Monday, July 2, 2012

Carlos Lee: Hope for the Houston Sports Fan

I think we can all agree, the summer of 2012 has been a rough one for Houston sports fans.

The Astros are yet again one of the worst clubs in baseball, continuing a rebuilding process that already seems to be taking forever. The Rockets, though competitive, remained in neutral and missed the playoffs again. And the worst thing of all: Albert Haynesworth is still available to be signed by a team on the Texans schedule. That means the possibility of Matt Schaub suffering a season ending injury at the hands (or ass) of Fat Al is still floating around (ATTENTION RICK SMITH: Sign his fat ass NOW! And do not let him near Schauby!). Nothing has gone right, and there has been nothing positive to take out of this summer, right? Insert Carlos Lee. One of the biggest wastes of money in the history of sports in Houston may have finally came through in an unlikely way, and provided some hope for the city's sports fans.

Lee has vetoed a trade that would send him to the L.A. Dodgers, a winning team with a realistic shot at some postseason success. "How is that a good thing?", you might ask.  I know, for a team rebuilding it seems to be a bad deal, not being able to trade an old horse on the decline for some young colts with promise of helping in the future. But you have to dig deeper, think outside of the Juice Box for a second to see where I'm coming from.

One of the things that gets a Houston sports fan more down than a, well, something real low is that athletes, specifically star athletes never want to play in Houston. Dwight Howard says he doesn't want to be here, expressing through various outlets he would not re-sign with the Rockets in 2013 if traded to Houston. Chris Bosh wanted to play in Miami, turning down more money to NOT play in Houston. Nnamdi Asomugha didn't seem too interested in coming to Houston last offseason (though the Texans may be better off with the player who did sign on).  Carlos Beltran was in Houston just long enough to have only one of the best postseason runs in MLB history, then chose to leave a World Series caliber team to play in flashier New York City. Get where I'm going with this now?

Yep, by refusing to be traded to a winning team in L.A., Carlos Lee is basically saying he wants to stay in Houston! This should excite Houston sports fans, someone actually "wants" to be here.

....yah, you're right, this summer really sucks.