven million of the Rockets' approximately $70 million payroll sits on the bench in luxury suits instead of basketball uniforms. With Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady sidelined, the Rockets counter the Lakers' top scoring option -- only one of the best players ... More >>
A Rockets belt buckle -- what every taste-free fan should be wearing tonightThe Rockets season ends tonight at Toyota Center -- wait, wait, did we just say that out loud? We mean the Rockets season likely ends tonight -- no, wait, we mean the Rockets' improbable Game Four win will be repeated tonigh ... More >>
Hey, how'd those Rockets do last night?!Oh.In case you missed it, Our Rockets (and by "Our," we mean "team we started cheering for a week ago"), got shellacked by the Lakers 118-78. Everyone had expected the injury-riddled Houston team to lose like that -- in Sunday's game, which they had won.That ... More >>
Where does yesterday's deceptively close 99-87 shellacking of the Lakers rank in the annals of great Rockets victories? It's too soon to tell. If they build on that win by taking this series and then slip into their fifth NBA finals, minus not just Yao but also his geriatric Congolese understudy, no ... More >>
Photo byJeff BalkeThe opening to the Rockets' player introductions sounded as unlikely and frightening as the task of defeating the vaunted Lakers without Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. Somehow, "a 6-foot-6 center out of Kentucky" didn't deliver the same punch and energy as the booming "7-foot-6 ... More >>
The box score to Game 3 shows the second period as the only frame in which the Rockets weren't outscored on Friday night at Toyota Center. But in reality, it proved pivotal in Houston's 108-94 loss, which allowed Los Angeles to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. The normally dynamic La ... More >>
Photo by Jeff BalkeThe Rowdies get rowdy for the playoffsVon Wafer was a hero in the first round, scoring 21 points in 27 minutes in Game 2 and sparking the Rockets with an emotional return in the series-clinching Game 6 just two days after suffering a bulging disc in his lower back. He was suppos ... More >>
Photo by Keith Allison It's been a long time since the Rockets were of any interest to most of Houston, but now that they've actually advanced past the first round of the playoffs, the bandwagon is getting full.A Houstonian will now be expected to be able to talk confidently about the team in order ... More >>
Photo by sillygwailoLooking for Rockets tickets as the hoopsters return to the Toyota Center after their split with the Lakers? Unlike, say, two months ago, you're now at the mercy of the scalpers. But the precise identity of the scalpers may surprise you."Basically the Rockets have created their ow ... More >>
The Rockets finally got the first-round monkey off their backs last week, so what did the NBA give them as a reward? Only a second-round date with the prohibitive title favorite Lakers, beginning tonight at 9:30 in Los Angeles. It's a terrifying matchup by nearly every quantifiable metho ... More >>
May 17, 1997.Aaron Brooks and Von Wafer were in sixth grade. The Oilers were only a year removed from their Houston existence. The Texans were still more than five years from their birth. The Astros had yet to make the playoffs in the Biggio-Bagwell era. Then-President Bill Clinton was still eight m ... More >>
In a gritty comeback effort that epitomized a team win, it seemed only fitting that the game-winner came from a Rocket whose only contribution to the box score was a personal foul.With the Rockets clinging to a two-point lead with under 15 seconds left, Chuck Hayes read Brandon Roy's drive to the bu ... More >>
At least for now, the Rockets' stunning collapse might not be all bad.The negatives to the Rockets blowing a 14-point, second-half lead at Dallas on Wednesday night, coupled with New Orleans' meltdown in San Antonio, are of course falling from the No. 2 seed, losing home court advantage in the first ... More >>
Photo courtesy ESPNESPN has been charged for years with having an East Coast bias. ESPN's morning SportsCenter anchor Hannah Storm somewhat agrees with that charge, though she says the charge doesn't apply to her show and says that to her, "it is a non-issue." And if she does have any bias, it's pro ... More >>
Photo by Keith Allison(Note: This was written by Ben DuBose.)The next time someone tells you that early-season games in sports like basketball and baseball don't matter, refer them to the case of the 2008-09 Houston Rockets.The No. 5-seeded Rockets were one game from having a dream path to the Weste ... More >>
Photo by Aaron Sprecher(Note: This is written by Ben DuBose. We're working on that byline glitch, honest.) At least for one night, the Rockets answered their only remaining defensive questions in a resounding way. Since dealing incumbent point guard Rafer Alston at the February trade deadline, ... More >>
Photo courtesy of Jeff BalkeIt was just over three weeks ago that Carl Landry was running for his life, attempting to dodge bullets from assailants who sideswiped his car, punctured his left calf and chased him until he hid between a house and a fence, waiting for emergency help while blood gu ... More >>
Photo courtesy of Jeff BalkeIt was just over three weeks ago that Carl Landry was running for his life, attempting to dodge bullets from assailants who sideswiped his car, punctured his left calf and chased him until he hid between a house and a fence, waiting for emergency help while blood gu ... More >>
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