Wild drama in Houston
Houston, we have a problem.
We can say there have been a lot of highs and lows involving Houston sports. Over the last decade, it met the expectations and then not. What about the Texans in 2011, 2018 and 2019? The same thing can also be said about the Astros in their last three seasons. So, why has there been a big fall with sports in Houston within the last few years?
Let's take a trip down memory lane about the Houston Astros. In 2013, the Astros switched from the National League to the American League. This move made both leagues in Major League Baseball have 15 teams instead of 16 in the National League and 14 in the American League. In their first year in the American League, they finished the season with a record of 51-111. This was their third consecutive season with at least 100 losses. Many grew concerned whether or not if they would be good in the future.
In 2014, rookie George Springer was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated with a saying on the front cover "Your 2017 World Series Champs". The next season, they clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2005. Due to the new playoff format, the Astros had to play the New York Yankees in a wild card game to decide who would play the first seed in the American League. The Astros shut out the Yankees in Yankee Stadium 3-0. In the Division Series against the Kansas City Royals, the Astros had a 4-run lead in game 4 with a chance to move on to the Championship Series, but the Royals scored 7 runs and won game 4. In game 5, the Royals won the game 7-2 to eliminate them. It was considered around this time that they were becoming a World Series contender.
2017 was a year to remember for not just the Astros, but also for every baseball fan. That season, the Astros finished the regular season with a record of 101-61 and clinched home-field advantage for the American League. In the postseason, they defeated the Boston Red Sox in the Division Series, the Yankees in the Championship Series in seven games and won the World Series in seven games against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In 2018, they won their division once again, but fell short in the American League Championship Series to the Red Sox. The next year, they made it back to the World Series but fell short in 7 games over the Washington Nationals.
In the offseason of 2019-2020, it was discovered that during the 2017 World Series run that the Houston Astros were sign-stealing to have an advantage whoever they were playing. In Nov. 2019, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic posted an article about these allegations that the Astros were stealing signs.
In that article, Mike Fiers, who was a pitcher on the 2017 Astros team stated that the team used a center-field camera to detect what signs the catcher was giving to the pitcher. Once those signs were detected from the camera guy into the dugout, it became clear what pitch was coming toward the hitter. The way they did it was if the signal was a breaking ball, a coach would bang on a trash can. If the signal was a fastball, then there would be no bang. Certain YouTubers found videos of clear evidence that the trash banging sequence was real and happened often. So is Mike Fiers a hero or a snitch regarding this matter?
In Jan. 2020, MLB released the punishments handed out to the Houston Astros. They found that they were stealing signs in the 2017 regular season, parts of the 2018 regular season and in the 2017 postseason. MLB suspended Astros manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow for one season. They were stripped of first and second-round draft picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB drafts as well as being fined $5 million. But, the one thing that had almost every non-Astros fan upset with this report was the fact that no players were suspended for this scandal. Plenty of baseball fans thought that the punishment handed out to them was not fair enough and there should have been more.
When players reported for spring training in Feb. 2020, it became clear that baseball being focused on not just the game itself, but the fact of how other players and teams would handle the Astros situation. “I wasn’t a fan of the punishment. I thought it was a little weak for a player-driven scheme," Aaron Judge said with a serious look. "I just don't think winning the 2017 World Series holds any value. You cheated. It wasn’t earned. That’s how I feel. It wasn’t earned the way of playing the game right". So are you sorry that you got caught or are you sorry that you cheated the game that fans pay to see?
Due to the Covid pandemic, the regular season was just 60 games. They finished the season with a record of 29-31 and advanced to the 16 team playoff. The Astros swept the wild card round over the Minnesota Twins and defeated the Oakland Athletics in the Division Series in four games. In the ALCS, the Tampa Bay Rays defeated them to advance to the World Series ending their run in the postseason.
In 2002, the NFL welcomed back an expansion team to the city of Houston. The Houston Oilers moved to Nashville after the 1996 season to become the Tennessee Oilers and two years later, they changed their name to the Tennessee Titans. In 2011, the Texans reached the NFL playoffs for the first time in their 10th season as a franchise. They defeated the Cincinnati Bengals in their first ever playoff game but fell short in the divisional round to the Baltimore Ravens. Over the next four seasons, Texans defensive end J.J. Watt won the NFL defensive player of the year award recording 69 sacks along with 301 tackles in 64 games.
In 2017, the Texans drafted up to 12th overall and selected quarterback Deshaun Watson. In Nov. 2017, Watson suffered a torn ACL that required season-ending surgery. The next season, they won the AFC South division with a record of 11-5 with home-field advantage for their first round playoff game. Unfortunately for the Texans, they lost the first round game against the Indianapolis Colts.
Next year's playoff games for them have been some of the most memorable playoff games in recent time. In the wild card round, they played the Buffalo Bills and trailed 16-0 at the half. The Texans scored 16 unanswered points and eventually won the game in overtime on a game-winning field goal. Next week, they played the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium and lead 24-0 in the second quarter. However, the Chiefs scored 41 unanswered points and defeated the Texans 51-31 to advance to the AFC Championship game. Very odd to witness but entertaining for the viewers.
The 2020 season was filled with lots of drama starting with the Texans trading star wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins and did not get a first-round pick in return. Texans fans were not happy with head coach and general manager Bill O'Brien. After the Texans started the season 0-4, they fired Bill O'Brien which was relieving to plenty of fans. They finished the season 4-12, but with no first or second-round pick to choose because they traded for left tackle Laremy Tunsil from the Miami Dolphins in 2019. Why did it take them that long to realize that O'Brien was not the answer for a Super Bowl?
This offseason, the Texans released J.J. Watt after playing his first 10 seasons with the team. Quarterback Deshaun Watson has been under hot water these last few months because he has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct from 22 different women. In the NFL, a player would usually get suspended around 4-8 games for assault and misconduct. For Watson however, this could be a year suspension and maybe more.
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