Jump to content

Recommended Posts

Game 1 prediction: Astros 7 Braves 4

I hate the Braves and the Yankees, would love to see Cardinals/Astros in the NLCS and Red Sox/Yankees ALCS, with The Astros beating the Yanks in the World Series. It would nice to see the Rocket say farewell to the Yanks one more time.

But it would also be nice to see the Red Sox beat the Yankees for once in the Playoffs.

Go Stros!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know I praised the Astros, and they lost. Well, put it like this. I praise all houston's pro teams, and every time I do that they end up losing. I guess I need to down houston teams more often, maybe they will win then.

The Astros kept the Braves in the game, and what I figured, the Braves hits a home run in the 11th inning. Oh well, that's houston for ya.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know this sounds bad on a board but that wasn't very nice.

:angry::rolleyes:

Here's the stupid thing about the braves ..that stupid Tomahawk thing they do. Yea yea we know your the "Braaaves" and you feel it does some sort of influence on your rivals.

I am SO GLAD Native Americans got mad at the Braves for doing this! Its all apart of the fun of the game but its the most irratating and stupidest thing I have seen in baseball!

"Since then their idiotic tomahawk chop and war chant have angered native Americans. (The Cleveland Indians

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeh, I might have to agree with you on that one. I'm not sure about the new kid's arm yet.

Aside from some of the vets on the team, I'm not confident in some of the newer arms.

Oh WHY did that Hernandez have to slide HEAD FIRST into 2nd base?!?! WHY GOD WHY! He COULD have been awesome! :(

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeh, I might have to agree with you on that one. I'm not sure about the new kid's arm yet.

Aside from some of the vets on the team, I'm not confident in some of the newer arms.

Oh WHY did that Hernandez have to slide HEAD FIRST into 2nd base?!?! WHY GOD WHY!  He COULD have been awesome!  :(

My dad screamed out, "We have no RELIEF Pitchers!!"

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's the stupid thing about the braves ..that stupid Tomahawk thing they do.

I couldn't even watch the Braves/Astros play b/c I got tired of that music!

You know, when I'm in my recliner watching the game on TV, I do the Tomahawk chop when the team needs me. I'm doing it right now.... HAHAHA and if it's not the most annoying thing a crowd does to cheer on the team, it's gotta be right up there.

My grandmother (father's mother) was a Comanche traditionally raised in the TX panhandle until forced to live on a reservation in OK during her teens. I could claim the native American herritage, but it was not included one bit in my upbringing, which logically tells why I dont feel the insult of mascots based on Native American stereotypes. As a boy, my dad was taught by his father to avoid our Comanche connection and therefore avoid the prejudice of the times.

Go Atlanta.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, houston won again. They lead the series 2-1, and i forgot they played here in houston today, I thought they was back at Atlanta. Astros are on a winning streak of 19 straight games at home. The Braves going have hell to beat Astros at home. Really to tell you the truth, Atlanta don't show me nothing. They just living off the name, the BRAVES.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, houston won again. They lead the series 2-1, and i forgot they played here in houston today, I thought they was back at Atlanta. Astros are on a winning streak of 19 straight games at home. The Braves going have hell to beat Astros at home. Really to tell you the truth, Atlanta don't show me nothing. They just living off the name, the BRAVES.

I am laughing at what the Atlanta/Dallas guy said about us losing! I mean his little snide/snotty comment! :P

Any predictations today people?

I sayyyy that its going to be late lead Astros, Atlanta looks to grab it, Astros come from behind and a 10th inning game.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure Houston will grab it today, I have to eat a bit of crow when it comes to Backe, then I read and heard the analysis and came to the realization that backe had the advantage because he's a relatively new player and there are few tapes on how he performs, so every pitch is a surprise to the opposition.

hopefully, atlana won't score much, but I'd be happy with a 3-1 score. :)

Ricco

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/e...outlook/2838216

Oct. 8, 2004, 10:30PM

Astrodome dream is a nightmare

1,000 new hotel rooms would mean certain doom for George R. Brown center, many downtown hotels

By BRUCE H. WALKER

Houston's downtown hotel industry is vulnerable to a devastating financial hit if the proposed 1,000-room Astrodome renovation project is approved by Harris County Commissioners Court. The city's hotel industry is already oversupplied and will not correct itself for years.

If they approved such a project, Houston City Council county leaders would be ignoring economic realities and jeopardizing the viability of all the hotels in the downtown area.

The Houston hotel market is typical of what is happening in cities around the country. There are more hotel rooms than occupants to fill them. In Houston, aggressive hotel growth plans were caught by a national economic recession. Since 2001, the downtown room count has grown by almost 130 percent, from 2,200 to more than 5,200 today. Occupancy levels, however, plummeted from 79 percent in 2000 to 47 percent today, well below the break-even mark. This uncontrolled supply growth is responsible for today's hotel depression.

This glut of new rooms was caused in large part by the city of Houston when it built the 1,200-room Hilton Americas next to the George R. Brown Convention Center with public funds, and offered tax abatements to entice hoteliers to build another 1,258 new rooms. Simply put, an additional convention center hotel like the proposed Astrodome would cannibalize the already struggling private and publicly owned downtown hotels.

The city had good, but misplaced, intentions when it entered the hotel business to attract more and bigger conventions. The rationale for Houston putting on its capitalist hat was that a new headquarters hotel adjacent to the existing convention center would make the city better able to compete for conventions.

However, the evidence shows otherwise.

Low convention demand

First, current national demand for convention space is about half of what it was through the 1990s. Convention attendance has been deeply depressed for the past four years, with few signs of a recovery. Trade Show Week reported an average of 111 million convention/trade show attendees per year from 1995 through 2000. Today, that number has been cut in half.

There are a number of reasons for this, and the economy is only one of them.

Others include a fundamental change in how business does business. Improving teleconferencing and other trends in technology and supply chain management all contribute to lower demand for conventions. For example, Home Depot and Lowe's have largely replaced local store owners; consequently, the need for conventional hardware trade shows has lessened.

Second, local governments all over the country keep adding convention space, worsening the oversupply. Since 1990, some 80 cities have significantly expanded their convention center space and added convention hotels.

Third, the evidence so far is that adding a convention hotel does not increase a city's demand for convention space.

What worries hoteliers

Because Hilton Americas' rate of earnings is currently about half the rate the city must pay on its bonds, the project will probably not be able to cover its bond obligations, resulting in a cash drain for Houston. Consequently, Houston hotel occupancy tax receipts will probably have to be used for the cash shortfall, resulting in little or no marketing funds left to promote Houston!

Most worrisome to hoteliers in the downtown area is that all the market gain in room nights sold has gone to the new public Hilton rather than to privately owned hotels. The promise that major new convention volume was on the way has not happened.

So, what's in store for downtown?

Even without an Astrodome hotel, a dismal 47 percent occupancy rate is expected through the first half of 2005, meaning red ink will prevail. Look for hotel closures or conversions to residential usage.

Lesson in earlier mistake

Many cities have the naive notion that if you build it they will come. But, city leaders need to consider the overall impact that development will have within the city.

Private operators knew the Hilton Americas hotel was a probable failure and so would not develop it. The addition of another convention center hotel next to a private convention venue would mean certain doom not only for the city's George R. Brown Convention Center and the attached Hilton Americas, but for the majority of the privately owned downtown hotels.

For the city of Houston, what should have been a straightforward analysis has turned into a costly mistake.

It is one local leaders shouldn't make again

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

While this man seems to know what he is talking about, and he says it well. The one thing he doesn't seem to realize is the Astrodome is not in Downtown, and everything he talks about is downtown. Because other areas of town have a better occupancy rate. Lastly I thought Downtown had a 51% rate, with over twice the hotel rooms of before.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am laughing at what the Atlanta/Dallas guy said about us losing! I mean his little snide/snotty comment! :P

hahahahaha I know!

I gotta believe Atlanta's going to win. I'll be mad if I cant go to more playoff games (here in Atlanta), but I've been an Astros fan since I went to high school in Victoria - so at least I've got that.

The Braves win today.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

hahahahaha  I know! 

I gotta believe Atlanta's going to win.  I'll be mad if I cant go to more playoff games (here in Atlanta), but I've been an Astros fan since I went to high school in Victoria - so at least I've got that.

The Braves win today.

I'm still goin' for the 'Stros'. It could be worse!! We could end up like Montreal! (and go to Washington!)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is interesting, is when the topic of the Dome being turned into a Hotel, I BELIEVE the reaction here was universal in their approval (including myself).

I was rather taken aback by this article initially, until I reread it and saw the sound logic in the article. I rarely post MY personal opinion after I make a post from the chronicle to see where everyone stands, and I find the reaction just as interesting.

My personal opinion is the fact that I was initially pleased about the Dome conversation, but now I face it with a bit of apprehension as to whether or not such a thing would be good for the city of Houston.

The reasoning for my hestitation for an overall blessing of this project is due to the fact attendees would be rather hesitant to go to downtown and spend more money and spend time in downtown if all that they really need is at the Dome.

One also must take into consideration that not everyone will be booked at the "Dome Hotel" for a variety of reasons, a factor in that decision would be the cost of housing for attendees to be in that hotel.

Knowing how some of these things are booked, the people going to a convention may ASK to be put downtown "trying to save money", but the cost ratio to productivity (and common sense) would vary from company to company. I've known companies that put up their people at a hotel 6!

As far as the George R. Brown being underutilized goes and competing with the Dome Complex that is difficult to say, I just hope that we're able to get enough convention business to be able to keep both places busy.

Ricco

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...