DJ V Lawrence

too bad Luke Scott is gone. We gave up too much for Tejada. Oh well...i hope we concentrate on getting some pitching now..Please don't try to bring back Clemens!!

In other baseball news, pitcher Mark Prior was released by the Cubs. Even though he didn't play at all last season due to surgery on his shoulder at the beginning of that season, it wouldn't surprise me at all if he's the Astros' next move since they wouldn't have to give anyone up for him.

So the first six batters on the Astros rotation will be:

Michael Bourne

Kaz Matsui

Hunter Pence

Lance Berkman

Carlos Lee

Miguel Tejada

That's a pretty dangerous offense right there on paper. And the other two are who, Adam Everett and Loretta, right? It also looks like a solid defense.

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They now need at least two star pitchers and a star reliever in order to become a contender, so that's at least three players needed to go along with Roy Oswalt. They'll probably trade Chris Burke for one of those spot.

DJ, you are looking at it backwards. International exposure is getting residents of other countries to look at HOUTON, not get Houstonians to look at other countries. Houston is a household name in China because of Yao Ming. Recently, over 200 million Chinese watched the Rockets play at 4 am Shanghai time. THAT is international exposure, for whatever that may be worth. Houstonians knowing who plays on the Argentinian national team in any sport garners no exposure for Houston whatsoever.

A Houston soccer team playing in international tournaments WILL expose Houston to international viewers. However, so will international players playing for the Rockets. Both garner international exposure, but in different ways. The Astros could also gain some exposure with Latin American players. The Texans drag up the rear with virtually NO exposure for its all American roster and mediocre record.

I'm also referring to the fact that the Rockets and Dynamo have a different sense of connection to the international community. Both are great and positive for the city.

um, the rockets don't bring global attention to houston? have you seen their website?

The rockets - milwaukee regular season game got more views than a superbowl because of china.

china is a little bit more influential than mexico.

That's not what the author's talking about. He's referring to our city facing another city outside the USA and it being a significant international game; not two teams within the United States. Basketball teams outside the NBA are not household name here.

For example: NBA teams are the only teams that we can name in America. The Rockets couldn't play against a club team from a city in England with Rockets fans knowing who that other team is because most basketball fans outside England don't watch English basketball. But if Houston Dynamo played against Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, etc., more people around the world would recognize both cities' teams and players, would be more familiar with the sport, and more fans from both cities playing would take the game seriously even if it were a friendly. Same goes for if Dynamo plays a team from Spain, Italy, Germany, Japan, Korea, Argentina, Mexico, Australia, Portugal, Holland, etc., all of which are very probable in the near future because of their status of being the best team in the USA.

The Milwaukee-Houston game you referred to was a major international event, but in a different way. Even though millions in China were watching, it was still millions watching two American teams.

5.4-Acres of Land on San Felipe Street & Woodway Drive.

Google Satellite has the following addresses on the vacant parcel:

7503 San Felipe Street
7709 San Felipe Street
7715 San Felipe Street
7727 San Felipe Street

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...iz/5323129.html

A New York developer is planning two condominium towers on San Felipe near the tony neighborhoods of Tanglewood and Memorial.

The company chose Houston as the location for the project because of its strong economy and unmet demand for luxury high-rise housing, development executive Sara Mirski said.

Plans for the 5.4-acre site, at the corner of San Felipe and Woodway, include two towers with 27 residential floors and a total of 223 condominiums surrounded by lush landscaping and fountains.

The project is being developed by Azorim, an Israeli real estate firm whose shares trade on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange. Brooklyn-based Boymelgreen Developers, whose founder owns 64 percent of Azorim, is managing the project.

Sales will begin next fall on the units, which will start at $1 million and average 2,500 square feet.

A sales center will be built across from the building site, which now houses a cluster of low-rise commercial structures.

In recent years, other developers have tried to hawk similarly priced units, but their buildings never came out of the ground.

The developers gave various reasons for the cancellations, including market uncertainties related to Hurricane Katrina and slow unit sales.

**

The article then gives an update on the Turnberry project across from the Williams Tower.

Major League Soccer is urging Anschutz Entertainment Group to sell the Dynamo because it also owns the Los Angeles Galaxy, another MLS team.

Such a sale would not alter AEG's plan to form a private-public partnership within weeks with the city to build a downtown soccer stadium because the deal would include an agreement that the team wouldn't move, said city and Dynamo officials.

full article

The wierd part is that KHOU has finally mentioned the first possible new owner...Oscar De La Hoya.

Why would AEG build a soccer stadium w/ its own money, then sell the team?

AEG's done that before in MLS. They normally do two things: sell the team for profit and sell the stadium operation rights for the same price they spent, or keep the operation rights, where they recieve some money from MLS games, and a majority of their money from their own concert events. Houston's deal with AEG would have to be different from the others because of the Rockets, because they have exclusive concert rights with Toyota Center until 2013, at which point there wouldn't be a violation of contract.

It also sounds from the way everyone's talking that the City Of Houston, AEG, and De La Hoya (if the reports are accurate) all are fully aware of each other's negotiations. It's going to be fun to see how this one plays out.

i just want someone to explain to me why the dynamo "deserve" a new stadium, especially with help from the city.

unlike the dynamo, which is a privately owned company, UH is a public institution that educates thousands of houston's children, supplies thousands of graduates to the houston workforce, and injects 3 billion annually into the houston economy.

meanwhile, there has been countless academic research proving that pro sports teams do nothing for their surrounding economies.

but the dynamo Deserve public money for a new stadium, millions of dollars.

somehow though, UH can't even get the city to re-pave cullen blvd...

By "deserve", it would mean a good investment for both the city and the team. That depends on what kind of deal is being made, how much is being invested into the project, and how much both sides expect to get out of it. If all sounds fit, it's a good deal. If not, obviously the deal isn't deserving of public funding.

It doesn't take any research to see what a stadium can and can't do though. If it spurs development around it, if the team has strong support and gives the community good morale, and if the facility helps to give the city more PR and/or tourists, it's a positive deal. It's no different from any other form of entertainment for the city. But if the team or whoever is asking for an unreasonable amount of money (like $60 Million or more), and it sounds more like a gamble for the city to get it's money back without raising taxes, then the deal is shady to me.

As for UH, that's between UH and Houston. If UH weren't able to strike a deal for something on their campus, why should any business outside UH be effected by it?

That's exactly the problem. It is open to the public. But it's not close to much of anything besides Toyota Center.

Perhaps part of the mistake there was the fact that the Rockets and City of Houston were assuming that Toyota Center would spur development directly around the stadium (the parking garage side). It was just a sales pitch, but nothing more.

The possible Dynamo stadium location would be a great one to spur a redevelopmental project around it, since there's not much there now directly surrounding it. I'm kinda hoping the city starts planning on ideas on how to build around the stadium and parking lot/tailgate areas shortly after it's approval, and not after the stadium's built.

Would you rather have 3 billionaires chanting, "Where's our stadium?"

ROFLOL!!!!

Maybe we should examine what merits a team of "deserving" a stadium.

Your argument is they have a good presence in the community, etc; everything related to that. They've been here two years and won two championships. What happens when they stink? Will they have the same presence and support, and still "deserve" that stadium?

To me, a team "deserves" funding for a stadium if the team and/or the stadium will give back positive things to the community. In other words, a good investment. There's no reason to give money away to a team if there is no interest in the team, the sport, or the area that they're trying to develop, and it looks like Dynamo indeed have become a team whose fanbase may be limitless due to the popularity of their sport and the popularity of the team's concept of engaging with the fans in ways that other millionaire-players aren't able to do.

A team doesn't "deserve" a stadium to me when they say stupid ____ like "we expect the city to invest over $100 Million into our stadium, or else we're moving to another market," forcing the city to either sign in to a bad business deal, or lose the team that's represented the city for over 20 years.

Do they do pretty well in corporate sells?

I honestly don't know. It was reported that jersey sales are up 700% from last year (up 300% if you don't count Beckham's jersey). I would also imagine that Dynamo merchandise is much higher in sales from last year, and they sold out at 30,000 for the last three games. It proves that there's a lot of potential for the team $$$ wise if the league keeps up their current trends.

Also, I think so long as the fans enjoy themselves at Dynamo games, it won't matter anymore what their record is. It's obviously more fun when they win than when they lose, but the difference between Dynamo and the other sports team' fanbase is that the Dynamo fans are much more engaged into the game and create an atmosphere for 90 straight minutes, whereas the other teams depend more on a soundtrack from the speakers.

One of my problems with this is Luck's quote about "the preponderance of the money," whatever that is. A possible deal in two weeks but no idea how much they've got or are willing to pony up. So that they can negotiate the biggest chunk from the city as possilbe? I'm all for this team and a stadium getting built, but I hope Mayor White sticks to his guns--not with city money.

And just becasue we went down this road before with the other teams is no excuse for doing it again.

The sad part is that Dynamo deserve city money just as much as the other teams (and we decided that they deserved the taxpayer money because we voted for it); some of which recieved more city money than the entire cost of the Dynamo stadium proposal. Championships and "favorite-sport" arguements aside, the team is now very much a presence in Houston's community as the other teams, and the fanbase is strong enough with Houston and other MLS teams to where they could bring a lot of money back into Houston through tourism.

If anything, I'd like to see the Dynamo stadium followed up by a major redevelopment in Chinatown/Warehouse district via better streets, more incentives for residential development to go along with the current construction in the area, perhaps a new firestation, etc..

ABC 13 had a report earlier tonight giving an update on stadium talks (the video's also on their website). Putting that together with KHOU stadium report earlier this week, here's the updated details as to what's cooking:

1) The stadium would now be a $100 Million-25,000 seater instead of a $60-$80 Million project. It sounds like it could become one of the premier facilities in MLS instead of a medrocre high-school lookalike.

2) It's be a 60-65% Private Investment - 30-35% Public Funded stadium, meaning that the public would pay around $35 Million, which is still substantially less than the amount the public paid for the Texans, Astros, and Rockets' stadiums, plus the deal is being worked where no new taxes would be implimented.

3) The stadium would be located around the intersection of Texas and Dowling which is across 59 from Downtown, which would probably be the best soccer-primary stadium location in MLS.

4) It loks like the target for an announcement is before Christmas this year.

Here's a link to highlights of the watch party earlier today at the Mezz. The Chronicle happened to be taping the crowd there as both goals were scored.

http://blogs.chron.com/soccer/archives/200...o_win_back.html

i would be careful if you really want to watch the game. Texans start at noon so i could see a lot of normal sports bars turning the sound off the Dynamo game half way through. The Mezz will definitely have sound and the game on multiple screens upstairs with a good crowd, as well as soccer bars such as Bull and Bear and Richmond Arms.

if i weren't headed to DC i would be at the Mezz at 10am. $12 ribeye, fries, and a beer - you can't go wrong.

Yo, we'll be looking for ya on ABC BTW, will you be sitting in the Dynamo supporter's section, or are you somewhere else in RFK?

Every self-respecting sports bar and restauant in Houston should have at least one big screen dedicated to the game. If you're looking to party hardy, I think a few watch parties would include:

-The Mezzanine: S. Shepard and HW59. Official Texian Army party spot. A lot of them are already in Washington DC for the game, but it should still be the best watch party in Houston.

-Every Wings & More in Houston will probably be broadcasting the game. The best of them would probably be at the Wings & More at the Marquee by I-10 and 610 where El Battalon party at each away game. Once again though, a lot of them are going on road trips to D.C. for the game.

-The Bull & Bear on Westhimer and Kirkwood is an official watch party spot for every Dynamo game as well.

-Richmond Arms on Richmond and Fountainview's gonna have a gathering there

-If you're in the Woodlands: Fox & Hound is having an official party there for the game

-If you're in Katy: Wild Wing Cafe will have a watch party there If you're in Austin: Fado Irish Pub is the first I heard, but I hear there's going to be places all over the city to watch it there as well.

There's probably a whole lot more, but those are the first that came to my mind. Most of my friends in the Alief area are throwing their own house parties for the game, and it wouldn't surprise me if that's how most would watch it since it's at 11am.

The Mezzanine Lounge on 59 is likely ground zero for all Dynamo fans not going to DC. Myself included...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...ts/5298220.html

The United States men

Here's a couple pics from this past Saturday night:

What I also thought was cool about last night was when they mentioned that (I think it's a first in the NBA) players from six continents were playing on the court last night at the same time.

Interestingly, I have noticed that only our "international" sports teams are doing any good. Our "American" sports teams are pretty much the suck.

I know, right?! Soccer and basketball. That's not bad at all from an international standpoint. I'm sure if it were the more American sports like NFL football and baseball (though baseball is growing from an international sense), it would be huge for marketing and publicity in the states, but people outside the US wouldn't care.

It's great for the city. I kinda wish the Astros also had an international influence as well, but it's still cool to say that we already have more than one team putting Houston on the global map.

BTW, Brad Lidge was just traded to the Phillies for outfielder Michael Bourne

Cool. Thanks for the explanation.

I'm glad those sissy's are hated. It's absolutely lame the way they play possum. Plus, it makes me feel better that they're not accepted.

No prob:)

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Back into the news; there's a story shaking the sports world back in California. It's being reported that LA Galaxy coach Frank Yallop has resigned from that club to become coach of the San Jose Earthquakes. It's big for three reasons:

1) It ends the rumor that Houston's coach was being pursued by San Jose

2) Yallop is the one that coached the original Earthquakes to their first championships, and was considered the most popular coach in the Bay area

3) It may mean that LA Galaxy are plotting a signing even bigger than David Beckham in the coming weeks; via coach. Rumors have it that Jurgen Klinsmann, Steve McClaren, Jose Mourinho, and Frank Capello are all the top candidates. McClaren is the current England National team coach, but the other three are the highest-coveted and most heavily pursued coaches for Premiership, La Liga, Serie A, and national coaching jobs.

Those are respectable answers, I guess.

Maybe your second point explains this, but if they're so hurt, why don't they come out of the game at least for a little while, to recover. The way they squirm makes us believe they're about to die, yet they just get back up and start playin like nothing happened.

And I don't know too many soccer rules. What are the rules on timeouts and substitutions? Or is it too long to explain?

I think I got the hook up:)

1) About the people that act like they're hurt but aren't. Sure, it happens in basketball, football, and other sports as well, but the reason why some do it more dramatically in soccer is just to get the referee's attention and deceive them. It's not a part of the game; it's just the personality of certain players. Most players don't do that, but the ones that do stand out and are chastized and hated on for that by the fans. Some players get kicked out of the game (yellow/red card) for getting caught doing that, or are fined after the game.

2) About the timeouts; there are none. The clock keeps running for 45 minutes for both halfs. The only time play stops is when the ball goes out of bounce, there's a person injured or distracting the referee, or if there's a problem in the stadium beyond the game's control (blackout in the stadium, lightning, etc.) At the end of the half, however amount of time was stopped because of injury during the game gets added on to the 45 minutes, and the half stops when the referee decides that the injury time has expired.

3) There are only three substitutions per team. If you run out of subs and someone on the field gets injured, you have one less player on the field. If someone gets a red card (or two yellow cards. Basically an ejection), it's one less player on the field for that team for the rest of the game.

So now Houston Dynamo have had two straight games of over 30,000. I'm curious if the new stadium will include enough room for temporary seats to allow 30,000+ to show up for games against teams like FC Dallas, LA Galaxy, and Chicago Fire.

I'm glad we won.

But these kind of rules is what keeps the average American fan from liking soccer. What a stupid rule

I disagree. I loved it personally. It turns the series into whoever scores the most goals in two games wins. It also didn't stop over 30,000 from showing up.

Back to the game; it was beyond crazy. Hundreds of people traveled from Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, etc. for the match last night, and it was so packed that all the stairs at Robertson became areas to stand. The party atmosphere afterward was unbelievable, too.

If Francis isn't going to play and he's not considered one of the best players on the team, what made his signing a big deal in the first place? Was he only signed to be trade bait? I'm not sure I get it.

I also don't understand everyone hating on Alston. The dude can play, as can Francis, and James who I think should be the starter. What I like about the Rockets this is year is that their entire roster from deep in the bench are capable of being starters and making some serious plays any given night. If a starter got injured, it wouldn't be as big a deal as it was last year.