DJ V Lawrence

What?! Ron Dayne is worthless?! Excuse me, but Ron Dayne was the one that helped the Texans to defeat for the first time the Clots and other games. This guy has the power!

I agree. Dayne's good. He could be a REALLY good backup next season.

"The New Houston: We're back, b****!"

Man Law!!

I'm not arguing for or against...I just feel our elected officials should have their feet held to the fire until we are assured that where they say the profits will end up will actually end up there.

I'm with you on that one

DJ, the Texans are not going to have high paid quarterback as 2nd string. They rather trade him off and get another vertern quarterback pay him less money, add a 2nd or 3rd round draft pick quarterback to develop to the roster.

And how does that improve the team? We get another veteran QB that nobody wants, or get ourselves a QB from the draft that we still have to teach and give time to learn what being a QB is all about, while starting Rosenfels?

Didn't you mention earlier that you thought Carr would be a "fine quarterback"? If that's the case, give Carr a legitimate chance with a STRONG PROVEN OL. Carr has one problem IMO; confidence. He's not gonna get it if he and his coaches aren't on the same page. If he were a disruptive player that couldn't learn, get rid of him. But he can be a really good QB soon with the right coaches.

Speaking of Texans, I'm looking forward to seeing what they plan to do on draft day. I hope we make a steal or two.

David Carr is gone, so please let's get off of him. Carr didn't show me nothing since he been here. Move on! Like I said before, when the Texans get another quarterback that's when this franchise will see their first postseason.

...and get what in return? We can't trade him for Young now, can we? What, trade him for 2nd/3rd round picks, and use Rosenfels as our starter? And STILL have to develop someone we draft to be our backup QB? Or get a QB via free agency that's gonna retire in less than two years, when Carr finally has his break-out season?

Here's my suggestion: Leave Carr alone, and have him battle Rosenfels for the top starting spot for now. Then, we see who we get in the draft. If there so happens to be a steal of a pick available as QB, take him and train him to be an EVENTUAL starter. But don't even think about trading or releasing Carr unless we draft a QB who we think could become better than him. We have a solid backup QB, and a healthy QB with strong potential, but has worked with a not-so-proven line every year in his career. So, build that OL up to strength (to where there's no excuse for a bad game whoever the QB is), and focus on the draft as to who the Texans could use to COMPETE with Carr and Rosenfels for the starting spot.

Then if Carr doesn't look promising post-draft, trade him then for 2008 draft picks, and keep building. QB was NOT the worst position on the Texans' squad last year...

I rather have those 4 quarterbacks then Carr.

I'd rather have all four and Carr than Rex Grossman, yet only Grossman and McNabb have won Conference titles.

Carr can become a solid QB with the right coaching, and I think McNair found the right coaching staff. There was and isn't any quick fix available for the Texans for QB starter for the next 5 years except the one we have now when it comes to free-agency. Draft, who knows, but even that guy would take time to groom, and that's a guy who should BACKUP Carr and battle him for the starting spot, not automatically start.

They should build strickly with the idea of having one of the strongest-depth teams in the league.

I'll address it here. I live downtown. Before living in Houston, I lived in central DC. I consider myself to have a very high threshold for dealing with noise. I'm fine with the levels of noise typically produced by sirens, gunshots, 3 alarm fires, and 5 am street brawls. I'm confident that neither Warren's nor Market St Grill could produce enough noise to disturb my night even if they wanted to. However, I am not fine with bass that vibrates through several brick walls and into my loft at 3am. Hearing music at 1:00am is fine. Audible noise all night all night long is not an issue. Feeling my pillow vibrate at 3:00am is where I draw the line.

I don't get it. Houston's pushing for Downtown go get more residential developments, I get that. But if they're pushing for more Downtown businesses, bars, restaurants, clubs, etc, and are pushing for more pedestrian areas day and night with projects like Houston Pavillions, and on top of that have two stadiums in walking distance, won't Downtown get more noisy regardless?

Galveston grooms the beaches. Just not the entire island. And there is an ecological benefit against erosion from the seaweed.

That's why I ask if some of you even go down there.

That's another question. Would more people go to Galveston if there were casinos there, or would the tourist numbers be pretty much the same?

I'm not calling for Carr's head. David is a fine qaurterback, but he needs a different address. Houston is not the place for him. As a quarterback you must have vision, being a leader, as well as consistants and make things happen. David Carr don't have either.

Look at these running quarterbacks; Michael Vick, Vince Young, McNabb, Culpepper, etc. They keep drives alive, not by sitting in the pocket getting sacked (Carr). Only time you see Carr taking off running is when he make mistakes (fumbling, int, sacks). Then the next series he want to make up for his mistakes, and keep the crowd on his side by running like a chicken head cut off.

I think Carr is teachable. If he has a strong OL, and they work hardcore on him during training camp, I think Carr will be great for the Texans next season. That's why I think they shouldn't get rid of him. Instead, have him compete for the starting position by drafting another QB, and with Rosenfels. Build depth in that position.

Hell, build depth in EVERY position on the Texans, 'cause that's what they need most. So far, they seem to be succeeding in doing that. Shawn Barber would also be a good pick-up.

I'm curious; if this vote were to pass, what would the qualifications be for an area/town in a state to have resort/casinos? In other words, what would allow a casino to be built in Corpus Christi and not Galveston, or vise versa, etc.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metrop...an/4611406.html

Before, we've talked about the possibility of gambling becoming legal throughout parts of Texas (particularly Galveston). It looks like State Legislation may be ready to take it to the next step. The article doesn't mention the 12 places in particular that could be home to new resort-casinos, but I guess you'll hear that soon should this vote pass.

Any positive/negative opinions on the new developments?

I'm gald he signed somewhere else. Patrick's resume didn't look so hot to me.

Now here's the deal. The Texans still have a chance getting a vertern quarterback. "The Kansas City Chiefs said that while they continue to talk with QB Trent Green about restructuring his contract and remaining with the team, he will be allowed to "explore other potential opportunities in the National Football League" before making his final decision."

The Dolphins want Trent Green, and could seen Dante Culpepper packing. The Texans could grab Culpepper, or even Joey Harrington?

I still don't think Ramsey, Culpepper, or Harrington are better than Carr or Rosenfels. Trent Green, maybe, because he's probably the most consistant in that bunch. I still think if Carr's on the trading block, he's the most coveted QB available, which tells me there isn't much of an upgrade if we get someone via free agency.

I say just forget about looking for a new "starter" QB, because it's a waste of time. Bring in someone and tell them they'll have to battle it out with Carr and Rosenfels for starter or 1st backup. Add depth to the position should in case both get hurt (it's the Texans. No one's immune from getting hurt.)

And MUCH better yet, get a strong overlooked QB in the second round of the draft, develop him, and have him battle for the starting spot the second year. I think with this draft, the strongest defensive players and linemen will be overlooked in the first picks, so pick the absolute best in a position available, then make a steal in the second round. I bet you Troy Smith of Ohio State will be mistakenly available for the Texans to snatch. But I think the better QBs this year are in the draft, not free agency.

Ramsey signed with Denver on a two year deal.

At least he signed with our second team...

Who the hell is this Partick Ramsey guy? He was the former QB at Redskins and Jets. The Texans is showing strong intrested on signing him to be a backup QB.

Anyone knows about this guy?

He does ring a bell. He did battle Pennington for the starting spot and lost. He has a lot to prove, and battle Carr and/or Rosenfels would be perfect for him.

In terms of the fans, they shouldn't know what to expect from him. He'll either be a star, a dud, or a backup. We'll have to see how he does in training camp if he's signed.

I think he was a college star, too.

Hmm...let me look at the plans here on my desk. Says here, 22,565.

All jokes aside, it's really a toss-up. There's no stadium in MLS smaller than 20K for sure, and the largest SSS (Soccer Specific Stadium) will be for DC United and will be an expandable 27,000. San Jose's about to get a team again, and it will be either 25-34,000 seats depending on the size of the soccer or football match there (they'll share with San Jose State.) Toronto is also around 20,000 seats, but they already expect to expand because their season tickets are already sold out.

Houston's a different case from everyone because we'd have the best central location in MLS, directly across from Downtown. That, mixed with the amount of fans that would go to a quality stadium, the fact that our team is so good, and the high attendances expected, means the stadium could be anywhere from 25-35,000 seats reasonably to start off with.

Also keep in mind that the team is owned by AEG Entertainment, who's music tours primarily go to Toyota Center. Should an NHL team go there, perhaps the stadium would double up as the primary Downtown major concert venue, and wouldn't have to double up as a high school field as it would in the suburbs.

Discovery Green parking will actually be closer than the far reaches of the surface lot. It will hold 630 vehicles. Add that to the Harris County parking garage, a block northwest of MMP, currently being expanded to 2,000 capacity from 1,200, and you have 1,430 new parking spaces within 3 blocks of MMP. That is probably close to or exceeding the capacity of the surface lots east of 59. A 2 or 3 story garage between MMP and 59 could easily handle the lost parking east of MMP, as well as serve a soccer stadium on the surface lots.

As a bonus, the City of Houston apparently owns those 6 blocks.

That'd be better for Downtown too, seeing that there would be much more pedestrian activity within that condensed area. Traffic would be high there, but that's part of the reason why they built two stadiums downtown anyway.

Originally a garage was planned next to MMP, but it was dropped because there was enough local parking available. With the garages at Toyota Center and under construction at Discovery Green, and the space freed up by the demolition of the Willliam Penn hotel, I wonder if a new parking garage would even be necessary if the Dynamo were to build downtown.

Why not have some of the underground parking at Discovery Green become parking for some Astros Season Ticket holders, and build a parking garage by MMP for Astros VIP and Dynamo season ticket holders?

Late April? Not too far away. Can't wait.

Me either If it were next to MMP, it'd be a smash for Dynamo and Downtown. I hope they get the parking situation handled with the Astros.

Can someone from Dallas explain this ?

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-c...p&type=lgns

First off I think it is great that one of my own got that kind of loot for that position. I am just glad that the Texans didn't do this, and that they don't get any ideas.

Hey, I ain't gonna complain about Ahmann Green, leg might be questionable, but has seemed to heal up nicely after a year and a half, he is a quality runningback. We'll see how his pre-season goes.

He made the Packers fun to watch last year. He'll go well with Carr and Johnson.

Actually think the name of this thread should be changed to the future of downtown nightlife. Obviously, Downtown is soon to be "Once Again" the new and this time lasting hotspot. Midtown as you might know was a ghetto and has come a long way as downtowns neighborhood. It is going to settle back into the shadow of downtown, as it should and sophisticated operators will select downtown for real business.

I predict an Uptown nightlife resurgance in the next 5-10 years. I could see that area push for more upscale nightlife activity that's better than their 24-hour Starbucks. If that area's nightlife has been declared dead already, they may soon find it an opportunity to start from scratch (like upscale urban-developed clubs in the heart of the Galleria area this time).

Midtown is a toss-up. It will either become one of the clubbing meccas of the state, or will just die out. Really depends on if the new developments keep coming or not.

Downtown is by far the most stable area in Houston in terms of nightlife. There's so much potential there because of Pavillions and the park coming. What that area needs is 24-hour living, and hopefully Pavillions will be one of the steps to getting that. A 24-hour flagship grocery store Downtown would complete that for residents there (ideally along the park). Once you have the constant pedestrian traffic, and it coincides with the new clubs, restaurants, and bars from Main to Hiltons, Downtown will breakout I think.

We signed Ahman Green from the Packers. He had a couple of 1,000 yard seasons there, and was regarded as one of the top backs in the NFL. Good move Texans.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2787723

Oye. Good move indeed ESPN named him the 14th most coveted free agent. Let's hope they get more major signings going.

Also, I wonder if this bolsters the Texans' likelyhood of trading players (probably other tailbacks) for draft picks...

I think the place I'm looking forward to the most there is the Books-A-Million.

Joe Horn was released by New Orleans and Joey Porter was released by the Steelers. Could you imagine Andre and Horn or DeMeco and Porter?!?

I REALLY want Horn and/or Porter on the Texans. I hope they're on it like white on rice.

In other news, Jake Plummer was traded for a middle-round pick to the Buccaneers, only to retire a few minutes afterwards.

does anyone think they will expand the tunnels from the houston center to connect with HP, Park Tower, and Discovery Green

That'd be kinda pointless for everyone except the current tunnel shops. Most of the retail will be on street level from all three place (HP, Park Tower, Discovery Green). It's obvious the goal is to enhance a pedestrian environment and encourage people to walk from one shop to the next. Building tunnels there would defeat that purpose.

It'd be like building a tunnel from one side of the Galleria to the other. What benefit would it have on the shops in the mall itself if there's less pedestrians passing by?

Perhaps after a while, it could happen, but downtown is still at a minimal stage of pedestrian shopping compared to places like in Asia, where they have shopping at street level as well as under the roads.

Imagine where we would be if the Pavilions was built before the Galleria--all that development might be downtown. C'est lavi. Whatever the case, I am just happy that I will finally be able to go to a mall and not have to deal with all the Galleria madness.

I asked this question a few pages back, and got no replies. However, a few people have touched on it. From looking at the list of tenants, it doesn't look like they are anywhere near full-occupancy. Does any one have any idea at what rate they are at? Not the exact numbers necessarily, but what sort of availability is there for new stores joining the fold?

I'm pretty sure they're not even at half-occupancy yet (that's a guess, not from any officials). They're still in a good position though because there's already some dynamic names announced there, and between now and opening day, I'm sure we're going to hear more store and restaurant announcements to help build up the Pavillions PR. I wonder what their office-space occupancy is though, because I haven't heard any mention of it.

Also, it was mentioned in the Chronicle that the reason why Pavillions excluded residential retail was because it was going to cost much more for more parking spaces to accomodate. Smart move, but what are the odds of another block one day being added to Pavillions for residential?