The Maniac's Retrospect!

It is Monday December 29, 2008 the day after the last Texans game of the season, I'm telling you this just to show that what you are about to read is completely improve, I have nothing prepared.





Let's Begin:





The Texans ended the season yesterday, with an impressive win over the Chigaco Bears. Before this season I ran down the schedule game by game and predicted a 10-6 season, which included a playoff appearence and a playoff win. http://houstonsportsrule.blogspot.com/2008/07/texans-2008.html





Well, The Texans had to win yesterday just to get to 8-8. So they fell short of the playoffs, but this team showed me some things both good and bad.





Matt Schaub- let's start with the team leader. Matt put all and I mean ALL qb controversy away. Yes, he has moments of David Carr, like play,but the dude is for real. Schaub is learning from his mistakes, and he's getting very close to being very, very good. He steps up when the plate gets hot, and handles pressure very well. During the Pitt. game, I remember thinking " He looks just like Carr, dropping before he's hit and lying on the ground for long periods of time after a hit". I think he had a concussion, he just looked way out of place. Against the Oilers...... I mean Titans, at home, I remember thinking, " Matt's got his game face on! He made it a point to jump up quickly after he was hit. I'm glad that I'm going get to root for this guy for years to come.



Sage- He proved that he is a backup qb and nothing more.



The offensive line- The unit is starting to gel, and I think that they will only get better. Like Schaub, they have "Capers era" type plays, but have shown the ability to protect well. I'll predict under 20 sacks allowed next season.



Steve "Clean" Slaton- I love that man, not scared to admit a man crush on #20. He finished the year leading all rookie running backs in total yards. I hope he gets some kind of rookie award. As the offensive line gets better, so will Steve Slaton.



Mario- I think I had his sack over/under at 15, he only had 12. Get him another pass rusher and holding calls on the opponents and I will put the over/under at 20. I don't care what your true feelings are about SuperMario,but 90 is greater than 25 and 10 combined!



Defensive Line- We need a big block eating tackle, then maybe something good about this unit. Okoye will be better,but overall the unit needs work.

Secondary- I'm not overly concerned with this bunch. I think with another pass rusher and experience that the Defensive backs will be decent, not real good, but decent.


Demeco Ryans- played hurt nearly all season, I full expect him to regain his probowl type play next season.

The rest of the Linebackers- Adibi and Diles will be great next year, watch and see.

Andre Johnson- The best reciever in football, on the planet, period.


Overall- I expect some changes with The Texans,but not drastic changes. Richard Smith may or may not be fired, neither would surprise me.

This team is growing and learning and I can only hope that a slow, but steady progression only means a lengthy run as an elite team.

If you had asked me on that sunday just after Rosencopter, and the Texans fell to 0-4, would I take an 8-4 record for the rest of the season, I would've given a resounding HELL YES!!

8-8 wasn't what Texans fans wanted, but I doubt anybody would've wanted 7-9 either.


GO TEXANS!!!!

Rockets!!

The NBA season is upon us, and although I won't pay a whole lot of attention until April, I'm very excited about our Rockets. I'm first and foremost a Texans fan followed by Astros and Rockets. When Football ends, I get real interested in college basketball, because I love filling out Brackets for March Madness. By That Time the Baseball season is getting ready to get rolling and NBA is getting interesting.



I will be keeping daily tabs on the Rockets, just not complete game watching until March or April. I fully expect the Rockets to win around 60+ games. With Ron Artest now on board, this rockets team will have some grit, which will come in handy come playoffs. This team just needs to use the regular season to establish a chemistry and come playoffs they will be dangerous. Honestly I wouldn't expect anything less than a trip to the Conference Finals.

GO ROCKETS!!!

Series-ly Brad, Good Job!

Well, The World Series came and went. The only game I watched was the 3 1/2 inning finale, which, was 1 1/2 hours of the most exciting baseball I had seen on TV. I was rooting for the Rays, mainly because they are the small market team and I'm sick of the "Yanksox" Teams always winning, and because a buddy of mine if from Tampa.

Let me say this about Brad" lights out- the light went out-lights out again" Lidge. I was pissed and very happy for him at the same time on the final strikeout of the Series. I wanted the batter to blast one in crowd and tie the game and I wanted Bradley to strike him out at the same time. It's very good for Lidge that he has found his groove again, he deserves it after all he went through in Houston. He's just lucky Albert Pujols doesn't play for the Rays.

Perfect Ending

Well, my friends the Astros season ended without a trip to the post season, but it ended with a series win. As an Astros fan I could not have been happier, given how this season went.
They kept the end of the season interesting, by being the hottest team in baseball since the all-star break giving us hope going into 2009. If the Stros had made the post season they may have made some noise, but just enough to frustrate fans. When Carlos Lee comes back, there is no doubt in my mind that the offense will be good. Even without El Caballo, the offense got the excitement back this season.
I honestly think, if Uncle Drayton will do what it takes to get a C.C. Sabathia or Jake Pevey, or Ben Sheets they will contend in '09. If we learned anything about this Astros team, it's that they are the same in the fact, we cannot give up on them. Despite, the poor play in the middle of the summer, they still had a chance to reach the playoffs and finished well above .500.
Just think, They were swept by bad teams in the Orioles, Pirates, and Marlins. If they win just one game in those series, then we are watching MLB in October with the Stros playing.
Puma will be back, Lee will be back and the Houston Astros will contend in 2009!

Now we have the Texans. I love football and I know that this season is looking bleek, but DAMMNIT, I'm glad we have a football team!

I was just thinking!

I know the Astros are done, but I've been watching anyway. I wish they were going to make the playoffs, I love playoff baseball and I will be watching. The cubs will be the story of these MLB playoffs, mark my words.
Anyway, the Stros just finished a series with the Metropolitans and split 2-2, which is awesome considering it's the Mets. The Mets have some obnoxious fans. My family and I went to one Astros game against the Mets and they had 4-0 lead and all that could be heard were chants of LET'S GO METS! This pissed me off, but when The Stros tied the game in the bottom of the ninth I had hard time getting those same Mets fans to chant with me...LET'S GO 'STROS! The Astros won that game in 10 innings 5-4, fun time.
I just wanted to complain about a decision that was made last night. A walk to Reyes and the next batter was intentionally walked to get to Carlos Delgado. Delgado already a three-run homer in the game and you walk in order to get him up with 2 runners on??? Delgado delivered another 3 run homer. That is just poor management, you were only down 3 at the time. The Mets went on to win 9-1 and Pelfry was in control, but that's poor poor management.
I'm just venting.

I'M READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL BABY!!!!!

Go Stros..... to 2009 ?

As much as I hate to say it, and as much as I love playoff baseball, I would like to see the Astros pack it in for the season. At the current pace they may get to .500 or maybe even 87 wins, as yours truly predicted, however, I don't think they can win a playoff series with this pitching staff.



I say why not let some AAA players come up and play and maybe they can showcase their skills....no laughing, and get some trades done in the offseason. CC Sabathia will be available and maybe someone else and the Stros should be able to make a serious push for the pennent in 2009. Rest Roy O and let your best AAA pitcher get a taste of the Bigs...... no laughing and see what happens. Berkman, Pence, and Lee are a threesome with enough pop that the offense should still produce.

Now don't get me wrong I won't be upset if they stay status quo and win just enough to get us excited only to drop the chance at the postseason at the last moment. I know one thing for sure Uncle Drayton won't have a problem filling the seats at Minute Maid, no matter who he has one the field.

All I'm saying is Please Astros let us down easy, either way I am excited about 2009......... if the offseason is done right.


GO ASTROS!!!!

A raging drunken perspective

:Everyone knows football rules in Texas & tonight the Texans are in New Orleans for preseason(Astros lost again vs. Arizona). Here are my perspectives on the game tonight: No more talk about a quarterback controversy here in Houston ; Matt Schaub (14 of 16 187 yds 2 tds),versus NFL starting caliber players, outplayed Sage Rosefels(6 of 8 94 yds 0 tds), versus backups. Kevin Walter(6 rec 100yrds 1 td) is an amazing reciever!!! Let us all hope Chris Brown stays healthy, because he looks to be perfect for this run blocking scheme. While I'm speaking of blocking; Duane Brown did another solid job against a quality end in the league. Holy crap! Did Smithiak score again by getting an undervalued player? So far , so good.Onto the defense : these guys did not so look. I know that the play calling is a little vanilla for defense in the preseason ; so I won't get too stressed but.... WHERE IS THE PASS RUSH!?!?!!!! Drew Brees(who is a helluva qb) had WAY TOO MUCH TIME! in the pocket & diced apart our secondary. They played special attention to Jacques Reeves(I hope he's not a liability during the regular season). I don't have the stats on plays against him ; but I especially remember a play where Reggie Bush hurdled him for a touchdown. I do know they where going after him a lot; which is a concern for me because I know other teams will be looking for weaknesses. Is Reeves a weakness? Onto the pass rush....or lack of pass rush. I know it's preseason & teams are not showing their hands as far as their different strategies are concerned , but there was no pressure on the quarterback at all. Still no pass rush? The front four need to generate a lot more considering the fact that the secondary will still be lacking until Robinson will be ready after the bye(it looks like teams will be keying on Reeves this season instead of Feagans). Hey Jacoby Jones...you need to HOLD ON TO THE FOOTBALL!!! Potential is a killer of coaches & teams. Often a team will hang onto a player because of "potential" This kind of performance for the second week in a row is not acceptable ; especially with the competition at receiver. The Texans cannot afford to waste a roster spot on "potenial" That being said, I trust the decision if Smithiak concerning him. Back to the positives. Kris Brown is one of the best in this league; another excellent performance! Chris Taylor looked like he gained a lot of confidence since the first game; let's hope that is really just a cramp that held him out of the rest of the game & not anything serious. Steve Slaton played versus the 3rd & 4th string but this guy looks like a helluva NFL player. He will surprise a lot of people.I'm looking forward to a long & illustrious career with the Texans. It looks like Alex Brink was a solid pick he had good poise in he pocket & scrambled well. I would tend to give Gary Kubiak the benefit of the doubt on quarterbacks because he has a TON of experience on that position. In fact, I trust Smith/Kubiak on all of their decisions(even the ones i disagree with), because these guys have come through everytime. Solid second preseason game; I'm expecting great things come regular season.