With the National Football League’s spring workout season — OTAs and minicamp, essentially — finished, we are heading into somewhat of an abyss from a sports standpoint, in a city where football rules the roost. The Texans will be back soon enough, with training camp set to begin in the final week of July.
Until the final week of July arrives, though, we need some nourishment as sports fans. On the radio, we need something to discuss, something to debate with listeners and cohosts. Around town, we need those barroom discussions to pop. So, with that in mind, here are the four big topics that are going to get us to NFL training camp:
4. Do the Rockets make a move?
The season certainly didn’t end the way the Rockets hoped it would, when they acquired Kevin Durant, practically a year ago to the day. A first round playoff exit to a Lakers team missing Luka Doncic was a well below average fate. The fan base is antsy, Kevin Durant’s biological clock is ticking, and there is a feeling GM Rafael Stone needs to do something. It appears that Giannis Antetokounmpo is going to get traded imminently, and not to the Rockets. (The Celtics and Heat are the reported leaders in the Giannis race.) That leaves names like Jaylen Brown or Kawhi Leonard, if there is going to be a splashy move. Running it back with the same crew will feel somewhat empty.
3. Do the Astros hang around in the race?
Well, it seems like the rest of the American League is hellbent on letting EVERYBODY hang around in the race. As of Monday, only five of the 15 teams in the AL were above .500, and three of those were two games or less above .500. In short, it’s a bad league right now, which means bad teams can hang around in the playoff race. The Astros are as close to fully healthy as they’ve been all year, and their GM Dana Brown has intimated that they will be BUYERS at the trade deadline. I don’t think there is a deal out there that makes the Astros a World Series contender, but I’m her for the delusion! It’s almost admirable!
2. What happens with the Brendan Sorsby situation?
Nothing like some good college football and NFL supplemental draft talk in June and July! This Sorsby story is juicy, and has all kinds of tentacles. As it stands right now, Sorsby, who declared for the supplemental draft a week ago, after Texas Tech essentially told him that the fallout from his being allowed to play after four years of rampant gambling was too much to deal with, has a Pro Day scheduled for July 10. His goal will be to show NFL teams (a) his arm talent and (b) his contrition and awareness that his gambling was a problem and (c) convince them it won’t happen again. One fly in the ointment — the NFL has yet to approve the existence of a supplemental draft this summer. There’s still a chance that Sorsby has no avenue into the NFL this summer, which then gets really interesting. What does he do for a year? Does he go back to fighting the legal fight to regain his eligibility? Welcome to college football in 2026!
- World Cup Mania
I don’t think this is hyperbole, when I say that this 2026 World Cup, being hosted in several cities throughout North America (including Houston) has been one of the biggest sports event home runs in American history thus far. Foreigners are coming overseas and are amazed at the congeniality they’re experiencing in the various cities (which, let’s face it, is the opposite of the American narrative painted on social media these days). On top of that, though, it turns out that the United States is actually good at soccer! GO FIGURE! Our team has already qualified for the knockout round, and suddenly there are Americans believing we can shock the world! USA! USA! USA!
