Something of a backhanded article from Richard Justice. Talks at length about our school subsidizing athletics compared to other schools in the Big XII. Also - did he really have to write a paragraph about rats at Hoffeinz?
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We have to figure it out.
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"For me, the nightmare memory is of rats scurrying around the old Hofheinz Pavilion. If you attended a basketball game in the building’s final two decades before it was refurbished and reborn as the Fertitta Center, you may have seen the rodents in the concourses, seating areas, or even around the court. Although they harmed no one and minded their own business while living well on discarded hot dogs, burgers, and pizza, the rats did not add to the building’s charm.
These happy rodents became an awkward home-court advantage. When an opposing player slips into his uniform with one eye on the posse of rats milling about, the athlete’s focus can’t help but shift ever so slightly from winning to getting the heck out of Dodge."
What a doosh!!
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We should be a 60,000 a game school. I believe we can get there.
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That’s my view from the north side when all the people are in the club .
If we had been in the big xii the last 26 years it’s doubtful we would be subsidizing athletics. Apples to oranges
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Agree completely, @WacoCoog . Article mentions that school officials estimate we lost out on roughly half a BILLION TV $ by being left out of the Big Twelve initially.
Playing familiar opponents will go a looong way in righting this ship too.
I am pretty sure I witnessed more games at The Hof after the SWC days than Justice and I never saw any rodent in the stadium seats, concourse, bathrooms, etc. The place had aged and the plywood luxury boxes were an embarrassment - those are fair game - but the rat stories are a stretch. The sad part is that the average reader will believe him.
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Maybe rats recognize rats and they want to hang with the rat king. I never saw rats at the hof.
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I do not doubt that there were rats in the Hoff, based on the age of the building, the size, and the abundance of discarded food - this is an issue I’d hazard a guess all stadiums deal with in some capacity. But I attended many a games at the Hoff during my time as a student there and never saw them galivanting about as he would have you believe. Posses of rats hanging out in a packed stadium near opposing teams?? Give me a break. It’s clear what his intention was in writing this hatchet job - to cast UH in a very negative light.
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“Phi Rata Jama” Go Coogs!
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This article wasn’t that terrible. It highlights that
- the old facilities were tired, which we all know was true. Rats or no rats, the players admitted they could barely see in the Hof.
- UH has poured a lot of money into building athletics, but it needs to be self sufficient. Berkeley is about to figure out the awful pain of this issue with their stadium financing.
- The school spent two decades in hard work to get to this level. Robbed or not, athletics and the school made positive movements.
- The school and alums have to figure out how to attract people to games. This is a problem for all schools that don’t have strong networking systems in place.
In the case of #4) I’d get volunteer students and alumni association to call graduates, all year, who aren’t part of Houston alumni to come to the games. If they are out of town, see if they can join the Association. Every year, rinse, repeat.
I don’t think it’s a hit piece; it’s giving criticism where it’s needed. Sure, it’s worded a little harshly, but it’s Texas Monthly. They literally roast everyone, and it is giving the guidelines of what to fix.
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He linked the article it came from.
Mikhail McLean, who played for the Cougars 2010-15 and is now the program’s assistant director for player development, recalls unwelcome company in the building.
“[I remember] taking a nap in the facility in the locker room before games … and you wake up and there’s a rat in there,” he said. “You’re practicing and seeing rodents in the facility.”
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Yet another “justice” hit job.
Will no one rid me of this PESTulent scribbler?
Pez should make him persona non gRATa on campus
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Agree…I am not a huge Justice fan, but expected much worse. He makes valid points and none are big secrets.
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Attendance.
How often are we playing 11:00 games in the early Fall heat? Many fans opt to stand in the concourse shade.
Playing Big 12 teams rather than CUSA/AAC teams will help with the issue.
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Didn’t Justice have a daughter that was a UH athlete? I believe she was on the Swim team.
Why the hit piece when now when we’ve made tremendous progress?
Its common practice for media interlopers to dwell on the negatives at UH.
The better article would have been, “60 Years of Money and Recruits - Why does UT have only one Natty?”
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Rumor is there are tribes of mutated 4’ tall rat like creatures living in the Astrodome
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I take no exception to anything he says about attendance or subsidies. We all know attendance has been more miss than hit, and as far as the subsidies we did what we had to do. I just take exception to him to telling stories about rats as a “homecourt advantage”! (it’s kind of hilarious) - but it is highkey a huge BS slight at our program.
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