DJ V Lawrence

Here's quite a few DJ-V-Lawrence drinking games for ya: -When you watch the tv show "24", everytime Bauer says "Damn", take a drink. -Watch an old Creed music video. Everytime the lead singer Scott Sapp balls his hands into a fist, take a drink -Watch an old episode of X-Files. Everytime Scully says "Mulder" take a drink. -Watch NFL PrimeTime. Everytime Chris Berman says "WHAT?!", take a drink. -Watch MXC. Everytime co-host Kenny Blakenship gets slapped in the back of the head, take a drink -Watch the Bears/Saints NFC Championship game this Sunday. Everytime you hear the crowd boo, take a drink -Watch the USA/Denmark game this Saturday. Everytime the goalie from either team kicks the ball mid-field, take a drink -Watch Deal Or No Deal. Everytime the contestant jumps, take a drink -Watch the 1st "The Fast And The Furious". Everytime you hear a character's line said twice, take a drink. (example: Pop the hood. Pop the Hood? Yeah, Pop the hood.) -Lastly, watch a Rockets game. Everytime a dude from the other team gets blocked, take a drink Happy Birthday HAIF. y'all gonna need a ride home after trying any of that.

Personally, I'd like to see Rio De Janiero, Brazil as the 2016 Olympic host. Do they have a shot?

http://msn.foxsports.com/soccer/story/6368838 Brazil's Ronaldo and Italy's Antonio Cassano may also be traded from Real Madrid, creating a buzz in the sports world that either one may end up either in the Premiership or far-shot, MLS's New York. Both are questionable if they'll be on their national teams in 2010, though Ronaldo (33) has the record for most career World Cup goals. Also, more rumors are flying as to if Beckham will be able to leave his contract to go to LA Galaxy in time for the season-opener in Houston this April. He's expressed his new desire to be there for LA Galaxy's spring training, and Real Madrid's new coach has said he will not play Beckham ever again since he's already signed to another team.

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!

http://blogs.chron.com/fighting/2007/01/ho...o_host_ufc.html In another thread that Editor started, I made the suggestion that we pursue MMA events like Pride, K-1, and UFC at the Toyota Center. Well, it looks like that may very well be happening. Word on the street has it that UFC 69 may be held in the city that built the House of Pain. It'd be the first major MMA ppv event ever held in Texas, and mmmaaaannnnn do Texans love a good fight >

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.

I read in the Chronicle last week that Jon Stewart of the Daily Show takes $200,000 per appearance as a tour speaker.

Kinda like when Brown was Mayor, huh? I kid, I kid. He'll be fine. I truly do wish him all the best there. If he's able to help NOPD, perhaps both N.O. and H-Town would benefit. Didn't Guliani take a similar job in Mexico City last year? I heard some kind of news of him taking a job as a consultant there.

It has nothing to do with what a tv station reports interms of attendance. MLS is already the biggest soccer league in America, and soccer has been a major sport in the states since '94. My point is that not every Astros game will sell out. Some games will have around 20-30,000 in Minute Maid Park. That same night, Dynamo might sell out at 32,000 a few times this season. The point is that people are watching, and there's an interest. If so, perhaps the local and national sportscasters should learn more about the players at that time and show highlights of that game. And in terms of the demographics; building multiple demographics is key for MLS. Many kids who want to pursue soccer in America aspire to play the major leagues in Europe. The idea is to turn MLS into another desirable league for the younger generation to want to play for (as well as the USA team of course). MLS also has the corporate sponsors, hardcore fanbase, and network TV deals. (ABC, ESPN, Univision, FSC, etc.). But the league is young and still needs to build it's fanbase. Tap the audience that enjoys playing soccer or follow other leagues. That's where Becks comes in. There's gonna be more major signings to come. I bet U the LA Kings today post-Gretzky are still more talked about and watched in SoCal than they were before Gretzky came in 1988. Market-wise, that's all Galaxy could ask for. Beckham already has Cobi Jones and Landon Donovan to call his teammates. After Jones retires, Galaxy will probably replace him with another American star that could bring more spark on the field. As Becks get people to watch the game and keep the team competitive, other players would steal the show on the field. Younger talent would love to take advantage of Beckham's extra on-field media and build their own markets as he has.

I get the joke Seriously though, all six mentioned in Houston are quite popular here. Here's my question though; There's a lot of fashionistas in Houston. Is Dallas the same, or is it more laid back there?

How long will it be until we have the HAIF Hall of Fame?

Looking to move into the Villas at Hermann Park located at 6301 Almeda Road. Has anybody lived there? What are your thoughts? How is the build quality? How are the neighbors? Thanks for your feedback!

I feel much safer as a Houstonian with Lee Brown taking a job over 600 miles away. > Ah, shuky shuky!! Chocolate Ci-tae!!! >

Currently, it's for every country and is one of the top three sports for every country on earth except us. The big comparisons in American sports has been what Wayne Gretzky did for the L.A. Kings after he was traded from Edmonton in 1988. The Kings went from a slowly covered team to one of the most talked about teams in L.A. and the national media. There's no question that Beckham will make L.A. Galaxy the hottest ticket in SoCal for the next five years. It's fair to say that what happened in the Pele days with NASL won't happen with MLS because most of the money this time will be coming sponsorship, and many Americans follow international soccer more than MLS, so they know who the big-tymers are. So long as MLS teams have a desire to win and think bigger than the U.S., MLS will be aight. MLS, just like NBA, MLB, NHL, and NFL, learned from NASL's mistakes. NASL also proves that American fans can very well be interested in attending U.S. soccer league matches. Soccer itself isn't the reason why NASL failed. Bad marketing post-Pele did it. They couldn't maintain the league after all the superstars finished their careers. Also remember, plenty of other leagues in all five popular sports in America have failed; not just NASL. The ticket sales question isn't there anymore. MLS is currently only selling season tickets because the end of the season hasn't been scheduled yet. Even so, teams all over the league have reported record season ticket sales. The highest attendance game for Dynamo at Robertson last season was around 25,000. That number will be passed plenty of times this season. As that number and the interest grows, the media should cover it as such. No false hype. But if more people are attending an MLS game than an NBA or even MLB game in a night, obviously someone's watching. Show some in-depth highlights. It's already happened. Like I said, it's not "is soccer marketable in the U.S." because it obviously is. 75,000 wouldn't pack Reliant when Barcelona came if people weren't interested in attending a soccer match. The question is when MLS will tap that market to the fullest potential. L.A. signing Becks will help spark that, but it's not enough. The league though have put themselves in a position where Beckham is just the beginning. EVERY team will be working to be MLS Superclubs and become one of the top brand clubs in the world, as Galaxy are going for.

Yeah, it's not the Texans' finest hour, but respect to the Saints for making it to the NFC Championship for the first time. How many cities other than Houston have never won a playoff game and/or made it to the conference championship?

There's breaking news from ESPN via the New York Daily News that former U.S. Captain and Manchester City star Claudio Reyna has agreed to join the New York Red Bulls. Whether he's signing a star contract remains to be seen, because he could go either way with the salary cap. If he's NOT the contract-exception, Red Bull may still try to sign another European star.

I take it you're not a sports fan, huh?...

Remember the fact that most of Beckham's money in this contract is corporate sponsorship money, not directly from MLS. In fact, MLS is only paying $400,000 a year, and AEG is between $8-10 Million. Also, each team will be allotted one big-name signing, ensuring that teams don't spend too much on multiple players. There's a possibility that Becks could make more or less than $250 Million; it's merely an estimate to the worth of the package sponsorship deal. I agree with you with corporate sponsorship, but I think it will take a lot more. 1) More big names on an international scale come to the league, and while here, make the league more competitive, the stakes higher, and the style of play at a level equal or greater than that in Europe (which will take years) 2) More tv coverage. MLS will need their own soccer shows on ESPN, basic cable, and sports networks. More tv time for critics to debate on their style of play as the NFL, NBA, MLB, and MLB have already established. Soccer is succeeding with showing more international cups on regular tv and not cable in 2007 and 2008, but sports fans need shows where they can follow the teams. They also need REAL sports critics that can debate the World's sport, and not ones that don't know who's playing on what team. 3) Higher attendance. They may have answered the question for Galaxy games for the next five years, but they need more. Get more players that are starters for national teams, including some who don't have to break the salary cap. Bring in the next big stars from Africa, Asia, and smaller European nations, and Latin-South America. American talent will split between MLS and Europe because both would offer respectable endorsements and high prestigue in the coming years. 4) More street ball needs to be promoted in our pop culture as it is worldwide. U know how street basketball has the crossover, and football has the juke? That all started in international soccer. We're just so used to playing "conservative" soccer, and doing street moves were considered a "taunt" on American fields. That's gotta change. Learn from Clint Demsley. Watch more Brazilian beach moves, European street moves, and moves in our football and basketball, and implement it on America's soccer fields. 5) The coaches for America's national team need more balls, yo. No more conservative 5-3-1 play. We need more 4-4-2 formations on the field. Because of the 5-3-1, we play a more defensive, conservative mode, and in return get low scores. This is America. No Fear. Get up at the goalie. It doesn't matter how much the opponent scores; just score more. We should be more cocky, more confident, and be in attack-mode at all times.

It's hard to tell. I would HATE to be FC Dallas. They have to face Beckham's Galaxy AND the Chivas Guadalajara. Pachuca's no joke either. We're going against Club America, who almost beat Barcelona in an exibition and the Mexican club more compared to the Yankees than anyone else, a fiesty Morelia, and the dynasty that is D.C. United. If Dynamo repeat the MLS Cup and/or win Superliga this year in the Beckham-era, the team is $1 Million richer, and would be considered one of the storied franchises in North American sports.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story...mls&cc=5901 ESPN is also questioning if Beckham may be coming in as early as the pre-season. If so, Houston, Texas may be home to Beckham's regular season debut. That, plus this being the first game since Dynamo won the MLS Cup, would probably make this the hottest sports ticket of 2007. Also the biggest international media blitz ever in Houston for a sporting event (including Super Bowl 2004) http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/S/SOC...EMPLATE=DEFAULT Another Beckham has arrived. Victoria showed up in L.A. for the first time since David's major announcement.

There's a reason why. NFL, MLB, NHL, and the NBA are leagues that are considered the highest level of play for their sport. All other leagues around the world are considered minor leagues compared to those four because they offer more money and sponsorship than any other in their sport. The biggest championships in their sports are national playoffs, and that's where it ends. In soccer, there are so many teams and so many major leagues that there's so many major championships that a team can win. For example, Dynamo will play this year for the title of best team in America minor or major (US Open Cup), best professional team in America (MLS Cup), and best in North America (Superliga). Soccer is probably the only major team sport where we in America watch teams in other leagues play as well as our own. In Europe alone, there's at least seven soccer leagues that have a bigger international audience than any of our leagues of any sport excluding the Super Bowl. The UEFA Champions League may be giving the Supre Bowl a run for it's money though.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4468471.html This Summer is gonna have the first ever Superliga, deciding the best football/soccer franchise in North America. It's gonna happen July 24-Aug. 29. They decided the teams by their history at winning the MLS Cup or the Mexican championship. Teams include: Group A = Chivas Guadalajara, FC Dallas, Los Angeles Galaxy and Pachuca Tuzos Group B = Club America, D.C. United, Houston Dynamo and Morelia Monarcas. This will be the third major championship Dynamo will go for in 2007. They're also in the 2007 US Open Cup, and going for the more coveted MLS Cup. MLS Cup and Superliga will be internationally televised of course.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/soccer/4468590.html According to reports from Madrid, coach Fabio Capello will not let Beckham play anymore with Real Madrid on the pitch, saying that since he's committed to another team, he'll be limited to practice throughout the rest of practice. What are the odds that the powerhouse could play for Galaxy in July instead of August? Or maybe even play for them at the beginning of the season, like, say, for the season opener against Dynamo at Robertson in April?

OYE OYE OYE!!!!

Of course. That's why it's not gonna happen this time. When all the big stars back then finished their time in NASL, the league folded. Difference here is the fact that where Pele's signing was the climax, Beckham's signing is just the beginning. It's known that Becks can't bring soccer/football where it's supposed to be in the states by himself. Americans like quality, and Beckham's signing and major revenue for him and MLS is a major step to making MLS one of the premier sports leagues in America and the world. It's a step, though. They'll eventually have to be capable of signing more big names in their prime (31 and below), and build more super clubs in America. We agree with one thing: Beckham's signing is a gamble. His marketability is definately worth $250 Million, but whether soccer will be a 6-month trend or a fixture when it comes to American talent depends on MLS. Other than that, the fans are definately here in America. We love America more than we have in the past few decades, the NFL stadiums sell-out when major soccer exibitions come to the states, and a lot of Americans follow teams overseas. Soccer itself is VERY marketable in America, but MLS soccer is the question. Can they bring big-name soccer stars in their prime like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and NHL are able to do in their sports? That's gonna take time and consistancy. If they play their cards right, I think the MLS may soon become a more marketable league than NHL. Yes. Except elimination playoff games, when the game may end in penalty kicks after a 30 minute overtime, which was how Dynamo won the nail-bitter against New England. That's another question, too: Will MLS be able to get their own tv show on ESPN that follows the league like NFL Live, NBA Shootaround, and Baseball Tonight? Currently there is ESPN Press Pass, but that's shown on international ESPN; not national. Can they soon create the media?