DJ V Lawrence
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Everything posted by DJ V Lawrence
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SOME kind of parking would have to be added if the Astrodome became a hotel. Might as well become conservative with Reliant Park's surface lots...
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U brought up a good point. Say the Astrodome does go through as a hotel. Why can't there be underground parking in Reliant Park? Wasn't part of the issue with the Texans a ramp for parking in the Dome? They could have a few underground event parking places for Reliant Center, the Dome Hotel, and perhaps for the Texans as well under the current parking spaces. And STILL use the surface lots for parking/tailgate parties. After that, sell the parking spaces across the street from Reliant Stadium to another urban development entrepeneuer to get some or most of the money back for the new parking construction. Couldn't that work?
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I just read the rest of that article on Washington. D.C United's plans for their new stadium sound reasonable and impressive. It would currently be the biggest MLS stadium around (hopefully until Dynamo come into the picture). The Redskins, though? Their new stadium is only 10 years old this year.
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Does it matter? I thought Dungy and Lovie of the Bears and Colts broke that barrier already. Whatever race our coaches or players are, if we end up with a worse record than last season, I'll be equally pissed...
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He looks like he's at head-level with the people in the row behind him
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I'm asking about Domanick Davis/Williams
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Looked like he was ready to block Congress itself
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I think it may soon be neccesary to have it mixed-use, and also around the Downtown/MMP area, and if not, any neighborhood or area along light rail (Midtown, Reliant, etc.) I hope and think it will happen. Why? Chances are higher that we'll be landing an NHL francihse in Toyota Center. Even if the Penguins don't move here, there's plenty of other teams who may be looking for a new owner or city (case in point, the Florida Panthers). Toyota Center would then have three professional teams playing there, and possibly a minor league team too if the Aeros stayed there. Concert space at the new Dynamo stadium would make the stadium highly occupied when it wasn't gameday. That's also why I hope they go retractable roof. Say they make a stadium between 25-40K seats. That'd still be perfect for events non-soccer. They wouldn't have to worry about the unpredictable weather during those events. Have outdoor events like motorcross, and indoor like the ones at Toyota that may not come here because of lack of 15,000+ seating. MMP and Reliant are aight 4 concerts, but not as good as Toyota. Perhaps we could pull it off with the Dynamo project. And I think it should be part of a bigger development project like the ones in Washington and NY/NJ. Have that project across from MMP, or at the old Astroworld site (where they already announced they plan a major urban development there), and it would do wonders for both the city and the team. We can lose if we do that, and MLS will be growing in attendance and quality. They're not going anywhere anytime soon.
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Yo check this out. http://web.mlsnet.com/t103/stadium/poplar_point/ DC United's new stadium is part of a mixed-use development. New York Red Bull as well...
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Americans love having the best quality behind their sports. We have the best American-style football in the world. America isn't the best in baseball, hockey, or basketball right now, but we have the strongest baseball, hockey, and basketball league avaliable on the market right now. Regardless of how much I love soccer and enjoy watching MLS, it's not even in the top five in terms of best quality soccer-football on the planet. It's getting there, though. More people are taking MLS seriously talent and fan-wise, and more people are interested in watching soccer in America in non-World Cup years than at anytime I can recall in my lifetime (I'm 24). I think that's a safe assumption.
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I don't think there's a debate there; football is definately more complicated. The ways you can score, the penalties that can be called, and the amount of positions on the field far outnumber soccer, and any American sport I can think of at the top of my head. Strategy wise, I'd say football and soccer use just as much. The difference is the fact that football is a game of battles. Make a play, playing stops as both teams plan the next play, then make the next play. There's timeouts, stopping the clock in numerous ways, four quarters, coaches' challenges, and a two minute warning timeout per half, while during all that time, the commercial guys can do their thing, and the analysts and fans can try to guess what will happen next. Soccer is a flat-out war. The clock only stops at halftime. Play only stops when the half finishes, or when someone's injured or fouled hard enough. The strategy being called sponteneously throughout the game, and each player with the ball is their own QB.
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It's not insulting at all; I see where you're coming from. The problem with American soccer isn't the fact that we have a lack of fans. They're here just like anywhere else. But similar to what you said, the quality of our biggest soccer league is not the same or better speed/quality of other soccer leagues worldwide that have been around longer and have their fanbase set up already. Our national team is really improving talent wise because half the players are playing in the top European leagues, while the other half play in America's MLS. I think MLS can eventually become as prestigous as the Premiership or other European leagues, but I think we all agree that it won't happen overnight, with one big name signing, or one year with a big tournament. Even if we won the World Cup and proved we were the best in the world, MLS will still need to keep growing. As MLS keeps increasing it's level as it has, it's fanbase will grow along with it. Every demographic, too.
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According to ESPN, there's an estimated 60 million soccer fans in the United States. Sounds like a lot to work with.
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I wasn't aware of the fact that Anschultz owns the Kings. Good point. Also remember that Beckham's recieving around 20% of his $50 Million from Anshultz, and $400,000 from MLS a year. MLS certainly isn't breaking the bank for this deal. They're gonna make MAD bank. I think with all that money behind Beckham's $40 Million a year endorsement contracts, you'll be seeing a lot of him on television for the next 5 years. Univision has also jumped on the bandwagon with ABC, and both ESPN for MLS games, but that may also be because of Superliga. Here's the million-dollar question though. Will Superliga become the next UEFA Champions Cup in the world of sports, or will it become meaningless?
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Isn't the Houston Pavillions project somewhere around that spot? Why couldn't that project include a 24-hour grocery or drug store?
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I think that's sucks seeing MBar turn into a Walgreens/CVS. I remember seeing a couple vacant spots right there on the Main Street Square. Why would they want to close down a club when they could have gotten the same size space in vacant spaces across the street? Now we still have vacant spots on the supposedly hottest clubbing area in Houston, a popular club is closed, and we have a drugstore to show for it. It's not even a grocery store. That's not the answer to a Flagship or Signature store downtown, if needed.
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I don't follow FC Dallas, but I know quite a few De Rosario and Ching fans here in da SWAT for Dynamo. Part of the reason why the games here are so fun is because of Kinner's coaching style; just keep attacking every part of the ball. I'd say the biggest reason to watch this season is because there's so much more to fight for. If Dynamo were to win Superliga, the CONACAF Cup, and/or the MLS Cup, it'd put Houston right up there with DC United and Galaxy as the teams vying to become a superclub in the coming years.
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That's a good questionable. But I do think it's safe to say that GRB Convention Center looks a lot more attractive for big conventions in 2009 than it did in 1999. The Hilton Americas, two sports stadiums, and downtown park surrounding it, plus the shopping and entertainment that will also be in close proximity, probably didn't hurt GRB any. I think the Astrodome Hotel would help Reliant Park. The area surrounding Reliant Park has potential as well so long as Reliant Park stays competitive.
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It wouldn't surpise me if there were scouts all over Houston's leagues. There's probably more soccer youth league participants in Houston than any other sport. There's also more people watching these youth leagues than there are people watching high school and college soccer as well. That's another problem with American world sports. There's minimal fan and college support for high school and college soccer compared to just about any other college sport, yet the rewards of winning the greatest prize in soccer are WAY more rewarding than that of any other sport. We knew about Reggie Bush and Vince Young, but we have no clue who may be the next Clint Dempsey to represent our country. That could change though in time. I think it would take perhaps five or ten high schools to start off with that make soccer a major emphasis, plus three or five Houston-area universities to do the same (St. Thomas, Rice, HBU, UH, TSU, Prarrie View, etc.). Let's say Houston Dynamo were to have a direct program with those schools in terms of talent development, kinda as they do with youth programs outside school. They also have one game in the Houston-area designated as the game of the week, where Houston Dynamo reps were to be there, as well as a popular radio station broadcasting from that game (97.9, 104.1, 101.1, 104.9, etc.), and give out t-shirts or something. Also, for that game only, have both school's bands show up and battle it out. In high school alone, I bet many more would show up. In the college's case, the fan presence probably wouldn't be as effective, but the talent would be much more influenced knowing that the players could be the next ones drafted, and there's scouts at the game. Remember, the NCAA soccer champs in 2006 were Jim Rome's alma-mater UC-Santa Clara. If they can win it, ANYBODY can win it.
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If everyone is healthy come playoff time, I think the Rockets are the team to beat. The last few years, it's been the Mavs and Spurs that looked dangerous. The team's playing great, and the best player on the team is injured. They're only gonna get better after these four games. I agree that if they're able to win at least 2 of the next 4 with out Yao Ming, that's definately a statement.
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Ah, from one dj to another We all agree that the Astrodome is iconic. It's Houston's landmark. Egypt would never consider tearing down the Pyramids, and San Antonio has their Alamo. It's strange that an old stadium is considered an icon for any city, but it's building was an architectural first-of-it's-kind. That's known. We can't keep it as it is, though. It's way too expensive. As is, there's no money being made, and the previous debt is just increasing by the month because of it's vacancy. The only team looking for a new stadium in Houston is Houston Dynamo, but that requires natural grass, and the dome would still need at least $100 Million for revitalization. The hotel is the best deal because it would keep the integrity of the outer-structure, and turn Reliant Park into a one-of-a-kind sports mecca. Every NFL stadium would LOVE to have an entertainment option to add to it's future Super Bowl bids, and the Texans sure could use that if they ever want to host one again after all these new stadiums get built.
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Battier, Howard, and Mutumbo are all MONSTERS! I knew Battier has the best years ahead of him, but wussup with the Howard and Mutumbo comebacks?! Is Deke REALLY 40?! Wussup with him blocking all these poor rookies?! He's still the D-Bo of the NBA!!!
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Good point, yo.
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First off, when it comes to football, baseball, basketball, hockey, and soccer, soccer was the one with more colorful characters, rich rivalries, wild feuds, and mayhem than any other. That's why it's the world's #1 sport. The difference is that American soccer clubs haven't had those storied rivalries. In the states, we try to sell Red Sox Vs. Yankees, Cowboys vs Redskins, etc.. MLS hasn't been around long enough to have a rivalry that compares to either one of those. Soccer itself has, though. Here's something else from that same article: To make the average sports fan care, to make the MLS truly "major," requires dozens of flashy players, wild crowds, impassioned rivals, outrageous antics and over-the-top news coverage. This is America; subtle doesn't sell here. With the exception of the over-the-top news coverage, everything else has been slowly developing in MLS before Beckham's signing went public. Becks is only one factor. You'll see plenty more flashy players, larger and wilder crowds, and more rivalry than ever before (LA vs. Houston, LA vs. DC United, Houston vs. FC Dallas, etc.). The over-the-top news coverage may or may not come, but that will depend on if the media is in touch with the sports world watching now more than before. Clint Dempsley (and I think Beasley as well) will probably eventually come back to MLS. Until then, let them stay in Europe, develop their skills there, and take it to the US Team come World Cup time. His signing to Fulton, and Beasley's success at Manchester City, have proven to the world that MLS is a talent haven, and gives the states and world a reason to watch MLS AND European soccer. It's gonna be a while before Club World Cup becomes more coveted than UEFA. It's coming, though. It'd be crazy if Houston won that, though. The TRUE World Champs!
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U just reminded me of something. Wasn't there a jump in ticket sales and media on Houston baseball when it was announced that Roger Clements signed with the 'Stros a couple years ago? It's gonna be a CRAZY year!! It was announced that Beckham will indeed be there for Superliga. If he's not there for opening game in April, his debut will be against Chivas Guadalajara at the L.A. Colliseum to open the tournament. Probably the match of the decade!! It's a great year for Houston also. We'll also be hosting the Gold Cup again. That's five major soccer cups in H-Town in 2007. Rumor has it that there will eventually be two World Cups; one for countries, and one for clubs. Both stopping the world. Problem is the conflicting schedules between all the leagues, though.