Subject: Tracy McGrady

• Is It Time to Trade T-Mac?

  April 6, 2007

• Rockets Win While Fans Yawn

  March 23, 2007

• Trading T-Mac

  April 10, 2007

• Dear Diary

  April 24, 2007

• Rocket-hater or Realist?

  May 2, 2007

• Game Seven: T-Mac’s Biggest Test

  May 4, 2007

• Where Do We Go from Here?

  May 7, 2007

• JVG Bye-Bye

  May 18, 2007

• Were You Watching, T-Mac?

  June 1, 2007

• Rockets-Lakers from Press Row: T-Mac Goes Down, Derek Fisher Steps Up

  November 15, 2007

• Supersonics vs. Rockets: Live-blogging with Jason Friedman

  January 21, 2008

• Supersonics vs. Rockets: Post-Game Talk with Rick Adelman, Yao Ming, Rafer Alston, Shane Battier and Tracy McGrady

  January 22, 2008

• Rockets-Kings: Steve Novak and The Shot

  February 14, 2008

• Rockets-Lakers: McGrady and the Miracles

  March 16, 2008

• Rockets-Jazz: Signs of Trouble

  April 20, 2008

• Rockets-Jazz: Of T-Mac, Time and Fate

  April 22, 2008

• Rockets-Jazz Game Five: Return of the Streakers

  April 30, 2008

• Houston Rockets, 2007-2008: Requiem for a Season

  May 5, 2008

• Q&A with Daryl Morey: What’s Next?

  May 8, 2008

• Pipeline to the Pros

  One of the straightest paths to the NBA begins on the summer hoops circuit. All the kids have to do in return is wear the right shoes.

  July 19, 2001

• T-Mac Puts Up His Benz On E-Bay (Not For Charity, Either)

  If you happen to be sitting on a big pile of cash because you never invested in sub-prime mortgages or wrote Bernie Madoff a check, you might want to scoot on over to eBay and bid on Houston Rocket Tracy McGrady's sweet ride.That's right: T-Mac is auctioning his customized CL-Class Mercedes-Benz (Florida license plate #T1MAC). The asking price is $150,000, and the winner will get to meet Mr. Mac, according to Jerrell Richards of Texas Auto Superstore, which is handling the bids.Richards told Hai

  December 23, 2008

• Coach Leads His Team To 100-0 Victory, Gets Fired

  The Covenant School in Dallas got hit with a bunch of unfavorable publicity after its girls basketball team beat another school 100-0. (That  score is not a typo.)School officials posted a message on its web site apologizing for the game, saying "the school and its representatives in no way support or condone the running up of a score against any team in any sport for any reason. The school's board members, Head of School Kyle Queal and Athletic Director Brice Helton have acted to ensure t

  January 26, 2009

• What That Fireball Really Was

  Photo by StarmanMikeThe fireball over Texas -- the one that is earning breathless reports in papers all over the world -- was either a piece of debris from that satellite collision or it wasn't, depending on who's answering the question.We already have established that the satellite collision can likely be traced to the installation of red-light cameras in space. Or at least put it forward as a theory.Falling debris, accompanied by a sonic boom, is a whole other matter. Experts say for a piece o

  February 16, 2009

• The Rockets Get Some Times Love, The Only Love They Apparently Can

  The Houston Rockets are quickly becoming an afterthought in town as Spring Training opens and their tedious soap-opera mediocrity gets pushed to the sidelines. (All of which will change in a blink, of course, if they put together a streak.)But they're getting noticed elsewhere.The New York Times' Sunday magazine's cover boy this weekend was Shane Battier, the "No-Stats All-Star."Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball -- the book showing how a revolution in stat-keeping changed how baseball GMs s

  February 16, 2009

• The Rockets Get Some Times Love, The Only Love They Apparently Can

  The Houston Rockets are quickly becoming an afterthought in town as Spring Training opens and their tedious soap-opera mediocrity gets pushed to the sidelines. (All of which will change in a blink, of course, if they put together a streak.)But they're getting noticed elsewhere.The New York Times' Sunday magazine's cover boy this weekend was Shane Battier, the "No-Stats All-Star."Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball -- the book showing how a revolution in stat-keeping changed how baseball GMs s

  February 16, 2009

• Tracy McGrady Out For the Season; Yes, It's the Knee Again

  Photo by mtkopone For those who haven't heard the news yet, last night, Tracy McGrady told ESPN screamer/reporter Stephen A. Smith that he will be missing the rest of the season because he is having microfracture surgery on his troublesome left knee. The Rockets are refusing to comment on the story. The Rockets should be used to no T-Mac by now, however, as he missed most of January because of this knee. This is the same knee on which he had arthroscopic surgery after last season, and he's

  February 18, 2009

• Rockets-Bobcats: Yao-Artest Form Improved Dynamic Duo

  At some point during the will he, won't he saga of Tracy McGrady's ongoing knee problems, the heart and identity of the Rockets shifted from a Yao Ming and McGrady-led team to one led by Yao and Ron Artest. So far, the Rockets seem all the better for it. Artest scored 26 points on five three-pointers while Yao added 19 points and seven rebounds, leading to a 99-78 win over Charlotte on Sunday evening at Toyota Center. It's the Rockets' (35-21) fourth consecutive victory, three of which have co

  February 23, 2009

• Rockets-Bobcats: Yao-Artest Form Improved Dynamic Duo

  At some point during the will he, won't he saga of Tracy McGrady's ongoing knee problems, the heart and identity of the Rockets shifted from a Yao Ming and McGrady-led team to one led by Yao and Ron Artest. So far, the Rockets seem all the better for it. Artest scored 26 points on five three-pointers while Yao added 19 points and seven rebounds, leading to a 99-78 win over Charlotte on Sunday evening at Toyota Center. It's the Rockets' (35-21) fourth consecutive victory, three of which have co

  February 23, 2009

• Tracy McGrady Out For the Season; Yes, It's the Knee Again

  Photo by mtkopone For those who haven't heard the news yet, last night, Tracy McGrady told ESPN screamer/reporter Stephen A. Smith that he will be missing the rest of the season because he is having microfracture surgery on his troublesome left knee. The Rockets are refusing to comment on the story. The Rockets should be used to no T-Mac by now, however, as he missed most of January because of this knee. This is the same knee on which he had arthroscopic surgery after last season, and he's

  February 18, 2009

• The Rockets Get Some Times Love, The Only Love They Apparently Can

  The Houston Rockets are quickly becoming an afterthought in town as Spring Training opens and their tedious soap-opera mediocrity gets pushed to the sidelines. (All of which will change in a blink, of course, if they put together a streak.)But they're getting noticed elsewhere.The New York Times' Sunday magazine's cover boy this weekend was Shane Battier, the "No-Stats All-Star."Michael Lewis, the author of Moneyball -- the book showing how a revolution in stat-keeping changed how baseball GMs s

  February 16, 2009

• Houston Rockets vs. the Washington Wizards

  December 25, 2008

• Peace -- For Now

  A caravan to Cuba isn't hassled. Yet.

  July 15, 2004

• Rockets Left To Wonder What Could Have Been

  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 Western Conference Finals, at a minimum. They were one game from a No. 2 seed, home-court advantage in the first and second rounds, a Southwest Division title, and most importantly, avoiding any possibilit

  April 16, 2009

• Yao Won't Bow

  March 23, 2006

• And Now, Some Hoops

  All-Star Weekend culminates with an actual game

  February 16, 2006

• Bring On '07!

  April 13, 2006

• When Steve Met Tracy

  The Rockets' past and future face off at the Clutch City Classic

  October 6, 2005

• Joystick Jams

  Slam it home without breaking a sweat at the NBA Live 2005 tourney

  September 22, 2005

• Fly Ballas

  T-Mac and fellow all-star hoopsters trade the court for the diamond

  July 28, 2005

• This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

  December 16, 2004

• This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

  October 21, 2004

• Best Sports Hairdo

  September 23, 2004

• Baller's Ball

  Ex-Rocket Steve Francis returns for the Summer Fiesta Slam Fest

  August 26, 2004

• Do You Believe In Miracles? Rockets Advance

  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 months from being outed for his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Oh, and that's also the last day the Rockets had won a postseason series.But it all changed Thursday night, as a long chapter of mediocrity

  May 1, 2009

• Five Ways To Fake Your Way Through A Rockets Conversation

  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 to keep up with the rest of the people in the bar, at Pilates, at the PTO meeting or at a party.You should, of course, be keeping up with matters by reading Ben DuBose's reports here on Hair Balls. Bu

  May 7, 2009

• Despite Loss, These Aren't Same Old Rockets

  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 like so many seasons before, the 2008-09 campaign really ended when an X-ray displayed a fracture in a bone on Yao Ming's left foot.  "In games like this, it would have been nice to have a low

  May 18, 2009

• The Onion, Under New Chinese Management, Analyzes Yao Ming

   Ever since the shocking news came that The Onion had sold itself to a Chinese company that also sells fish by-products, we've been waiting for it. The Yao Ming story.Today it came. The entire world population confirmed Friday that Houston Rockets center Yao Ming is the greatest athlete in the history of sports and a glowing symbol of what hardworking citizens may become if they remain loyal to their government.Yao Ming officially averages 84 points per basketball game and has a shooting pe

  July 23, 2009

• The Ten Least Intimidating Athletes In Houston History

  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 thinking today of the least toughest, most unintimidating athletes in Houston sports history, and without further ado, here they are: 10. Ernest Givins, Oilers: We'll give Givins some credit -- he kep

  August 4, 2009

• Mid-Week Match-Up: Communication Breakdown, It's Always The Same

  Two key players of two teams decided to break important news in odd ways this week.Steven Tyler, aging frontman for Aerosmith, dropped word that he was quitting the band (maybe; no one's clear) not by calling his bandmates, but by mentioning it to a British interviewer.Tracy McGrady, aging forward for the Houston Rockets, announced he'd be coming back from injury soon (maybe; no one's clear) not by telling to management or his teammates, but in an interview with a sportswriter. (An American spor

  November 11, 2009

• Game Time: The Dysfunctional Macs

  ​I'm sure if all of you have heard, but Tracy McGrady has set a target date to return from microfracture surgery, and that date is November 18. What he's going to do once he comes back or whether he's even ready to come back are secondary issues, because chances are if you heard this news when it broke, then you actually found out about this before the following people:-- Tracy's doctors-- Rockets GM Daryl Morey-- Rockets coach Rick Adelman-- Pretty much anyone employed by the RocketsProving

  November 11, 2009