Houston Dynamo Are Better Than The Texans, Astros And Rockets

Paul Frederiksen-USA TODAY Sports

Houston you have suffered, oh how you have suffered. Your sports teams have forsaken you.  You have been let down so many times that you now expect to be let down. Your misery has been amplified in recent years as the Astros have become a national punch line and your Texans went from Super Bowl contenders this past season to NFL pretenders.

Where shall we start with the Houston sports track record? How about with the Houston Oilers? The Oilers were founded in 1959 and started play in 1960 in the American Football League. They actually won the first two AFL Championships in 1960 and 1961. Anybody remember that?  Didn’t think so.

1961 was the last time they won a championship. The Oilers are probably best known for blowing the biggest lead in NFL playoff history in the 1992 playoffs. Of course it was a Houston team that blew a 35-3 lead against the Buffalo Bills. Then you have the up and down 1993 season which was recently documented on NFL Network, the dismantling of the team and the move to Tennessee. A painful history.

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

How about the team that eventually replaced them? Texans fans suffered through losing season after losing season before a glimmer of hope finally appeared. That glimmer was quickly extinguished by a Jacoby Jones muffed punt in the 2011 playoffs, a late season collapse to blow home field advantage in 2012 and then the horrid 2-14 season this past year. Was anybody really surprised that the Texans couldn’t get near the Super Bowl in the past three years?

That brings me to the Houston Astros, founded in 1962. Only one World Series appearance in their history, a clean sweep by the Chicago White Sox in 2005. That Astros team never got back to the Series and the franchise has gone into decline with three seasons in a row of 100+ losses.  The promise of a quality team is on the horizon with a strong farm system, but how confident are you that it will happen?  This is Houston after all.

The Houston Rockets actually brought two titles to the city back in the 1990s.  That was a long time ago, though, with a lot of disappointment in the interim. This season’s version of the Rockets has brought hope and excitement. Admit it though, deep down you just know that the up and down nature of this team means a first round playoff exit is the most likely outcome.

Houston sports is a bleak landscape, a torture for us sadists who continue to show up each season. Enter the Houston Dynamo. The Dynamo are the most, no, the only clutch professional sports franchise in Houston.

The Dynamo arrived from San Jose for the 2006 season and promptly won an MLS Cup, followed by another in 2007  In 8 seasons of play, the Dynamo have made 7 playoff appearances, 6 Conference Championship appearances and played in the MLS Cup Final 4 times. What other sports franchise in Houston (or any city for that matter) can boast of such a record?

Even when the Dynamo are bad they are good. In 2012, the Dynamo just barely qualified for the playoffs, then went on to upset three higher seeded teams in a row en route to their second consecutive MLS Cup Final appearance. This past season, the Dynamo were mediocre for most of the season and with two weeks to go looked like they might not qualify for the playoffs for only the second time in franchise history. They did qualify however, and went on to destroy the Montreal Impact and then upset the top seeded New York Red Bulls before losing in the Conference Championship to Sporting Kansas City on an aggregate score of 2-1.

Where fans of other teams in Houston have come to expect the worst and are not surprised when it happens, Dynamo fans expect the best and are only surprised when they don’t get it. We know that once the Dynamo reach the playoffs, they are historically the most clutch team in Major League Soccer. We expect to reach the final every season.

If you are not yet a Dynamo fan and are tired of having your teeth kicked in, come join us. We are a raucous and passionate group who will welcome you with open arms and show you what it means to be clutch.