Houston Sports: Weighing the pros and cons of being a fan

Cons of being a Houston Sports’ fan

Obviously, like every other fanbase, there are some cons to being a fan. It isn’t always pretty, but experiencing the anti-success has been a part of living in Houston.

1) Expectations turn into heartbreak

Sure, we feel every year is our year to win it all in every sport. But when our teams come up short in those expectations, there’s a level of hurt that’s hard to get over for some time. 2015 was a bummer when the Astros blew the series against Kansas City, the Rockets lost in the Western Conference Finals, and the Texans were shut out 30-0 in the playoffs. 2018 was a great chance to capitalize on our incredible 2017. We felt like the Rockets were going to beat Golden State. We were certain the Astros would repeat as World Series. Hopefully, the Texans would make a playoff run to build confidence into next season.

But all three expectations were not met and it left a sting on us, which might not go away for some time. It was hard to accept defeat. But that’s the nature of sports sometimes. You have to accept defeat and try to move on. We hope that 2019 and 2020 can ease the pain of the stings from 2018.

2) No longer just getting to the playoffs

Probably tying into the first con. But I do feel this is a thing I’ve noticed from myself and every other fan. When a team starts the journey to become champions, they have to learn to lose. So at first, when a team makes it to the playoffs, just being there is the biggest achievement. But after a while, those expectations change to no longer just being there. It’s time to go and win the whole thing. You would think within a period, the teams would finally break through and get to a championship series. The Astros succeeded in 2017 to win it all. We can excuse 2018 because they got beat by a better team and the future of their franchise is very bright with potential for more rings.

But the Rockets have gotten to the brink of the NBA Finals and were unable to breakthrough. Now it’s getting to a point where if the Rockets don’t get by the Warriors and reach the finals, will their opportunity to win a title past sooner rather than later. It’s hard to assume, but the answer of yes might be closer than we want. The Rockets’ misfortune has been not being able to put four wins on the Warriors. You want to see them win a title and to do it where they get by the Warriors. But it’s going to take a lot more than what they’ve shown in the first two games. The series isn’t over, but the urgency is a must now.

As for the Texans, they are on the rise. However, public perception from the fans seems to be that Houston is content with making the playoffs. I don’t believe that’s true because the guys want to win a Super Bowl. But I can see where the fans are coming from. When you have a quarterback who has played brilliantly at the expense of taking hits from an o-line needing an upgrade as well as a defender who had been plagued by season-ending injuries, the promise of a Super Bowl champion can be clouded with doubt. The last thing we want is for the Texans to waste the careers of those players. Other teams have had strong potential to win but never could get the chance to do so. We should have faith in what general manager Brian Gaine is doing.

3) Talking heads can be annoying

Hot takes are pretty overrated these days because the media tries to figure out ways to bring ratings into the show. But when the conversation turns to our sports, it isn’t always a pleasant one to experience. When you have former HBO boxing commentator Max Kellerman says the Astros were on the wrong side of history for accepting the invite to the White House, you just want to go right there and give him a boxing lesson to shut him up. To hear that Michael Wilbon, a respected ESPN personality, said James Harden was mean when he shimmied before taking a three just makes you want to replay clips of him praising Russell Westbrook and Steph Curry for doing the same thing and question that.

Sometimes, we can question if what these so-called “journalists” are really saying how they feel or if they’re just doing it so they get paid. Naturally, every sports franchise has experienced its fair share of disrespect. Ask the Philadelphia Eagles or the Cleveland Browns fans. What about Villanova men’s basketball or Clemson football? We’re not alone here when it comes to being disrespected. But it sometimes brings out the mentality of us against the world when we feel they have no idea what they’re talking about. Ignoring them is difficult, I get it. That’s why we sometimes rely on our heroic defenders in Adam Clanton, Ben Dubose, and Matt Thomas to fight our battles. Even so, we feel at times we know more about sports than those on the mainstream media.

In spite of the cons, we feel we earn more pros than others.