Is the City of Houston a Hard Sell for the Dynamo?

I understand the thought but I just don’t buy it. Of course it’s apparent that Boyd didn’t care for Houston as much as Portland but Landin had no problem with Houston (of course in hindsight I wish he had but that’s beside the point).

I have no idea what type of person Kris Boyd is and what kind of things he likes but plenty of people prefer Portland to Houston, not just soccer players…and plenty of people prefer Houston to Portland. It’s not like Portland is a tough sell. Great city, climate that he’s used to, and a fantastic atmosphere that probably resonates with him. But I’m 100% certain that there are players out there who want to play here and will want to in the future. The new stadium will be a huge selling point especially if we as fans hold up our end and fill it with passion and voice. Right now, we just have the promise of a full, loud, SSS…Portland can point to a final product.

At the end of the day though, the most important ingredient is success. For the international players that matter, the international players that you want, success is the most important thing. Do that and we’ll be fine.

Just read about the Kris Boyd thing. Why can’t Houston have a nice shiny brand new DP? Sad panda is sad. :’(

But that’s true for most of middle America. We live in between that big apple place on the east coast and the place where they make movies on the west coast. Most sports want to see the epic LA vs NY showdown because they can make a lot of money on it. Too bad the Knicks suck and LA doesn’t have a football team.

But seriously now, I’ve lived here my whole life and took a lot of things for granted. I went to college in Washington State and even though I loved it, I began to miss little things. I think that was when I really began to care about the city and its uniqueness that I think can only be matched by a place like New York (okay maybe New Orleans too).

My best friends were from around the country – Connecticut, New York, LA, San Fransisco, Kansas. So I had to become vocal about this place and the state that everyone writes off as cowboys, desert, conservative, and dumb. Not that there is anything wrong with those things…well maybe some of them, but that wasn’t the complete picture. And I think nobody really gets the complete picture when they think of Houston.

It really does come down to business reasons vs personal as Michael_D pointed out – joining the Dynamo would be a fantastic business opportunity…well it would be if we had deeper pockets. I just read that the Rockets were one of the wealthiest NBA franchises so there is potential in this city. Personal reasons? Well fact is Houston just doesn’t resonate into the subconcious enough to make people say “I want to visit Houston”. Part of that is the city has built itself on business rather than tourism. It has the capacity to move forward, but it isn’t easy to shake that desert, cowboy image that people think of when they think Texas.

Just my 2 cents.

Dom himself said on TV on the fox panel that being in middle America makes it harder because you are not LA or NY. That is the main factor.
But also consider that Seattle and Portland have two of the most rabid fan bases. That attracts a player as well. I’m proud of Houston fans, but we’re somewhere in the bottom of the top third, to use a muddled statistic. Hopefully the stadium will change the atmosphere. They are making the dam* thing too small IMHO.
Portland is stunningly beautiful, and is Houston’s opposite in every way, especially on the nature front. But there isn’t JACK to do. It might have been a lifestyle choice. At his stage of life, do you want salmon fishing or nightclubs.?

Flat-out moronic to say the Rockets and Astros haven’t been hurt by being in the city of Houston. Again, not so much because it’s Houston as because it’s not coastal media. Rockets get guys like Artest who play here to fill space till they can move to LA. Astros big time players have been home boys who played here out of sympathy (Clemens), or people who play here until they can move to NYC (Beltran), or lazy players who have ranches in Texas (Carlos). Rockets championship was dropped in their lap when the mighty Olajuwon stuck his nose out of the cab and decided he hated the cold weather in the northeast, and went to UH and stayed in the city.

Not much reason for a proven SPL guy to come to Houston. Europeans in general, maybe. I say keep going after the central american guys, Jamaicans and africans. Central American guys seem to not be too egotistical to play here and probably feel like the city has something to offer. It’s a bit harder to scout down there and Dom is comfortable turning over stones there that others don’t want to bother trying.

Whereas the Central American guys see playing here as an opportunity, the best Mexican players don’t. Why would Dos Santos want to come here? While he’s stuck with the spurs, he is in his prime. If you were head of El Tri and you had a guy at Tottenham, would you encourage him to come to Dynamo? You probably wouldn’t LET him come to Dynamo. Probably better playing in an occasional secondary cup over there, than coming here. Let’s get a grip on reality. And if they ever do get someone at that level, it will only be for them to get out of a contract elsewhere and tread water till they can leave. That’s why I say give the Central American up-and-comers a chance. May be the best we can do.
And eventually some secondary level DP like Boyd might want to come. Might as well keep trying.

Dom should have been coach of the year. We go through this DP rejection crap on a regular basis, and Dom just sighs and goes sleuthing around in Honduras. Bruce Arena can sit around at the boutique restaurants waiting for DP’s to sign. We make our playoffs the old-fashion way. We EARN it.

But he certainly is the exact type of target forward to replace Ching – hard working, lead the line, hold the ball up, great header of the ball…very much in the Dynamo “mold”, not getting regular football at Bolton…using our Kinnear/Holden/Coyle relationship…since he is 34, perhaps loan him for a 1 yr contract and see how he does…he might fancy a change and would be perfect for us (IMHO). He has already played over here in the heat of summer, so knows a little of the city, knows what to expect. If you’re the Dynamo, I say why not give it a go? Could work out very nicely. Fingers crossed :)

Couldn’t agree more with the first paragraph. Don’t blow it now, FO.