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!
It’s been an excellent weeklong stretch of games for the Astros tempered by the news of yet another season-ending injury to a starting pitcher. To get the bad news out of the way, it comes as no surprise that Ronel Blanco needs Tommy John surgery and is done until at least the middle of next season. While Blanco had not been nearly as good through nine 2025 starts as he was last season, he was still taking his regular return and on average getting into the sixth inning. Blanco turns 32 years old at the end of August. He’s not even salary arbitration-eligible until 2027. That last fact may be good news for him. The Astros will likely keep Blanco next year in hopes he can contribute in the second half of the season, since they will pay him barely the Major League minimum salary ($780,000 next year) That’s in contrast to Jose Urquidy, who in the midst of his salary arbitration years would have cost about three and a half million dollars to keep, so the Astros non-tendered him.
With Blanco joining Hayden Wesneski in the “See you next year! Hopefully.” club, it struck me as interesting that the Astros let Lance McCullers throw 102 pitches in his Wednesday outing vs. the Athletics. That’s eleven more than he had thrown in any of his prior four starts. McCullers holding up physically would be a huge boost, but the new essentials in the Astros’ rotation are Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown. Framber has settled in to the tune of a 1.93 earned run average over his last four starts. Brown’s season ERA is 2.00. Brown has had five days of rest before all eleven of his starts this season. This Sunday is Brown’s presently next scheduled outing. He would work on four days of rest if on the mound Sunday against the Rays.
Taking the last two games from the Mariners was huge (for the second half of May anyway). Keeping the good times rolling by sweeping the two-game miniseries from the A’s was less significant but still nice. Maybe not quite nice enough to have Frank “The Tank” from the movie Old School belting out “We’re going streaking!!!” but it did give the Astros their first four game winning streak of the season. They still have not lost more than three straight.
On a heater!
Speaking of streaking, time for annual mention of one of my all-time favorite baseball factoids. The 1916 New York Giants hold the MLB record for the longest win streak with an incredible 26 in a row. Earlier in the season the Giants ripped off 17 in a row. Combine the two streaks and that’s 43-0! The 1916 New York Giants finished in fourth place. In all their other games the Giants went 43-66. The American League’s longest ever winning streak is of fairly recent vintage. The 2007 Cleveland Indians won 22 straight. There have been only two other winning streaks since 1900 of at least 20 games. The 1935 Chicago Cubs won 21 straight. The Art Howe-managed 2002 Oakland A’s won 20 in a row, and were the inspiration for the movie Moneyball. The Astros have three 12 game winning streaks as the longest in their history.
Expect the unexpected
Tuesday’s win over the A’s brought the Astros to the one-third completed point of the regular season. Isaac Paredes was definitely their best offensive player to that milepost. His “on pace for” numbers were the best on the ballclub 33 home runs and 93 runs batted in. Paredes also led in runs scored with 29. The last Astro to lead the team in all three of those categories was Alex Bregman who did it in both 2018 and 2019. That Bregman was clearly a better player than this Paredes, but Isaac healthy and making “only” 6.625 million dollars this season is a heck of a lot better value than Bregman at 40 mil for the Red Sox, especially given that while Bregman was off to a sensational start for Boston, he’s now out for at least a month with a quad injury.
Hunter Brown is on pace to win 20 games. The last Astro to get there was Gerrit Cole on the last day of the 2019 regular season. The day before that Justin Verlander won his 21st game.
The Cleveland Guardians’ bullpen was awesome last season, by far the best in the league with four relievers who each pitched in at least 74 games posting ERAs of 1.92 or lower, headlined by closer Emmanuel Clase’s microscopic 0.61. One-third of the way through this season for the Astros: Bryan Abreu sat at 1.90, Steven Okert 1.82, Josh Hader 1.57, Bryan King 1.52.
For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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