HARRIS COUNTY-HOUSTON SPORTS AUTHORITY INSIDER
Once again, Houston is in the mix to host the Final Four
Patti Smith
Jun 15, 2018, 6:59 am
Houston hopes to host the Final Four again. Courtesy photo
The Harris County – Houston Sports Authority Insider will take you inside Houston Sports each Friday because #WeAreHoustonSports!
Three Super Bowls. Two Final Fours. Three NCAA Regionals.
Any questions?
We may not have any, but the NCAA Men’s Basketball Committee does have a few which is why two members of the committee and other NCAA officials are in town for one final site visit before the group meets to decide the venues for the 2023-2026 Men’s Final Fours.
There’s no arguing that the Bayou City knows how to throw a mega sports event, but Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhardt and Duke AD Kevin White flew into Houston Thursday to take it all in one more time.
They’re here to ask questions, spend time with organizers, look over venues, hotels and, Houston hopes, choose the Bayou City to host its third Final Four.
Houston is one of seven finalists for one of those coveted four years up for bid, and the decision will be made by the 10-person committee in mid-July in Boston.
“You get a real sense of Houston that it has become a championship city. That may sound a little Pollyana,’’ said White, referring to the Disney character who always looks on the bright side, “but it’s not . . . .
“This is a city that knows how to put on, how to host major events. There’s a real track record of success. And now we find out it has (the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo) that goes on for a couple of weeks. This community knows how to support major events and that will be pretty impactful when the committee meets.’’
Just how impactful? Every little bit helps when you’re up against North Texas and AT&T Stadium, San Antonio, Detroit, Indianapolis and Los Angeles. All but Los Angeles has hosted a Final Four and LA is building a facility in Inglewood.
Houston’s bid was on stage Thursday at NRG when Barnhart, White and the NCAA toured the facility and attended a welcome reception at the stadium.
“Our campaign is Three for the Win,’’ said Janis Burke, CEO of the Harris County – Houston Sports Authority. “We’re excited to be among the finalists and we look forward to showing off what we feel is a tremendous host city one more time for the committee.’’
Barnhardt and White both noted that they’ll be looking at the new hotels and upgrades since the last time the Final Four was here in 2016. The use of Discovery Green and much of the downtown campus during Super Bowl LI have also caught the committee’s eyes.
“All the pieces of the puzzle have been here,’’ White said. “Now they’re enhanced . . . There is some very strong competition – let’s be very frank and honest about that. But I cannot imagine that Houston, by the end of the day, will not be seriously in the mix. “
Barnhardt, who was here with Kentucky in 2011, said the fan-friendly atmosphere plays a role in the city bids too.
“First and foremost, it’s about the athletes and the players being able to enjoy and have a really quality experience,’’ he said. “Secondly, the fans. We want them to have an opportunity to feel the life of the city, to enjoy themselves and experience some great basketball and have a really, really cool experience.’’
White and Barnhardt will take their findings to the committee and the seven finalist cities will have one more chance to sell their bid and answer any final questions.
“Then,’’ White said, “as, within the Catholic community, we’ll see white smoke.’’
Houston will host a 2020 NCAA Regional and the city was recently awarded the 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship game. The city is also one of the eight finalists for the NCAA Women’s Basketball Final Fours from 2020-2024, which will be awarded later this year.
With overnight temperatures dipping into the 20s this week in Houston, it seems good timing to have the warm thoughts of baseball being back, at least spring training games. The Astros have more shakiness about their squad than they have had in nearly a decade, but the Astros still have a nucleus of an American League West contender. With the exits of Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, it’s just a notably different nucleus than in recent years.
Jose Altuve is the last remaining mainstay of the greatest era in Astros’ history, and he is one of the biggest stories of their preseason as he for the time being at least is left fielder Jose Altuve. By every indication he is embracing the challenge with class and energy. The obvious impetus for test driving the move is the soon-to-be 35 years old Altuve’s defensive deterioration. It can be tough for the player himself to notice that his range has declined. The voiding of defensive shifts after the 2022 season shined a brighter light on Altuve’s D decline. Still, last season Altuve made his ninth All-Star team and despite also displaying some offensive decline remained the clearly best offensive second baseman in the American League. It’s part of the tradeoff of reducing the defensive workload on Yordan Alvarez, and hoping to upgrade defensively at second with some combo of Mauricio Dubon, Brendan Rodgers, or other.
The natural comparison in Astros’ history of a franchise icon losing his defensive spot and making a late-career position change is to Craig Biggio. Biggio’s All-Star days were behind him when the Astros moved him from second base to center field for the 2003 season because of the signing of free agent Jeff Kent. It spoke to the athlete Biggio was that at 37 years old he could make the move at all. After not quite a season and a half in center, Biggio moved to left when the Astros traded for young stud center fielder Carlos Beltran. Both Kent and Beltran left in free agency after the 2004 season, and Biggio moved back to second for the final three seasons of his career.
Second basemen are often second basemen and not shortstops in part because of their throwing arms. Altuve’s throwing arm will be an issue in left field. Even though Daikin Park has the smallest square footage of fair territory in Major League Baseball because of its left to left-center field dimensions, Altuve’s arm will be a liability. In understandably wanting to put an optimistic spin on things, manager Joe Espada and general manager Dana Brown have talked of how Altuve will be able to get momentum behind throws more so than when playing second. That’s true when camping under a fly ball in the outfield. That is not true when Altuve will have to cut off balls hit toward the left field line, or cutting across into the left-center field gap. There will be balls that would be singles when hit to other left fielders that will become doubles when Altuve has to play them, and baserunners will go from first to third and second to home much more readily. As an infielder Altuve has always been outstanding at running down pop-ups, so there is reason to believe he’ll be solid tracking fly balls in the outfield. However, the reality of a guy who is five feet six inches tall (in spikes) is that there will be the occasional fly ball or line drive that is beyond his grasp that more “normal” sized outfielders would grab. Try to name a good outfielder who stood shorter than five-foot-nine...
Here’s one: Hall of Famer Tim Raines (also originally a second baseman) was (and presumably still is!) five-foot-eight.
Here's another: Hall of Famer Hack Wilson was five-six. Four times he led the National League in home runs topped by a whopping 56 in 1930 when he set the still standing record of 191 runs batted in for a single season.
And another: Hall of Famer five-foot-four “Wee” Willie Keeler. Who last played in 1910.
Just a bit outside
Another element new to the Grapefruit League in Florida (and Cactus League in Arizona) this year is the limited use of what Major League Baseball is calling the Automated Ball Strike System. The ABS is likely coming to regular season games next year. This spring will be our first look at its use in big league games. Home plate umpires making ball and strike calls will not be going the way of the dinosaur. Challenges can be made until a team is wrong twice. Significantly, only the batter, pitcher, or catcher can challenge and must do so within two seconds of the pitch being caught. No dugout input allowed. No time to watch a replay.
The Astros’ spring park in West Palm Beach is not among the 13 facilities set up with ABS cameras. That seems silly given that the Astros share the place with the Washington Nationals. More use would be gotten from, and more data collected there than will be from a park with half the spring games played in it.
The countdown to Opening Day is on. 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!
*Looking to get the word out about your business, products, or services? Consider advertising on SportsMap! It's a great way to get in front of Houston sports fans. Click the link below for more information!