Bud Adams: Houston's Football Savior?

In case you missed Sports Sunday on KPRC last night with Randy McIlvoy let me give you a quick synopsis.

Mark VanDerMeer is incapable of offering credible opinion on the State of the Texans.

Bud Adams feels he's personally responsible for the success of sports in Houston.


You read that second one correctly. It seems that Bud Adams love potion is spreading, this being the 50th Anniversiary of the AFL and the professional sports media pretty much mailing it in these days.

As it was I about fell out of my chair when ol' Bud took credit for the Texans, Astros and Rockets all having new stadiums. Really? Listening to Bud tell it what he did was for the Good of Houstonians, and not his pocketbook as we have obviously believed erroneously these last 10 or so years.

And hey, naysayers, lest you doubt Bud's affection for the city of Houston. Bud's still employing 900 Houstonians, wants people to forget Lamar Hunt (and the Chron's John McClain is going to help in this endeavor) and still promotes the good of Houston whenever he has a chance. Just make sure that football conversation or Houston taxpayers aren't involved. Then Bud sings a different tune. Besides, Houston really wasn't happy with that stodgy ol' Astrodome, especially not after the big score-board was taken away. (Oh...wait...nevermind)

As an Oiler fan Bud Adams is dead to me, and there's nothing he can say to convince me otherwise. Seeing the Titans wearing the Houston Oilers uniforms (and rookie Britt wearing a "Property of Houston Oilers" T-shirt on the sidelines) just felt wrong. It's almost as if the NFL is allowing Bud to rub our noses in it for not building for him what we had to build for Bob McNair.

And that's what Bud Adams doesn't understand. We may have built the Texans their glorious new playpen, but in the process we had to lose the Oilers, a team that meant an awful lot to those of us who grew up rooting for them. The Titans? No connection whatsoever, they're a division rival, no more, no less. I'd rather the Texans lose to them then the Colts or the Jaguars any day of the week.

My only consolation in this is that the Titans are stuck trying to figure out what to do with Vince Young while the Texans are not. Vince is your problem now Bud, enjoy that.

I realize this is all just the part of a movement to get Bud in the HOF. The thing about Houston media, especially the Chronicle, is this: They are more than ready to let by-gones be by-gones provided they get to bask in the reflected glory of someone with even tenuous ties to Houston. Don't believe me? Beyonce, the Next Food Network Star you name it. If someone receiving an award so much as had an extended layover at IAH the Chron is ready to claim them. As is KPRC.

They can have him, Bud Adams that is, because as far as I'm concerned he's a citizen of Tennessee now, if he goes into the HOF it shouldn't be as an Oiler, but as a Tennessee Titan.

The Oilers are dead now anyways, I think last night's telecast finally killed them off permanently in my mind.


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Sports Talk Radio...who knew?

If you would have told me in August that the first local sports story in 2009 would center around sports talk radio I would have accused you of spending too much time at Nick's Place drinking beer.

Shows what I know.

Amazingly, this run of press that Sports talk radio is enjoying is being driven by a listenership that totals less than 5% of Houston's population. (If that) Part of the problem is the dismal Houston sports scene. When you hang your sporting hat on the Texans, Astros and Rockets the cupboard is likely to be bare. Granted, there's a lot of grist for the mill currently as the Rockets are concerned, the Astros are perennial weak-sauce contenders (especially during the hot-stove period) and about all that needs to be said about the Texans has already been said.

It also doesn't help conversation that Houston is a very sports media-friendly town. The Chronicle has more apologists on their staff for the local professional franchises than Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Gov. Blago combined. PR professionals have to take off the training wheels before writing sports for the Chron. Whether its John McClain dusting off his 'sage old insider' routine, Richard Justice assuring us all is well as the tanks roll into the city, Jerome Solomon once again telling fans that they're 'idiots' for being critical, or Megan Manfull, Jonathan Feigan et. all on the writers' pool dishing out glorified PR releases, its hard to find an area where Houston sports fans can get really worked up into a sufficient lather that listening to it on the radio is a big deal. (And no, we're not going to mention College Sports, Houston is not a College sports town)

Aside from all of this the biggest hurdle Houston has to clear in order to be considered a quality sports town is that the current teams have to build up some emotional equity with fans. This is hard to do because of two reasons:

1. Most Houstonians are transplants and come with pre-existing loyalties.
2. The level of History in Houston franchses is lacking in comparison to other, more sports-crazy Cities.

When it comes to the first point....Guilty as charged. Not only do I root for teams outside of Houston (Michigan, SF 49'er's, Detroit Red Wings, Texas Rangers) but the Houston team that I was invested in is no longer in town. (Oilers) The problem that I have rooting for the Texans is not that they are a sorry franchise, but that they're not....the Oilers.

"What, do you want to return to the days when Houston didn't have the NFL?" Texans fans will say in response to nay-sayers.

Yes, I do. The reason being is that I enjoyed receiving the best NFL matchups on TV every Sunday, instead of the "Texans vs. whoever" clunker that we are saddled with now. It's the same reason I don't go to many UH football games (despite having graduated from a campus in their system). Why go to Robertson to watch UH vs. Tulane when Georgia vs. Florida is the CBS/SEC Game of the Week?

I missed a lot of good football for about three years going to UH Cougar games. I watched a lot of bad football (and bad coaching) when Art Briles was at the helm. I like Kevin Sumlin as a coach, but I'm not willing to give up my afternoons at Stag's Head checking out the biggest College Football games.

Here's the rub. At the end of the day I'm a huge sports fan. I'll watch and talk about most sporting events, not just the major events. I have a passion for football (soccer) played at the highest (read: International) level, International Rugby, College American Football, NFL football, College Basketball (though not the NBA), Baseball, Golf, Hockey, Open-wheel racing, track and field, boxing, MMA, powerlifting, bodybuilding, extreme sports you name it. If its a competition I like to watch. Because of that I'm a dedicated sports-talk fan.

The problem is, most of it on Houston's airwaves isn't very good. The fourth largest City in America should have better.

That's why I'm rooting for the guys over at KGOW. They have their weak shows (Ken Hoffman) and areas where they can improve (get rid of Justice) but overall they're putting out the most entertaining sports talk around right now. It's not polished, its not 'corporate', it's just 'fun'. If they could persuade Charlie Palillo to come over it'd be the best station in Houston hands down, as it is I swap between Shawn & John and Charlie's show depending on the topic. As-is however KGOW is the best.

Which explains why they're leading the pack right now.

Adidas/Houston News

This is cool...

[Allison Wollam, Houston Business Journal]

Adidas will open its first Sports Performance Store in Texas on Nov. 22 in The Galleria.

The 8,000-square-foot store will offer a full-range of Sports Performance and Originals product lines, making it home to the most extensive selection of Adidas products in Texas.

Sports fans will also be able to shop for MLS Champion Houston Dynamo gear and official Houston Rockets NBA apparel.

The sports-inspired store design includes hanging bars that resemble weight-lifting bars and shoes displayed on running starter blocks instead of traditional shoe racks.

The Houston store is Portland, Ore.-based Adidas’ ninth Sports Performance Store in the United States.

Olympic Gold Medalist Jeremy Wariner and Olympic sprinter Doc Patton will participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony while Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder and Houston native Adam Dunn will sign autographs and greet fans from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Unfortunately, I'll be in London during the opening, but I'll be sure to check it out in the near future.

World Gym purchased by Planet Fitness

Recent press releases have confirmed that the venerable gym brand World Gym has been purchased in whole by Planet Fitness in a purchase that is undoubtedly bad news for the bodybuilding customer.

Planet Fitness is a gym chain known mostly for its anti-bodybuilding ways is rapidly becoming the gym-du-jour for the casual fitness set in an environment that encourages members not to strain, but to work out in ways that they are comfortable. Unfortunately, for bodybuilders, that comfort and open mindedness do not extend to those who choose to compete with their physiques, nor does it extend to those who wish to push beyond failure. As a result of this, Planet Fitness is viewed as the antithesis of what a bodybuilding gym should be.

In contrast to this, World Gym was one of the most historic gym brands in the bodybuilding industry, and was the second gym brand founded by the Late Joe Gold. The loss of this chain should be marked in the bodybuilding community with a measured degree of sadness, as well as with a renewed sense of commitment to local gyms that are bodybuilding friendly.

It is undoubtable that Planet Fitness serves a niche in the fitness community, it is also undeniable that they have chosen to do this while discounting a sizable portion of the same community. Time will tell if Planet Fitness' decision is the correct one, until then World Gym is gone, and the bodybuilding industry is a little bit less because of that.