A BIG TEXAS PARTY
David Gow: Re-celebrating Super Bowl week in Houston, and why this city will beat Minneapolis as a host
David Gow
Jan 29, 2018, 6:34 am
The Big Texas Party was better than anything Minneapolis will do. ABC13.com
Every year thousands of media members travel to cover the Super Bowl, leading to widespread reviews of the host city. This year will be no different. There will be stories about the weather, the logistics, the food, hotels, transportation, hospitality, etc. The point: The Super Bowl is so much more than the game; it is a week-long, deep-dive experience of learning the dynamics of the host city.
Last year, Houston truly shined. This year, we have Minneapolis. Minneapolis in February -- a head-scratcher that has media members and fans from both sides grumbling. As a member of the media, I have travelled to the Super Bowl city each of the last eight years. Never has there been a back-to-back comparison of cities that is so one-sided. Allow me to offer my top five reasons why Houston is a superior host city to Minneapolis.
Weather
Idyllic conditions vs. artic freeze. This one is stating the obvious. It is almost too easy, like telling everyone that Tom Brady is a better QB than Nick Foles. Of course. But, more than any other year, the weather will define the experience leading up to the game. Last year Houston weather ranged between 60-75 degrees. The forecast in Minneapolis: temperatures ranging from 10 degrees to 0 degrees – the coldest host city experience, ever.
People
Minnesota Nice vs. Texas Hospitality. Having visited Minneapolis many times, I will affirm the unofficial state motto: Minnesotans are, indeed, “nice.” But sometimes I feel this is stated merely due to context. Think: well, given that the winters they endure, they do a good job of being nice. It is hunkered-down, grit-your-teeth, survivalist “nice.” Last year one of the common themes I heard from visitors about Houston: the hospitality was over the top. From the moment visitors arrived at the airport, to the time they needed directions, when they wanted restaurant recommendations, etc., there was a pervasive spirit in the air: Texas-sized Hospitality.
Nexus of Activity
Mall of America vs. Discovery Green. Every year there is a hub of all the week’s activities: the site for the NFL experience, radio row, restaurants/hotels, bands performing, etc. I don’t want to revisit the point about weather, but as I said, it defines the week. In Minnesota, the hub will be the Mall of America, a sprawling indoor monster mall. In Houston, guests strolled outdoors, sat on the lawn listening to bands, ate at covered patios. For the removal of doubt, ours was Discovery Green.
Food
Booya vs. Barbecue. Minnesotans make stew in large vats and call it booya. Other signature dishes include cheese curds or casserole. MMM. Give me a plate of Pinkerton’s barbecue – please. I might have touted fresh walleye, a delicious fresh water fish found in Minnesota’s many lakes but, right now, those lakes are frozen – ugh! (and, no, I do not recommend ice fishing). Of course, what makes Houston’s restaurant scene world class is our incredible ethnic diversity. If Minnesota is “twin-cities,” we are about “10 cities” of different ethnic groups. Thus, the challenge for last year’s visitors was how to try it all: barbecue, Mexican, steak houses, Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, etc., etc. You get the point.
Parties
The Big Texas Party vs. Anything. Every year there are large parties thrown by out-of-town entities: the Maxim Party, the Leather and Laces party, the Playboy party, etc. Those parties took place in Houston; they will take place in Minneapolis – same thing. But here is what is different. I am now revealing my ultimate “homer” status. The best party I have ever attended was last year: The Big Texas Party. Thrown by CultureMap and ESPN 97.5, the party headline was beer, bourbon and barbecue. The Mayor came. A ton of former and current football players showed up -- Mike Barber, Chris Dishman, Bubba McDowell and legendary Cowboys Ed “Too Tall” Jones and Randy White. Even a few Patriots, who would play in the big game a few days later, snuck in to enjoy the festivities. Most Super Bowl parties are a bunch of men hanging around drinking beer, wishing there were more women or staring at the few models who have been paid to attend. But this party had the perfect balance: CultureMap turned out women; ESPN 97.5 turned out the men. When Bart Crow fired up his band, the dance floor was full. The event was such a success we had folks suggesting we do it again this year. Rather, we will cling to a great memory, a party that capped off a week where Houston put its best boot forward!
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There's no denying that this year's World Series champs (LA Dodgers) have some serious firepower on their roster. And one of the ways they were able to assemble such a talented team involved players like Shohei Ohtani being willing to differ their money.
Just this week, there was some speculation that the Yankees could do something similar when restructuring Gerrit Cole's contract, that would allow them more flexibility in the present.
The Yankees ended up calling Cole's bluff about opting out, and no adjustment was made to the contract.
But this situation got us thinking, would the Astros consider a tactic like this to maximize the roster? At this point, it doesn't seem all that likely. Just last year, the team handed out a $95 million contract to Josh Hader, without any differed money.
The other factor that also has to come into play is the tax threshold. The organization would have to give the okay to go over it again in order to make a splash signing this offseason. Which unfortunately does not sound like the plan right now when listening to GM Dana Brown at the Winter Meetings.
Astros pitcher hires a new agent
Now that MLB free agency is in full swing, most of the attention moving forward will be focused on players like Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso, and Juan Soto.
But for Astros fans, there might be someone else to keep an eye on this offseason and next. Starting pitcher Hunter Brown quietly hired super agent Scott Boras recently.
With Brown still another season away from his first year of arbitration, he should be with the Astros for the foreseeable future.
However, the hiring of Boras does raise some interesting questions. Why make the move now? Certainly, Brown could use some more cash, as he's set to make less than a million in 2025.
Perhaps Brown wants to land some HEB commercials to fatten his wallet. And if Bregman does leave the team in free agency, a spot will open up for another player, in theory. And three of the players in the HEB ads are represented by Boras (Jose Altuve, Lance McCullers Jr. and Bregman).
Jeremy Pena has been stacking cash from Taquerias Arandas for several years now, maybe Brown would like an opportunity to do an endorsement similar to that.
I say all this half kidding, but Brown does look like the future ace of this staff, and I'm sure there are plenty of advertisers that would have interest in Hunter.
There is another element that could have initiated the hiring of Boras. Would Brown be willing to sign an extension early with the Astros similar to the deal the team made with Cristian Javier?
Their situations are actually pretty comparable, except Javier was one year further into his career (3 years of MLB service time) and eligible for arbitration before agreeing to the extension.
If Brown was heading into arbitration this offseason, it wouldn't be surprising at all for the Astros to be considering a long-term deal with him that buys up all his arbitration years. The 'Stros love these types of contract extensions. We've seen them do it with Bregman, the aforementioned Javier, and others.
One of the main differences though between Brown and Javier is their rookie year numbers. Brown only pitched 20.1 innings in his first season (2022). While Javier pitched 54.1 innings his rookie year. However, his rookie season was in 2020, so Javier completed a full year of service time despite the shortened season. Whereas Brown didn't get called up until September 2022.
Another difference is performance. Javier never posted an ERA over 3.55 in his first three seasons. As opposed to Brown, who had a disastrous year in 2023. He made 29 starts, recording an ERA over 5.
It wasn't until May of 2024 that Brown started using his two-seam fastball with great success and becoming one of the most dominant pitchers in the American League.
The Astros had a bigger sample size to judge Javier. However, if Brown has another quality season in 2025, Houston and Brown should definitely be having conversations about an extension. Especially with Framber Valdez being in the final year of his contract in 2025. Hunter could be the unquestioned ace one year from now.
Still, though, there are some concerns with handing out these early extensions. For example, if the Astros had it to do over again, would they still extend Javier?
After receiving his extension before the 2023 season, he went on to post the highest ERA of his career (4.56), and then blew out his elbow in May 2024.
And if we're going by Luis Garcia's recovery timeline from Tommy John surgery, we may not see Javier pitch at all in 2025.
So even with a sample size of three terrific seasons, the Javier extension looks like a miss with the benefit of hindsight. It will be interesting to see if that deal impacts Dana Brown's decision-making going forward.
Especially since Javier was Dana's first big contract extension as the Astros GM.
Be sure to watch the video as we discuss how the Astros can get the most out of their roster, the pros and cons of signing Hunter Brown early, and much more!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcasts. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo discuss varied Astros topics. The post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon. Find all via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
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Fans of Houston sports and Houston food can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm November 11 at 8th Wonder. Tickets are $75 for VIP and $50 for General Admission. For a limited time, we’re giving you $10 off; use code SPORTSMAP at checkout. Get your tickets now!