ProHouston

Perhaps because prior to that date, it was their country, their state, and their city?

Are any of you that are still whining about the name change of a team you likely do not support the same ones that blew a gasket over the Absolut ad? Just wondering.

I was very upset at the name change from 1836 as I am a native Texan. I would assume that most of those who complained are not. Either way, I was not upset about the Absolut ad as it was not displayed in America. Absolut can do whatever they like to appeal to their different markets, that's business. Just like AEG should've kept the name they wanted and not fold to the pressure. This is Texas and America and we fought that war for a reason. And we won. We should be proud of winning and the life we now have and wear/promote 1836 as a badge of honor.

There are a lot of new things going on at Sugar Land Town Square! Plus the final office building that will house Minute Maid is nearing completion.

Now Open:

Olives Martini Bar and Grill (between Cigar Cigar and Tacone)

Vintage shave (between Mi Luna and Vintage Shave)

Cigar Cigar (between Vintage Shave and Olives)

Hemline of New Orleans (across from Baker Street Pub)

Jimmy John's (next to Chipotle)

Coming Soon:

Escalante's (in the high profile corner spot across from Cafe Express)

Fuzziwig's Candy Factory (between Jimmy John's and Sweet and Sassy)

Strasburg Children (next to Hemline)

Pleez, scottf is just supporting his team, he has all the right to do so. I'm a huge Rockets fan but we're not playing well enough to win. I think it has something to do with missing our best player. Anyhow..., let him talk, I don't see the Jazz advancing against the Lakers.

Boy, you sure won that argument. Good job. We really aren't 50th....only 49th and 46th.

Hmm, I saw a #33 and a #40 as well. Neither in the same ballpark as 50. Coog mentioned, specifically, that we're #50 in "so many other areas." That stat was challenged, no big deal. Haifers challenge each others facts all the time.

Raise your hand if you care if Tejada lied about his age?

I don't condone it, but that was years ago. ESPN-PD is getting old. I know journalism to a certain extent is to keep things in check, but to go snooping around looking for garbage just for a non-story is dumb and I don't think anybody cares. Actually, it's annoying.

<Raising Hand>

I do care because 17 maybe not differ much from 19, but 33 does differ from 35. Late in a baseball player's career, declining performance increases quickly. Luckily we don't have him on a long contract but if we did, you can bet Drayton would be miffed. I'd say that would be a breach of contract.

The pace of construction has slowed dramatically at BLVD Place in the last week or two. There used to be crews of 20+ workers, this week I haven't seen but a handful on the whole site. Any ideas?

I hate to tell Garber and the MLS, but they aren't on the same level as the NFL, NBA, and MLB. I like the MLS, but there is no way that they can hold a city "hostage" and expect us to bend over for them. They are just not a big enough deal here for a threat of relocation to be a bargaining chip.

They're getting free land, they need to step up and build their own stadium.

Someone slap him.

Don't be so rude, he may not be from Texas.

NewMND, here is a snippet from wikipedia:

Juneteenth, also known as Freedom Day or Emancipation Day, is an annual holiday or holiday observance in 26 states of the United States. Celebrated on June 19, it commemorates the announcement of the abolition of slavery in Texas. The holiday originated in Galveston, Texas; for more than a century, the state of Texas was the primary home of Juneteenth celebrations.

For easier viewing:

Let's hope UH makes it to the NCAA Tournament next year. I think they got shafted this year.

UH shafted itself. If you play in the CUSA, you need to beat everyone (as Memphis has done). You can't lose games to lesser opponents (teams way outside the top 25) and expect to make the dance. Yes they are better with Penders, but still not close to making the dance. Pleez, they didn't even get an invite to the NIT. And I'm a UH fan.

Here is a new pic from this morning. You can see that most of the foundation was laid earlier this week.

It was fun while it lasted. The end of the streak was inevitable. Just wish they hadn't gotten spanked so bad on national tv. They were just starting to get some respect.

Losing to the best team in the league without your superstar is nothing to be ashamed of.

I think last night was just a "perfect storm" situation. Everyone on the Rockets team had an off night and it just happened to be against the best team in the league. Adelman could've had a better game plan, T-Mac could've driven the lane more, Rafer was showboating too much, Battier had probs with Pierce, Scola missed layups and was in foul trouble... Put all those together and it was just an off night. One or two guys can be off and we can still win. The whole team? That makes it difficult.

Question.

Would you rather lose tomorrow nights game and win vs. the Lakers on Sunday, or Win tomorrow nights game to stretch the streak to 21 and lose to the Lakers?

As of now we're tied for 2nd longest. We win tomorrow, we're by ourself. A win Sunday brings more credibility.

My greed wants us to win 21 to have sole possession of the 2nd longest streak in history. But my mind says we need to beat the Lakers so that we can pick up a full game in the standings.

Gotta love Deke in the Daily Dime on ESPN.com this morning:

"The Rockets have won 20 games straight. All the critics can kiss my black ass."

FIFY

The second season is a little different than the regular season.

The Mavericks can attest to that.

Here are some new pics, the first is from 2/28 and the second is from this morning. They have now filled in all the old basement level parking with dirt to raise it to street level. That's at least 8 feet of dirt across the entire construction area (excluding the southern most 20% which was already at grade. The plumbing is going in now and I would expect we'll really start seeing marked progress soon.

Dang, what took us so long to get this topic going again?!? The Rockets are all my coworkers and I can talk about. I can't wait for tonights game, I'd love to stick it to the Mavs! This team does still have some work cut out for it, but it's nice to see us winning again like we did in the championship years. Way to go Adelman and Morey!

Do y'all remember this one?

So Willie G's is also moving. That's interesting. Hopefully we'll see another vertical project on that lot before too long.

I'd say more like he's forcing anyone who comes forward with an idea to make sure they deal honestly and fairly with the Texans and Rodeo who are the major tenants to whom the County has contractual obligations.

That's not the way I read it...

The Texans and the rodeo oppose the Dome convention hotel because they say it would hurt their operations and siphon off revenue.

Emmett has said he is not doing the rodeo's bidding by appearing to oppose the Dome hotel.

Eversole has said it appears that the rodeo and Texans, Reliant Park's main tenants, are trying to dictate the decision the county makes about the Dome's future.

Eversole forcing Rodeo and Texans hand?

The on-again-off-again Astrodome convention hotel plan is on again after Commissioners Court voted Tuesday to seek a deal with the project's developers.

The court authorized county officials to mediate differences between Astrodome Redevelopment Co. and two opponents of the project, the Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

County Judge Ed Emmett said the vote was not needed because negotiations could continue without any action by the court.

But Commissioner Jerry Eversole urged the court to take a position.

County renews effort for deal on Dome hotel

Bummer, this is one of the easier locations to get to and find parking.

I noticed they don't have anything listed for the Woodlands. I thought they were getting one up there.

I've never heard that The Woodlands was to get a store.

Updates pic from this morning. It looks like they're filling dirt around the concrete pillars they've added. Maybe the pillars were to support the structure and it will actually rise from ground level.

I don't see the attraction of a Hotel at the Astro complex. It is too far from everything except the arena and stadium. I don't think those two venues can support a hotel of the size that is being discussed. I say tear the damn thing down and move on.

The hotel proposal is build as a destination convention hotel. A hotel people go to just to be on the hotel site for restaurants, entertainment, meetings, spa services, pools, etc. It's not going to be a Holiday Inn Express. Additionally, the convention center it would benefit is mere feet away.

Another thought most are missing, would the Texans and Rodeo be MORE likely to sell tickets to Rodeo events, soccer matches, circuses, Final Fours, Texas Bowls, etc. with an attached hotel. Maybe the Texans lose some cash on game days, but it seems like a hotel would help them sell tickets to many other events that aren't pre-sold to season ticket holders.

You would be correct in that I am one of the 35,000 members of the show and one of the 19,000 committepersons that come from every zip code in the county. I have been on a committee for 7 years and grew up going to the shows, I am also very passionate about them, make no mistake, which is why I get so bent out of shape when people go off spouting things that aren't true about the show. I also am a rational thinking human, which leads me to understand the truth about the Rodeo's stance on the issues, and the fact that you haven't been able to provide any information to the contrary. And while I am very sorry your experience with the Show isn't one that will keep you returning, rest assured they are doing the best they can for their patrons, while keeping their ultimate goal in mind, which is raising as much money as they can for the youth programs, teacher and school programs, and the scholarships they provide alongside the largest and most influential Livestock show in the agribusiness industry. But they will certainly respond if there is a significant number of people who like you feel that a hotel is more important than keeping the Dome useful to more than 1300 rooms of beds, and although I don't know for sure, I suspect the vast majority of people would rather attend events and such in the Dome than care if some people in town for a conference have a place to stay. I don't foresee a significant number of people not going to the show just because they want to have a hotel ONSITE instead of nearby, or instead of a useful facility to the greater citizens of the county. And I'm sure the millions of past patrons, scholarship recipients, teachers, FFA and 4H involved families, along with the tens of thousands of current and past committeepeople/bigwigs or whatever you would like to say, they're all VOLUNTEERS, would support that the greater good of providing those services through the charitable mission of the Show rather than lease county land away to an entity that would provide the county nothing. If the Rodeo proposes as I think they would and have indicated in their statements to the media, it would provide the county and it's residents, as well as the site's tenants, the only plan that keeps the Astrodome's integrity that supporters of keeping it want, as well as it's original and best purpose, to hold events.

Most Houstonians I've discussed this current event with as upset at the Texans and the Rodeo. They want the dome saved and like the idea of the hotel. They (myself included) feel the Texans and Rodeo are forgetting what the citizens of Houston have given them over the last 50 years. This deal will make money for our citizens, a barn won't. It's easy to see that the Texans and Rodeo aren't acting in the citizens best interest.

This 2200 Post Oak development deserves its own thread. There is no relation to BLVD Place. Mods, can you break this out for us?

I was the planner of Sugar Land Town Square with a Team of professionals. We did travel and look at many prototypes, the oldest was in Kansas City, The Park(?), the oldest retail center in the US. Our goal given the limitations of the site, the market and the regulatory environment, zoning, was to develop a "center" for a community that up to then, had failed to produce one. Because we were developing about 1,000,000SF "at one time", we were concerned about the potential for visual monotony. The plaza, was intended to express the history of the region and the ethos of the community in a new urban expression. Yes, we used many urban design elements to achieve the environment produced and no dougbt some could have been done differently and perhaps better.

We were definitely trying to "be" anything other than the best we could be, so to speak. We were designing SLTS before the Woodlands Town Center was on the ground although we knew of its coming. Yes it is in a suburban, actually semi-urban context and not an urban context but the environment built is successfully functioning as an urban center and had there been more land available, a more extensive center would have been created.

These projects take enormous energy, talent and commitment, the later ingredient was provided by the then Sugarland Properties without which this site would have been developed as another suburban shopping center.

Best regards to all the HAIF Board

That's very interesting, thanks for the insight. Welcome to HAIF!