To build or not to build, that is the question

Posted on February 20, 2025 by bvanrysdam

May 8, 1997, was a dark day in H-Town sports. That was the day Bud Adams and the Houston Oilers were allowed to dissolve their lease with the Astrodome and two-step to Tennessee for greener pastures.

At first the fan base was blasé about the team leaving. Around 50 Oilers fans gathered at City Hall in a “last-ditch” rally effort to keep the Oilers in Houston, but the mood changed once the realization set in that the city would no longer have an NFL team.

While Adams took on much of the criticism, the truth is there was plenty of blame to go around. City leaders weren’t keen on asking taxpayers to fund new stadiums/ballparks/arenas. Home-grown Governor George W. Bush came up with solution to allow localities—after voter approval—to set up sports authorities that could impose a county-wide 2 percent hotel tax, a 5 percent rental car tax, and taxes on parking and tickets, and use sales tax revenues collected at facilities.

In lighting speed, Houston was awarded an expansion franchise over Los Angeles and Toronto in 1999 with the promise of a new, state-of-the-art stadium that would feature a retractable roof and real grass. Football fans were beside themselves and the newly formed Houston Texas shocked the Dallas Cowboys 19–10 on Sept. 8, 2002, becoming just the third expansion team ever to win their first game.

Now, 23 years later, the Houston Texans are hinting at wanting a new stadium. Much has changed over the past two decades. Retractable roofs are less interesting than luxury suites that go from the ground up. Wide open concourses with upscale bars and restaurants and super-fast wi-fi are also must haves in today’s world and when one is trying to lure the almighty Super Bowl.

How did we get here? The Texans (and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo) enjoy the benefits of utilizing NRG stadium, but the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority is responsible for maintaining it. It is estimated that $1.4 billion is needed to bring the stadium up to standards which begs the question, would it be better to pour money into a stadium that may, or may not continue to attract big-time events, or build a new one?

The Texans and Rodeo have a really sweet deal given that the Astros and Rockets are responsible for maintaining Daiken Park and Toyota Center respectively. And, when you factor in that the Texans often get more money in tax rebates than they have to pay in rent, it means taxpayers are essentially paying the team to play at NRG.

Those in favor of a new stadium will tout the economic impact the Super Bowl brings to the community. It was reported Houston saw an impact of $375 million when the city hosted the game in 2017, but not everyone agrees.

“Those {numbers} should be published next to the horoscopes on the comics page,” J.C. Bradbury, a professor of economics at Kennesaw State University told the Houston Chronicle. Data for economic impact studies are often provided by the client resulting in favorable results for them. “These are financial prostitutes providing a service they’re being paid to provide,” said Bradbury.

Putting aside the actual economic impact, New Orleans was able to host this year’s Super Bowl for the eighth time thanks to $560 million in renovations by the Saints and other public entities to the Caesars Superdome, which begs the question, how were they able to keep a stadium that opened in 1975 still relevant and able to attract the big game?

Did the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority fumble the proverbial ball? Was the desire to have an NFL franchise so great that details be damned, we’ll worry about it in 20 years? How are Green Bay (1957), New Orleans (1975) and Kansas City (1972) able to keep their stadiums viable after all these years?

Pearl S. Buck, an American novelist said, “if you want to understand today you have to search yesterday.” It would be nice if those responsible for trying to decide what to do with NRG stadium to take a moment and learn from the past before we end up where we started.

How a football fans food fixation came to be

Posted on February 13, 2025 by bvanrysdam

It can be argued the two most essential elements of what it means to be a westerner New Yorker are the Buffalo Bills and chicken wings. Jim Kelly or Josh Allen? The Anchor Bar or Duffs? These debates help make up the fabric of what being a Buffalonian is all about. What might surprise you though is the unlikely connection the Buffalo Bills and chicken wings have.

During the early years of the franchise, the Buffalo Bills featured a fierce running back named Cookie Gilchrist. For three seasons Gilchrist was an unstoppable force that no one could handle. His talents helped propel the Bills to their first AFL title in 1964 with the fans chanting “Lookie, Lookie here comes Cookie!”.

*Cookie Gilchrist in an early AFL game versus the Houston Oilers*

Gilchrist originally signed with the Cleveland Browns as an undrafted practice squad member in 1954 right out of high school which violated NFL rules, forcing him to play professional football in Canada before joining the Bills. Gilchrist was the first 1,000-yard American Football League rusher, with 1,096 yards in a 14-game schedule earning AFL MVP honors in 1962.

At the same time Gilchrist was tearing up the AFL, a restaurateur named John Young opened Wings & Things, becoming the first to promote chicken wings in the Buffalo telephone book. Young’s wings were uncut, breaded, deep-fried, and served with his secret, tomato-based Mambo Sauce, which is similar to barbecue sauce, but sweeter and a little spicier.

Around the same time, a couple named Frank and Teressa Bellissimo began selling chicken wings at the Anchor Bar, about a mile away from Wings & Things and have been credited by some for coming up with the concept, but Young insisted Frank would stop by his restaurant where he discovered them (in reality, the tasty treat can actually be traced back to 1857 when they were a featured entrée at the Clarendon Hotel).

*Menu from the Clarendon Hotel courtesy of the Buffalo History Museum*

Young, an African American entrepreneur, relied on word of mouth to promote his restaurant which struggled to keep its doors open. He didn’t have marketing dollars to promote his wings and the future looked bleak until a local football player walked in and started what would eventually lead to a $25 billion industry. That player was Gilchrist who was a hero in the Buffalo black community and word soon spread about Young’s restaurant and his chicken wings.

“People would come in buy 500 at a time and take them to the game,” said Adam Richman, food historian. “They have distinct memories of buying them from John Young.”

Wings & Things was located 6 blocks from War Memorial Stadium, home of the Buffalo Bills, which made it easy for fans to skip the stale popcorn and other bland concession items and enjoy what would become a football fans food fixation. Soon other celebrities including James Brown, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and Curtis Mayfield would stop by the restaurant to enjoy what would become a national obsession.

The mid-60’s was a turbulent time for African Americans. Gilchrist was an early civil rights advocate for black athletes and led a successful boycott of New Orleans as the site of the 1965 AFL All-Star game after numerous black players were refused service by area hotels and businesses (the game was moved to Houston’s Jeppesen Stadium).

Sadly, race riots forced Young to close his restaurant which was located in a predominantly black neighborhood, but thanks to his determination and the support of one of the greatest Buffalo Bills of all time, the relationship between the team and his chicken wing are forever linked together in history.

Money Ball

Posted on July 15, 2024 by bvanrysdam

I am old enough to remember a time when one read the sports page, one found stories about sports. In today’s world, that seems to be an antiquated thing.

Take a look at the sports headline from the July 11^th edition of the Houston Chronicle:

Conference to look at all revenue sources

That’s right, the Big 12 Media Day was not focused on the student athletes (more on that later), but rather the all-mighty dollar. The conference is reportedly interested in selling naming rights to the league and possible private equity investment opportunities.

“As we build our brand, we will continue to build our business,” Yormark was quoted as saying in the story. “We will not stumble into this new era following settlement. In fact, we will be aggressive and very proactive.”

Looming on the NCAA future is an antitrust settlement that will reportable payout more than $2.7 billion in back damages and a revenue-sharing model that will pay players for the first time. It was never fair in the first place that the NCAA and its universities collected millions upon millions of dollars with the student athletes not able to collect a dime from their likeness and image while forced to wait before being allowed to transfer watching their head coaches play musical chairs landing jobs on a moment’s notice.”

So I understand why all of this is important, but still; it took 11 paragraphs before we actually got to any actual sports analysis (Utah has been picked as the preseason favorite in football by the way). Now to be fair to the Houston Chronicle, they did other stories from the Big 12 Media Day, but it was this story that had the BIG headline.

Maybe moving forward we can portal transfer these stories to the business section and leave the actual games on the sports page (now you kids get off my yard).

A problematic culture

Posted on January 14, 2020 by bvanrysdam

The reverberations following Major League Baseball’s report on the Astros sign-stealing scandal continues to rock the Houston sports world. It did not take long for Astros owner Jim Crane to “dismiss” A.J. Hinch and Jeff Luhnow once MLB suspended both for the 2020 season (which makes me think Crane knew this was coming and already made the decision before MLB announced the suspensions).

I will leave the impact this will have on the field to the sports experts, but there was something in MLB Commissioners report that caught my eye…

“while no one can dispute that Luhnow’s baseball operations department is an industry leader in its analytics, it is very clear to me that the culture of the baseball operations department, manifesting itself in the way its employees are treated, its relations with other clubs, and its relations with the media and external stakeholders, has been very problematic.”

Manfred pulled no punches in describing the culture established under Luhnow’s leadership. You will recall back in October 2019, the Astros fired assistant general manager Brandon Taubman for targeting female reporters with inappropriate comments regarding relief pitcher Roberto Osuna who was accused of domestic violence when playing for the Toronto Blue Jays.

At first, the Astros disputed what took place calling the reporting “misleading and completely irresponsible.” They then released a mea culpa statement apologizing to Stephanie Apstein (one of the reporters targeted) and to all individuals who witnessed the incident. Taubman is now ineligible to work for any MLB club through the day after the 2020 season ends at which point he will be allowed to apply to commissioner Manfred for reinstatement.

Following the aftermath of Crane’s announcement that Hinch and Luhnow were “dismissed”, the Astros issued a media advisory making Crane available to meet with the media.

Pretty standard stuff, but what caught my eye was the line…

“Please note that media outlets are not permitted to carry the news conference live on the air nor online” (it did note the Astros would stream it on Astros.com).

Maybe I’m too old school (#OKBoomer), but inviting the media to a news conference with the caveat you can’t broadcast it live is wrong. Are they trying to drive traffic to their website? If a media outlet did broadcast it live, they would probably lose their credentials and not be allowed access to the team. I wonder what kind of reaction that would have gotten in markets like New York, or Boston. My guess is not too well.

All this does not bode well for an organization accused of, not only cheating, but having a “problematic” culture of the way it treats media. You would think the Astros would be trying to mend relationships and not continue its usual ways of doing business.

That has to hurt

Posted on April 26, 2019 by bvanrysdam

I always enjoy the NFL draft with its drama and intrigue. I have to admit, I was a little surprised (all right, shocked would be a better word) when I saw the front sports page of the Houston Chronicle.Now I realize Ed Oliver is a local guy and its a great story, but one wonders what the Houston Texans (who had the 23rd pick) felt about that. The chronicle did include a photo of Tytus Howard (postage size) and a story by John McClain on the cover. Admittedly, I am a die-hard Buffalo Bills fan, but even I have to say…

Come on man!!!

Well that lasted all of one week

Posted on February 13, 2017 by bvanrysdam

Super Bowl LI is in the books. The city of Houston did a wonderful job of hosting the mega-event and most people agree the game and the experience was first class. Being the forward looking city we are, Houston is already thinking about the next time the Super Bowl will come to H-Town, but as Lee Corso so famously says; “not so fast my friend.”

The Houston Chronicle ran a buzz-kill story just three days after the big event with the headline “NRG Stadium already dated compared to other Super Bowl venues”. It seems the NRG is fast becoming outdated and will require major updates to compete for Super Bowls, Final Fours and other major events.

City leaders and the NFL will tout the tremendous economic impact the host city enjoys to justify updating/building these modern day coliseums, but like most numbers, it can greatly depend on your point of view. While the Houston numbers are still being calculated, the 2015 Super Bowl held in Arizona reportedly brought in $719m. The state might have taken in that amount in Super Bowl related events, but that number does not take into account the hundreds of millions dollars needed to host the game.

Economists who study these sorts of things put the value more at $30m to $130m, a nice piece of change, but nowhere near the $719m that is promoted.

The game heads north to Minneapolis next year. The Minneapolis Star Tribune published the NFL’s list of demands back in 2014. It’s shows what the NFL expects a city to cough up for the privilege of hosting the big game.

For example:

If placing logos of the NFL, Super Bowl, and teams that are playing in the game on the field requires different turf to be installed in the new downtown Minneapolis stadium, there would be no charge for that to the league.
If cellphone signal strength at the team hotels is not strong enough, then the host committee — at no cost to the league — “will be responsible [for erecting] a sufficient number of portable cellular towers.

The NFL is also requiring the local media “to provide significant advertising and promotional time” for the “NFL Experience” in the month leading up to the game. Among them: At least 20 color pages of free space, in aggregate, in leading daily newspapers to promote the game and four weeks of free promotions on at least six local radio stations, including at least 250 live or prerecorded ads.

Now granted, those “recommendations” are from 2014 and could have been negotiated and changed, but its’ still pretty incredible to force host cities to ensure services like cellphone signal strength meets league standards, but that’s not all the all the Super Bowl requires.

They also don’t want to see laws that discriminate against a transgender person using a restroom that conforms to their gender identity. Given Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s crusade to keep our bathrooms safe, the NFL could say thanks, but no thanks to a Houston bid even if we did build them a multibillion dollar brand-new stadium.

Why are NFL TV ratings down?

Posted on November 7, 2016 by bvanrysdam

Something strange is happening with the NFL. No, it’s not that the Dallas Cowboys have a shot at playing in this year’s Super Bowl at NRG Stadium with a backup quarterback, but rather TV ratings are down.

How down? Ratings giant Nielsen is reporting Monday Night Football is down 20 percent. Sunday Night Football is off by 18.5 percent and Thursday Night Football is down 21.8 percent.

The NFL is blaming the “unprecedented” interest in the presidential election, but someone who knows a little about sports and broadcasting has a different theory.

Back in 2014 when the NFL signed an eight game Thursday Night Football deal, Mark Cuban predicted that the NFL was overreaching and would soon see an implosion.

“I’m just telling you: Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. And they’re getting hoggy,”said Cuban. “Just watch. Pigs get fat, hogs get slaughtered. When you try to take it too far, people turn the other way. I’m just telling you, when you’ve got a good thing and you get greedy, it always, always, always, always, always turns on you. That’s rule No. 1 of business.”

Now to be fair, there could be many reasons for the decline if viewership.

Games are filled with commercials and penalties and take way too long to play. Back in 2013, The average length of a game was three hours and 12 minutes and included 20 commercial breaks with more than 100 ads.
The match-ups have been terrible. When the announcers are talking about whether or not they make their beds in the fourth quarter of the Tennessee – Jacksonville game, you know it’s a snoozer.
Smart phones give fans access to game information with real time scores, stats and news without having to watch the actual game.

Granted we are only talking about a handful of games so far, and now that the election is here and the World Series is done, ratings could return to last year’s numbers. Still one wonders how worried the league is over what could be a ratings tremor, or seismic shift.

Do you believe in miracles?

Posted on May 2, 2016 by bvanrysdam

There is an implausible sports story taking place involving the sport of soccer. Now before you go off on your “soccer is boring” rant, you need pay attention, because you just missed out on what could be considered he greatest sports story of all time.

Across the pond is a soccer organization called the Premier League which is host to England’s greatest clubs. Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City are but a few of the elite squads looking to be crowned champions. These clubs spend big bucks on top name players and fans demand nothing the title every year.

And then there is Leicester City. Nobody gave them a chance. The Brits, who love to bet on anything and everything, had them as 5,000 to 1 long-shots to win it all. It is even more unbelievable when you consider that a year ago, Leicester City barely escaped relegation and entered bankruptcy protection seven years ago.

According to published reports, Leicester City had a payroll of £48.2 million ranking them 17 out of 20 clubs. Chelsea (last year’s champions) spent £215.6 million. That alone should help this into perspective for you.

So Leicester City winning it all is huge. How huge? The infamous Miracle on Ice game had the U.S. men’s hockey team as 1,000 to 1 underdogs. The N.Y. Mets winning the 1969 World Series, 100 to 1. Broadway Joe guaranteeing the N.Y. Jets would beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III was considered outrageous, but the odds makers only had them as 10 to 1 underdogs.

Maybe you don’t love or even like soccer, but who doesn’t love Cinderella.

Finger-Pointing fans

Posted on January 11, 2016 by bvanrysdam

There has been a lot of finger pointing in the wake of the Houston Texans 30 – 0 play-off loss to the K.C. Chiefs. They main villain is Q.B. Brian Hoyer, who safe to say, had a pretty bad game, but the blame cannot and should fall on just on his shoulders.

While stats don’t win games, it is interesting to note that Houston and K.C. had the exact same number of plays (62), but K.C. had a big advantage in time of possession (34:25 vs. 25:35). K.C. also averaged 5.1 yards per play meaning they basically earned a first down every two plays.

And let’s talk about dropped passes. Nat Washington was open on many plays but could not hold onto the ball (when Hoyer wasn’t throwing it to a Chief). Ryan Griffin had a chance to put the Texans on the goal line, but could not come up with the catch. Going into the game, the Texans had an NFL-worst 28 drops out of 328 catchable passes in 2015, the Houston offense is at the bottom of the League in that category.

Do we even want to bring up having J.J. Watt try to run the ball behind Vince Woolfolk?

Yes, Hoyer had an awful game, but the team was only down by 13 points at halftime with the hometown faithful booing their beloved Texans back to the locker room. Hoyer does not call the plays, but I would be curious to know why the Texans attempted 34 passes vs. rushing the ball 25 times. The Texans were gaining an average of 4.6 yards per rush. That sure looks better than Hoyer dropping back into the pocket.