Wonderful

I just got back from a debate tournament in Shreveport yesterday (I was just judging, unfortunately, but Tulane did fairly well for just our 2nd tournament in the last twenty years). Apparently, the Rockets got their asses kicked on Friday, but handed out some whoopass to the Hornets Saturday. Good deal. Why does everyone think the Hornets are so awesome, anyways?

On the other hand, the Texans gave out another lesson in choking to their fans today (I didn't see it, fortunately; I was in the car at the time).

You know, I got into a discussion (argument) with a Titans fan not long ago about the Adams-Oilers legacy. I was saving this for the next Shitfuckers-Texans game, but I'll go ahead and write it down. I hear two typical arguments from those toothless fucks up north:

1. Houston was just as responsible as Adams. (Traitorous Houstonians might even blame Bob Lanier or Drayton)

There are a few obvious problems with this. First, you're essentially transfering agency from Adams to Houston, and that's idiotic. Nobody can truly force us to do anything. We choose what we do. And Adams chose to move the team.

The city of Houston correctly surmised that Adams was full of shit. He had attempted to move the team to Jacksonville in 1986, and that was only stopped by remodeling the Dome. Taking out the massive scoreboard cost more (inflation adjusted) than building the whole Dome did in 1964. We're still paying for that today. Bottom line: Adams lied to all of us when he said that the Dome modifications would keep the team in Houston.

Now, Adams had a legit beef with his lease situation. He was essentially paying Drayton to play in the Astrodome. But his response was stupid. Instead of proposing a semi-reasonable stadium, he came up with the extravagant Bud Dome. As a refresher, the Bud Dome would have been a downtown stadium with an adjustable indoor roof. Bud intended the stadium to be used by the Rockets, who would lower the roof to create a more intimant atmosphere.

The problem was that Les Alexander didn't lend his support to the idea. And rightfully so - it was an awful one. But Bud continued to pressure the city to accept the proposal, even while he repeatedly moved the planned location around. In short, the Bud Dome was never more than a dream, and an expensive one at that.

So when Bob Lanier told Bud to shove it, he was just seeing through Bud's bullshit.

2. It's Bud's legacy and Bud's team, not Houston's.

Yeah, it's legally Bud's team. No one is arguing that. No one ever argued that.

But we have to view sports franchises as cultural monuments. There would be something wrong with moving the Liberty Bell from Philly. There would be something wrong with moving Greek frescoes to England (and, indeed, that's why there are so many lawsuits about it). Yes, these are private entities, but the name, records, uniforms, etc. are cultural elements that belong to the region in which they gained their meaning.

Frankly, I don't give a shit about the Titans. They're just another shitty franchise in a shitty city (just like Jacksonville or Carolina). But the pre-1997 Oilers were ours. And they should be here. It's unfortunate that, unlike Cleveland, Houstonians' efforts to preserve the Oiler name (the one good thing Tom DeLay ever did) never came through.

Anyways, that's beating a dead horse at this point.

After yesterday's loss to Indy, however, I think DC Richard Smith really will be losing his job. I've mentioned my support for the idea of hiring the (likely) soon-to-be-fired Wade Phillips as DC. The shift to a 3-4 scheme would take time, but I imagine that the Texans players can make the adjustment. Or, if they can't, I imagine that GM Rick Smith, Gary Kubiak, and whomever they interview for the job can tell. I think Amobi Okoye would fit better as a 3-4 DE, anyways.