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worldlyman

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  1. Hmm. I wonder if the David Carr bashers would ponder the idea of having Tony Romo here instead. Maybe Rivers or Brees too while they're at it. They'd have Andre J as the only primary weapon with a still befuddled and beleaguered O-line, incapacitated running game and defense still figuring it out (though improving)...yep, any of those guys will have everything pretty as daisies with the Texans. Touchdown bombs galore, light up the scoreboard! (Gosh, to be on the Cowboys' bandwagon right now.)
  2. I remember the games from '82 and '85. In '82, Giff Nielsen threw an 82 yard something bomb to someone to give the Oilers a 7-0 lead. Then it was all down hill from there. In '85, Danny White seemed to have a tough time trying to beat the horrible Oilers. But in all, the Oilers have played the Cowboys tough historically and we all know that. It's not that much of a one-sided history. And that one game in 1994 when the Cowboys won 21-17...the Cowboys fans' reaction to that one is still so comical to this day. At least true Oiler fans were still on their team's bandwagon as long as they put up a good, tough fight despite losing practically all their Pro-Bowlers. But the 'Boys' showed how mostly bandwagon their fans are even after a tough win. But looking at the future, Texans are at least tied with the Cowboys 1-1. We'll get those 'Boys next time and get up 2-1.
  3. The times I remember the Oilers on Thanksgiving Day was when I was a kid, first starting to watch football...in 1979, Earl Campbell ripped like an 84 yarder on the Cowboys. Oilers 30 Cowboys 24 In 1988, with a surging Warren Moon, when the Oilers would at least make the playoffs seven years in a row. Oilers 25 Cowboys 17 In 1991, the Oilers beat the Detroit Lions with a beautiful screen, Cody Carlson (subbing for Moon) to Lorenzo White. Oilers 24 Lions 21 In 1997, the Tennessee (still) Oilers demolished the Cowboys. I remember both teams were 6-5 and were still alive for playoff contention. Boom. OL man Erik Norgard checked in as a tight end and snuck a TD pass from Steve McNair and the rout was on, Cowboys knocked out of the playoffs. The Oilers abused the Cowboys that day, snatching balls from Dallas receivers and what not. I remember when secondary player Marcus Robertson of the Oilers said something like, "We did this for you Houston fans still on the bandwagon!" Oilers 27 Cowboys 14 So, while the Oilers did not snag any Super Bowl trophies, well, why not do the next best thing and make the Dallas Cowgirls their b-----s on Turkey Day? Some interesting Oilers vs Cowboys memories: In 1991, the Oilers beat the surging Cowboys in the Astrodome. Both teams finished 11-5 in the reg. season. The veteran savvy Oilers forced a costly Dallas turnover in the closing moments. Oilers 24 Cowboys 21 Then in 1994, the Cowboys coming off a Super Bowl year demolished a tough Pittsburgh team in Week 1; the Oilers now with Moon gone as well as the likes of Sean Jones and other Pro-Bowlers were destroyed in Indy...both teams were to meet in Week 2. The arrogant Dallas fans were like asking if the 14 point spread against the Oilers was measured in touchdowns. But the second string Oiler quarterback Bucky Richardson and a hustling Houston defense almost beat the heavily favored Cowboys, frustrating Emmitt Smith so much that he even took his helmet off and slammed it into the Texas Stadium turf. Even though the Cowboys won, I recall the radio shows where the Dallas "fans" vented how mad they were because did not blow the Oilers out. In the Houston sports bar where my buds and I saw the game, the normally frustrated Oiler fans there actually felt proud and hopeful at the their team's effort. The 2-14 Oilers were in definite rebuild mode while the 12-4 Cowboys would later lose to San Fran in the playoffs. Cowboys 21 Oilers 17
  4. The Texans are achieving a lot this year: already matched last year's 2 win total. The David Carr to Andre Johnson tandem is emerging and the offense is doing some good stuff even without their stand-out Dom Davis this year. Hopefully, the defense will pick up on it and get better (offseason changes pending). The Cowboys are now in a funk at QB...especially when it comes to playing good teams. I've read posts about the "superior" Dallas Cowboys on a number of Texans and Cowboys forums from the Big D fans. Soooo...going on to about the halfway point of the 2006 NFL season...the "superior" Dallas Cowboys are only ONE game better than the supposedly "terrible" Houston Texans.
  5. For all the panicking and whining about the supposedly pathetic Texans and that Kubiak is a failure just like Dom Capers that we read about in various forums: The Texans already matched last year's two win total...and are only one game behind the Jags, a projected contender, for a possible wild card! Sure, the Jags are a franchise that the Texans seem to play well against...they are nonetheless a quality opponent that almost beat the Colts in Indy and did beat the Cowboys.
  6. Well, the Dom Capers Era certainly didn't work. When they upped to 7-9 in 2004, things seemed like they were going to get better. Then somewhere the bottom fell out. Enter the Gary Kubes Era. I believe he will eventually get the people he wants to suit his system which works so well in Denver. This is still a very young franchise that merely ended Phase I and is now entering Phase II. Sometimes Phase I doesn't work out, as it was the case here. What are you gonna do? At least the Texans did pick a proven winner in Kubes who will need some time with this advent of Phase II. No one can deny the noticeable improvement in the offense...and this is considering Dom Davis isn't even available this year. Sure, the running game sucks. But aren't there teams out there whose running games would suck if their projected or star running back had to sit out the year? One great positive is the growing chemistry between Carr and AJ. The defense is a big project, to be sure. But perhaps, defense can feed on the offense. And once Dom Davis is up and healthy, that should be a good windfall for the Texans' O next year. Quit moaning and groaning, there's nothing the Texans can do except move forward and sweep out the ashes. And the forward does look better.
  7. I thought the Jags beat the Cowboys. Two wins against the 'Skins and Titans, two losses to the Jags and the Eagles. Cowboys are 2-2.
  8. I'm on the bright side of the boat too, DJ V. David Carr has a fairly solid rating right now. Andre Johnson has been stepping up, being the No. 1 receiver for the Week despite the fiasco against the 'Skins. The weapons are in place. Some like Mario need to come to fruition but yeah, we should not expect Bruce Smith, Javon Kearse or Reggie White out of the gate even if we would like to. But football is a team sport and when the team dynamics are being worked on, it's going to hurt for a while. Plus going up against two of the best teams in the NFL like the Philly Eagles and Indy Colts to start off? Just unfortunate. NFL fans are into instant gratification, Texans jeerers here among them. Yeah, I get frustrated with the Texans' growing pains but it's a new system in place with Coach Gary Kubiak. I do believe that he has the team in the right direction. Out of the painful losses, we see the postitives, especially with what Carr can do. No doubt, though, that the Texans defense really sucked it up badly against the Redskins, making Mark Brunell look better than Peyton Manning for a day, and is right now the real concern. More so than the offense. I still say "whatever" to those fans and sportswriters who say the Texans are stupid for not taking Reggie Bush. Dom Davis, a very strong running back, was supposed to be the projected starter...and hey what if Bush goes down the next game, heaven forbid? Coach Kubes is simply carrying on what he did in Denver...developing the running backs, a proven system which produced the juggernauts like of Clinton Portis, Olandis Gary and Mike Anderson out of nowhere and two Super Bowl championships. I agree with the thinking, based on what Kubes accomplished in the Mile High City and the money that could be saved for more players in the near future, rather than frontloading on a big name like Reggie Bush even if he is a big impact player.
  9. I really LOVED that drive-thru sushi place at the corner of Sage/Richmond Ave back in 1998-99 or such. (It's what Coffee Guy used to occupy later.) They eventually moved to the Meyerland shopping center and became a Miyako's attachment called Little Miyako and was not quite the same anymore. The teriyaki beef bowls at the old semi deco drive-thru while not being anything close to sumptuous or delicate like the actual Japanese way...were still really hearty meals in themselves. They just had a different taste. And I liked the pretty and smiling girls that worked there...
  10. Here's a cool on-line reference on Houston history organized by years/decades, if it hasn't been posted here already. http://www.houstonhistory.com/sitemap/history4b.htm
  11. Broncos don't wear blue trousers though for their road whites. In blue, yeah, there's quite a bit of heavy similarity. The Denver design is really the new stuff whereas the Texans' unis still have a conservative stripe to offset the nouveaux swoosh. I think the Texans' red jersey look is awful though. Discard, discard. And a cool alternative look for the Texans' white uniform is blue shoulders, red stripe, blue numbers with white trousers (or blue). Blue home uniforms should be the same blue because the "Battle Red" jerseys are awful (unless they offset decently with blue trousers). Richard Justice is kinda annoying because while I don't mind him being hard on David Carr...stay off the uniforms, bud. Just because it's a Houston team doesn't mean he has to belittle the Texans' unis as he did a few months ago. He said the Green Bay Packers have a nice classic look, for crying out loud. I'm a degreed graphic designer...the Cheeseheads' team have the most awful uniform, in my opinion. Traditional sentiment is not always a clear value when judging uniforms. (I don't think David Carr had a horrible game against the Broncos. He picked it up in the second and third quarters moving the team even if he had no touchdown tosses and popped that terrible pick.) The Tennessee Titans don't have bad looking uniforms...provided they wear white trousers with the white jerseys. Or make the helmets blue. Look how unbalanced their white road look is when they wear blue trousers with white jerseys. In graphic design, the dominant color should not be too heavy, up or down, against white. And when the Titans wear the alternative Columbia blue...look how goofy the uniform is: white helmet, light baby-blue shirts and dark blue pants. Terrible sense of design whoever assembles that grid-iron wardrobe.
  12. Like Coaster, I thought the name Apollos was a good choice back in 2000 or so when the name was being pondered. I also had Challengers up there as well. It turns out the Texans' uniforms and design are really cool...so by now I think Lonestars would be an appropriate and great name for the visual theme.
  13. The Texans' system seems solid, especially when we see the reserves actually still making plays and putting up yards and points. It's preseason, to be sure...but I llike the fact that the system is functioning so far. David Carr had trouble with the Rams' new look defense but it's amazing how the Houston reserves got to shredding. The system is so far, so good, Mr. Kubes. Carr will be good in the system I think. And he and the starters are about to put in 3/4 time in the imminent preseason games. Interesting to see how he comes along this year with benefit of change.
  14. I realize it's a non-issue right now but I keep thinking about it now and then...still. When I read other media or hear other media people outside of Texas, there is the tendency to call the Houston NFL team..."Texas." Nick Canepa, a fine sportswriter for the San Diego Union-Tribune, did. "Texas" or "Texans" are one and the same when these folks are being overloaded with too much in a hectic day, or Texas is just one of those places it seems. My buddy in San Diego when I lived there also referred to NFL Houston as "Texas." My mom, a Buccaneer fan here in the Tampa Bay area (a former Houstonian herself) even referred to the Texans as the "Titans" when she meant to say the former (I plan to watch the upcoming Texans vs Bucs preseason game at her place). To Bob McNair...people have a problem with the name, however minor...but it is constant. I dig the Texans' uniforms...really cool design, no matter what negatives Richard "Green Bay Packers uniforms are neat" Justice had to say. Those "Texans" unis would do a name "Houston Lonestars" justice, wouldn't they? Too many references to Houston as "Texas" kinda gets me thinking or confused with the college teams around, if you ask me. Changing names shouldn't be that impossible for pro sports teams if they did it for the Washington Bullets, Tennessee Oilers and what not. The Houston Lonestars. I like it. It fits the uniforms they have.
  15. I"ve been to the Navy Pier. For Chi-town, it works. But for the Enchanted Island, I'd rather have something that wraps the coast or adds to already festive sidewalk environment or complements the trolley rather than something that sticks out into the water, detracting from the street scene.
  16. The one regret for me with the upcoming Houston Pavilions, if I can consider it as such, is that I am not working at South Texas College of Law anymore. To think if they had the Pavilions already back in my time there, 1994-2001. I'd being eating 'em up...taking two hour lunch breaks. But I'm sure I'd have still been doing my 45 minute tunnel walks...good for the heart. But we move on. Keep building!
  17. In the Sunset Strip, it is pretty cool just to sit in the patio of Hollywood Hustler (eclectic BarnesNobles newstand with fun toys and novelties) with a java or two...and watch people go by. That's a good example of a late-night bookstore even if it's not a 24 hour place. There also some good late night diners there, one or two that are 24 hour. But there was a cool diner in downtown Houston, Century Diner or something, open 24 hours on the weekends, that shuttered. (One factor I think was the construction.) Frank's Pizza is an invaluable late night eatery on the weekends. I just wish Mai's or Biba's Greek were on Main St. next to some of the clubs. Kaveh Kaneh's closing makes me more than a little sad. And I don't know about those who remembered, but the no-stu-oh next to Dean's Credit Clothing was a joy of an off-beat coffeehouse to hang out in, a sort of contrast to the mostly trendy downtown experience. I remembered when I would get a coffee at no-tsu-oh, walk around the block (or two) and then return the mug! There was a true urban vibe to Main St. pre-rail on those Fridays and Saturdays. The rush of cars, heavy sidewalk traffic...it was so exhilarating. The Main St. of today, when they close it off on Fridays and Saturdays, kinda brings a packaged feel sort of like 6th St. or the Ybor City of olde. But that's OK. The H-town Pavilions will certainly change the dynamic outside of Main.
  18. How do we keep NoD...,er, downtown Houston's nightlife stable? We have discussed the decline of Deep Ellum here to a small degree. Tampa's version of it called Ybor City is suffering the same fate with the almost the exact symptoms and cause. These were core nightlife areas i their towns. http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=120271 As a former Tampa Bay resident, I'll say that whereas 1980s Deep Ellum's genesis was artsy, Ybor was always more of a yahoo 6th Street...but it had its share of fancy restaurants and trendy boutiques. I remember when downtown Houston's nightlife exploded circa 1998-2001...it was tempered artificially, namely the Main Street Reconstructive Surgery. But post-2001, I'd been a San Diego resident save for eight months in Houston (from the Super Bowl to late July 2004). So I find it hard to gauge downtown H-town's nocturnal swing these days. But in Labor Day Weekend 2005, I sampled it on a Saturday...it was healthy enough but it didn't seem as mindblowing as 2000 or 2001. H-town Pavilions will certainly add extra measures of health when fully realized for sure. So, how does downtown Houston's nocturnal entertainment scene keep its overall baseline vitality going? At least, can it keep its more "sophisticated" demographic rather than downgrading to the yahoos and gangbangers of nowaday Ybor City and Deep Ellum? Deep Ellum and Ybor City are very much peripheral to their respective downtowns whereas Main St/Travis andtheir crosses are right in the heart. "Centro Ybor" was very much a Pavilions type of construct but it seems to be floundering now. And there is even a free trolley that goes from Ybor to the more "mature" Channelside entertainment district (it's interesting how they didn't mix-n-share the commerce and demographic). So does geography play a part? Is the architectural context along with the adjacent resources like the Toyota Center, Houston Pavilions and Theater District too substantial to allow a devolution?
  19. All the times I've pre-partied, partied and post-partied at Shepherd Plaza back in the day...I've never eaten at Star. My wife says it is awesome. I took a date to Barry's Pizza before (before I got married, I think), we got the supreme and I remember it was quite good. I like Frank's downtown but I dig Barry's a bit better even if they're not open as late as the former. Someone mentioned CostCo some posts back...yeah, their slices are actually better than OK. The sick thing is...I actually prefer frozen pizza like DiGiorno's over going to a parlor or getting delivery. Man, I'm getting hungry for a slice or two...
  20. When I was about 19 and used to collect comic books, there was a comic book store in what was once Westbury Square that I frequented. At the time, I didn't have many urban concerns, just the latest issue of X-Men or Justice League or Elementals. But the Westbury Square was very lovely as I remembered. It was dying at that point in 1988, not much in business but the structure as such was very quaint, like a theme from some English countryside village in a National Geographic picture. It is sad that it's mostly torn down...and now an ugly and wretched Home Depot strip has taken its place! Looking back, I miss the place.
  21. I like the way that Kirby starts as you leave the freeway toward Richmond. The art-deco looking building (across the street where the strip containing the old Jamaica Jamaica was) with the flush, wide sidewalks is a cool welcome of sorts. I hope that the new developments will reflect that...become something like a smaller-scaled version of L.A.'s Wilshire.
  22. The recent color renderings at the Houston Pavilions website are beautiful! When it's finally built, I think in context with the rest of its environs, those drawings won't do them justice. Downtown H-town has a chance to be the Sun Belt's neat little slice of Tokyo or Times Square. If they can refurbish around the Pavilions even more, it's the start of something great. Good things come to good cities that wait. San Diego's downtown got a 13 year head start in 1985 with the dawn of the Horton Plaza, still an awesome place to hang out...but now that it's just about fulfilled out here...some serious architectural criticism is that the Gas Lamp in general is nothing but a Disneyland for grownups. Houston's potential is far greater yet. In contrast, downtown Houston, which commenced rebirth in 1998 with Bayou Place, already has beautiful urban canyons like Smith St. and Main/Travis...with the burgeoning nightlife... the Pavilions is the second catalyst that's an even much greater one than the big bad bunker on Smith@Texas was.
  23. You can grab a cone at the wonderful Stucchi's Ice Cream or have a cup of joe at Gordon's Coffee (used to be called Doc Java, a coffee bar as a repository for upward artists), eat some decent Italian at Corelli's, or slightly overpriced, yuppified Vietnamese at Cafe Asia....and then see a flick at that cool Edward's Cinema just behind. I wonder why there is not a stream of folks who go back and forth between the eateries and the movie theater...it's very, very do-able that way. I've done that on some occasions when I lived in Houston.
  24. I haven't been in Houston since July 2004 so I don't know if downtown Houston of right now has those perpetual "same ol' white Christmas lights" that you speak of. If so, then you are right, they need to go. And thusly, without them, Houston's normal downtown lighting from the office building windows is still unique; it fills out the outline of the skyline rather dramatically nonetheless. Most of these skylines on "Traveler's magazine" are rather lackluster as such compared to Houston's. Do we need to get riled up because of lighting? I don't think so. Just because they have pretty lighting doesn't mean they make me breathless. I like Vegas at night but without those super accents, that nocturnal skyline is nothing really. Ditto with Miami and Austin. I live in San Diego, and there's no skyline here, day or night, really worth writing home about. I always get breathless when I drive down south on I-45 at night...looking up at downtown H-town's bold outlines. I mean that sight is just so awesome. And I certainly am not the only one who gets that rush... I never get the same breathlessness when I drive east on Dallas' 35-E at night. It's a charming sight, sure, but to me doesn't have the same drama that Houston's overall night effects have. Night lights are but one component of a skyline's true effect. For Houston's bold outline, those normal office window lights proffer a very dramatic effect...no distractions from any cheesy color neon and overdone accent lighting. How would you think Dallas' nocturnal skyline would look without those neon outlines and blinking dandelion? Despite the fancy futurism, those buildings don't seem to have a collective effect that Houston's does. Dallas is sleek-n-sexy but not as bold and dramatic like Houston. So with all those fancy lights, downtown Dallas still does not mesmerize like downtown Houston (especially when you drive the 288 from Pearland to 59 south). Truly, would you rather, overall, have Austin's or Atlanta's skyline, with pretty accent lighting and such, OR Houston's even with none of that superficial lighting of these other "Traveler's magazine" cities that you seem to adore?
  25. Not everyone feels that cheesy lighting is necessary for a skyline. Houston's always been known for its bold nocturnal skyline dress despite not having loud neon outlines, blinking effects, fancy spotlighting and what not. That is what makes downtown unique. It doesn't have to be like other cities that don't have bold skylines, those that need all the makeup and cosmetics for the night time display. "Natural" beauty works for me in this case. In mid 1988, that was a time well before any downtown revitalization, my friends and I took a visitor from San Francisco driving on I-10 East, for a tour around the Space City. Peering out the car window, she was genuinely charmed by the nocturnal Houston skyline saying, "Wow, that is sooo pretty." Heck, I was kinda mesmerized too at the moment! So it's all a judgement call as far as taste. I've personally seen the nocturnal skylines of cities such as Atlanta, Chicago, Austin, Dallas, Miami and Vegas at night...and to be quite honest, I'm satisfied that Houston doesn't use gaudy nightlights similarly. To me, we try and pretty up downtown Houston at night as you say, then there will be detractors who proffer, "Oh, poor low-esteemed Houston's trying to copy Dallas or Miami." I do not refer to Christmas lighting but rather the natural lights from the offices at nights that speckle Houston towers...the way they fill up the majestic skyline...to me that will always be cool. Very noir, yet letting H-town's architectural splendor speak for itself. As far as that perpetual, boring Christmas lighting...I think Houston fortunately is not in the company as nocturnal Fort Worth or San Francisco. For me, something like a subtle blue on the spires of the former NCNB building might look cool... And thanks for the welcomage.
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