Jim Rome

The Rockets Explore Their Dark Side, and There Is an "I" in Biggio

Too Bad There Isn't a Female Tennis Player Named Chris Lidge

But Could God Pitch a Slider So Wicked That God Couldn't Hit It?

KGOWTF: Poker on the Radio?

A Day in the Life of Cable Sports Programming

Rome in a Day

The Jim Roma World Tour

The Case of Patrick Edwards

The Jim Roma World Tour

Top 10 Moments in the History of Minute Maid Park

Photo by Bukowsky18 The Houston Astros are asking for our suggestions for the top moments in the history of Enron Field Minute Maid Park as part of the stadium's tenth season. You know me. I love to give my opinions about the Astros. So here are my Top 10 Moments in the History of Enron Field M ... More >>

10 Jobs That Are Tougher Than Jim Nantz's

Listening to Jim Rome yesterday, I learned that Jim Nantz is the toughest man in the world. Nantz is a tough bastard because, according to Rome, Nantz was able to do play-by-play for college basketball in Detroit on Monday night, fly first class to Atlanta, then head out to Augusta for The Masters ... More >>

10 Jobs That Are Tougher Than Jim Nantz's

Listening to Jim Rome yesterday, I learned that Jim Nantz is the toughest man in the world. Nantz is a tough bastard because, according to Rome, Nantz was able to do play-by-play for college basketball in Detroit on Monday night, fly first class to Atlanta, then head out to Augusta for The Masters ... More >>

Top 10 Moments in the History of Minute Maid Park

Photo by Bukowsky18 The Houston Astros are asking for our suggestions for the top moments in the history of Enron Field Minute Maid Park as part of the stadium's tenth season. You know me. I love to give my opinions about the Astros. So here are my Top 10 Moments in the History of Enron Field M ... More >>

Damming the Streams

The major labels want the Internet to be as arid as the airwaves

Tornado Burgers, New Year's Play, Anthony Bourdain

The major labels want the Internet to be as arid as the airwaves

Friends sponsor movie fund-raiser for injured Gulf Coast surfer

Aliens to the Rescue

The Replacements

Don't You Know Who I Think I Was?

Against the Odds

No betting shows on one sports-talk station

Radio Daze

One man, one jambox and four walls. For 24 hours.

Best Talk Radio Host

One man, one jambox and four walls. For 24 hours.

Letters

Behest of Houston?, Paranoia by the Pack, Transsexual Treat

Best Execution of a Business Plan

Dickie Rosenfeld, KILT/610 AM

The Astros May Suck, But At Least You Can Listen To Jim Deshaies

So I'm watching the Astros/Twins game on Sunday afternoon, and it gets to be that inning for the trivia question. The question this time asks Jim Deshaies and Bill Brown to name the four Minnesota Twins that have been named as American League MVPs. So they start tossing out names of great Minnes ... More >>

Steam Punks: Baristas Throw Down at Houston's First Latte Art Competition

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttSilence Huang points out good and bad characteristics on a calibration cup of latte.​Judging a latte art competition is deceptively difficult, as we found out on Friday night. Silence Huang, one of our fellow judges and a master barista from Taiwan, drew careful diagram ... More >>

Game Time: Try As You Might, No One Can Take Down Tiger Woods

​I start this post with the premise that we all love attention. We crave it. Even if you don't openly admit it, there's a small part of you that likes it when you're recognized for, as J. Peterman would say, a "job....done."It's not often in the sports world that one person can usurp everyone's ... More >>

Brett Myers And His Checkered Past Come To The Astros

​Congratulations to Brian McTaggart over at MLB.com. Since he left the Houston Chronicle to handle the Astros beat for MLB.com, he has scooped his former employer time after time after time again. The latest coming on Friday afternoon when he scooped the Chron by hours as to the Astros signing of ... More >>

Game Time: If You Want To Hear Richard Justice Getting Fired, Click Here

​If you are a celebrator of Christmas, you know what I mean when I say "that Christmas morning feeling" -- the giddy sensation when you wake up on December 25th, knowing that you made it through the 362 day grind since the last Christmas morning and today is the day that you get to open your p ... More >>

Game Time: Jim Rome Smack-Off 2010, A Five-Time Champ Weighs In

The Rome show may have mellowed, but the Smack-Off still delivers​If you're a sports fan in the Year 2010, you probably know who Jim Rome is. If you read my blog posts each day, you almost definitely know who Jim Rome is.For those who don't, I'll be brief with the history lesson -- Rome is a syndi ... More >>

Game Time: Jim Rome Smack-Off Appendix -- 12 Most Memorable Calls From The Golden Era

I appreciate everyone's comments, feedback, kind words on yesterday's post that gave a diary-style breakdown of the 2010 Jim Rome Smack-Off and my perspective on where the show is now compared to where it was during the earlier part of this decade. If you missed it, you can easily go back and read i ... More >>

Semi-Comeback for the Tower Theater

Plus: Rites of Bellaire - It's not hazing, it's fun

Game Time: Jose Lima, 1972-2010

"I was born for this, I love baseball, and remember guys, it's still Lima Time, and it's always Lima Time. You gotta believe that." -- Jose Lima, 2009 as a member of the Long Beach Armada in the independent Golden Baseball League Much like the man behind the movement, "Lima Time" is simultaneousl ... More >>

Game Time: Houston Texans -- 5 Winners, 5 Losers

Dan Orlovsky faces the press​The Reliant Stadium sprawl of empty seats, the equally sparsely populated press box, the rare ease with which one could navigate pregame traffic -- all those things would seemingly indicate that the Texans final preseason game in 2010 against the Tampa Buccaneers was m ... More >>

Houston Texans -- F the Cowboys (or #FDACOWBOYS on Twitter)

cutline​Not long ago, I got into a brief discussion on Twitter with another radio personality whom I am forbidden to name whose name I don't exactly recall. I don't remember the crux of the tweet-versation (something having to do with blogs and the inherent evil that blogs possess to anyone over ... More >>

Ten Songs We Are Sick Of Hearing At Football Games

Take that Crazy Train right on out of here, Ozzy. Thanks.​That sound you heard Sunday was the collective shattering of the playoff hopes of thousands of Houston Texans fans as the team suffered yet another home loss, this time against the hapless San Diego Chargers, bringing their record to 4- ... More >>

Merry Christmas and 4 WTF Questions About Christmas Specials (w/ video)

Yeah, my dad's kind of a jerk​First, I want to wish all of you a very Merry Christmas (or Festivus or Hanukkah or whatever you celebrate this time of year)! It's definitely a time to be thankful, and I want to use this space to thank everyone who clicks on my stuff here on Hair Balls and espe ... More >>

The Nine Most Annoying Types of Sports Radio Callers

Send in the Clones.​Hair Balls likes to listen to sports radio. We aren't exactly sure why, but we do. We've got a bunch of stations to choose from in Houston, which gives us lots of opportunities to hear interviews, analysis and banter, some good, some bad, about all things sports. As syndic ... More >>

Year in Review Appendix -- Five More Stories For The Road

One more for 2010...​I love the last week of December. Between Gary Kubiak and the option to just pick out some category from the past year and recap it, it's ready-made content. Just add snark! So in the spirit of lazy "Year in Review" style posts (one of which I've already submitted today! ... More >>

Christina Aguilera's National Anthem: Better Than Carl Lewis', Anyway

​Today, Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are presumably on their way to Disney World, the Pittsburgh Steelers are praying Ben Roethlisberger did not do anything in the many, many strip clubs of the greater Metroplex to bring on a repeat of his season-opening four-game sus ... More >>

Recalibrated Final Four Scenarios (and Jim Rome on a Mobile)

​By the time you read this space on Monday, we will know which four lucky schools have qualified for the Final Four and are headed to Houston to enjoy our weather, our ladies and our Tex-Mex. (I can now include "ladies" because BYU has been eliminated from the tournament. Houston will remain ... More >>

KGOW'S KAPOW KAPOW

1560AM weaves pop culture, locker-room humor and irreverence into sports-talk radio.

Cover Story: For Love of the Game

​When working on this week's feature story, I was surprised at just how much help my background as a musician would help me, especially since I was writing about a sports radio station. Over the last 25 years, I've spent a lot of time in bars, recording studios and rehearsal spaces with other ... More >>

Golf -- My Masters Facelift

Cue the pyro and short skirts....​First, for those asking, my second annual recap of Jim Rome's Smack Off radio show will be up tomorrow sometime. If you missed my first one last year, it was a true tour de force. It, too, went up nearly four days after the actual event, so my procrastination ... More >>

My Threatening Letter To The Astros

Demands include a Carlos Lee bobblebelly doll​Dear Astros: Last night, you and the Cubs drew the second-smallest crowd in the history of Minute Maid Park. I say that both teams drew that crowd because any time the Cubs come to town, a legitimately vocal portion of the ticket buying audience ... More >>

2010-2011 Houston Rockets Report Card

Photo by GroovehouseSad Rocket fan​Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog post for today, also known as "Day Four of the Jim Rome Smack-Off Recap Hostage Crisis." That's right, based on feedback on my Twitter feed and the monster hits that our rogue "Smack-Off On A Mobile" have been getting, I k ... More >>

Famous Triple Doubles (NBA and Otherwise)

The Jim Rome triple double: He's Big O-esque​Ah, the triple double. The semi-elusive NBA statistic whereby an NBA player gets double figures in a game in three performance categories (points, rebounds, assists are usually the big three, but steals and blocked shots are sometimes allowed in the ... More >>

A Sad East Texas Tale

The Jim Rome triple double: He's Big O-esque​Ah, the triple double. The semi-elusive NBA statistic whereby an NBA player gets double figures in a game in three performance categories (points, rebounds, assists are usually the big three, but steals and blocked shots are sometimes allowed in the ... More >>

Finally...the 2011 Jim Rome Smack-Off Recap

Glory days, well they pass you by....​"It's good to be in something from the ground floor, but I came in too late for that. But lately I get the feeling that I came in at the end, that the best is over." -- Tony Soprano In the first three minutes of the greatest television show of all-time, ... More >>

Doing Time, Wrongly

Finally, a chat with our cover subject.

Top 10 On-Air Gaffes: A List Inspired by Pattie Shieh

This current Houstonian locks down the top spot.​As an ode to the "spit" blast uttered last night by Pattie Shieh of Fox 26, Hair Balls looks back at the top 10 on-air fuc_, uh, mess-ups of all-time.

Forced to Listen to Rush Limbaugh: Five Reasons This Woman Should Be Thankful

Rush Limbaugh: It's a PRIVILEGE to listen to him, missy.​As first reported in the Houston Chronicle, Bridgett Nickerson Boyd is suing Harris County and a county sheriff's deputy for, among other things, forcing her to listen to Rush Limbaugh after an arrest. Now, among the "other things" is t ... More >>

5 Replacements for The Jim Rome Show

Jim Rome = Not Burning in Houston.​Jim Rome is done in the Houston sports-talk radio market after KILT-AM 610 dropped the popular The Jim Rome Show last week. Rome's show had become more than a little tedious in recent years, so replacing it should be easy; here are five replacements that wo ... More >>