Goodbye BCS, hello playoff

It's finally coming: a college football playoff. Seriously.

After years of resisting calls from fans, sports pundits and even President Barack Obama, key conference commissioners announced Thursday that they'd propose some variation of a college football playoff. 

The leaders of numerous interscholastic athletic conferences -- including the Big 12, Big Ten and Southeastern Conference -- and Notre Dame released a joint statement Thursday signaling its intentions following ongoing deliberations about postseason play in college football.

In it, they stated that an eight-team and a 16-team playoff were not going to happen because doing so would "diminish the regular season and harm the bowls." That refers to the existing system, in which winning top-level teams traditionally get the chance to play in one postseason bowl game after they've finished their regular season.

 Yet the conference commissioners opened the door to a pared down playoff. "We will present to our conferences a very small number of four-team options, each of which could be carried out in a number of ways," the commissioners said. 

Anybody who has read this blog over the last few years knows how much I hated the cynical, elitist and outrageously unfair Bowl Championship Series (BCS). I will not shed a tear when it goes away after the 2013 football season. But as welcome as it might be, I'm not jumping for joy about this impending college football playoff just yet, as a lot of questions remain to be answered:

There's still plenty left to figure out, though. First of all, where and when to play the games and how the bowls fit in. After that, Slive and his cohorts have to come up with a way to select the four teams. The new postseason format would go into effect for the 2014 season.

As for the 14-year-old BCS, it's on life support. Any chance that it survives past the next two seasons? "I hope not," Slive said.

"This is a seismic change for college football," BCS Executive Director Bill Hancock said after the 11 conference commissioners and Notre Dame's athletic director wrapped up three days of meetings in south Florida.

Hancock said the commissioners will present a "small number" of options for a four-team playoff to their leagues over the next month or so at conference meetings. He estimated that between two and seven configurations are being considered.

It'll be up to each conference to determine which plan it likes best. The commissioners will get back together in June and try to come up with a final version, and eventually the university presidents will have to sign off on it. Hancock has said they'd like a new format ready for presidential approval by July 4.

The biggest issue in my mind is how the four teams will be selected. Will it be based on a formula involving human polls and computer rankings, like the current BCS? Will only conference champions be eligible, or will more than one team per conference be able to participate? Is this the first step towards the dreaded 64-team superconference that many college football pundits foresee? Or will every school that is a current member of the FBS get a fair shot at a playoff berth?

The answer to that last question, of course, is "no." Teams from the "power" conferences will always have the upper hand over the underdogs from the weaker conferences on the basis of strength of schedule, just as it is under the current BCS arrangement. And teams from the power conferences will studiously avoid playing the best teams from the weaker conferences so as not to provide a boost to their strength of schedule, as it is under the current BCS arrangement. In that regard, I can't argue with anybody who thinks that a four-team playoff is worse than the current BCS for teams from "lesser" conferences.

However, I have a feeling that this is only the beginning. They'll do the four-team playoff for a few years, and there will be plenty of controversy about which four teams are the most deserving of participation. An undefeated program from lesser conference will be left out one year; a strong one-loss runner-up from a powerhouse conference will be left out in another. Eventually there will be threats of lawsuits and congressional hearings, just as there are now. Meanwhile, network execs, conference commissioners and school presidents will take note of the amount of viewership and advertising revenue the playoff is generating. Dollar signs will flash before their eyes, and, around 2020 or so, they will expand the playoffs to eight teams under the pretense of making it "more inclusive," which will give schools from the weaker conferences better access to the playoff. From there, it's all but inevitable that they'll eventually get to 12 or 16 teams, even though all the while they'll save face by continuing to pay lip service to the importance of a regular season and the "tradition" of the ever-more-irrelevant bowl system.

In other words: it might be only four teams right now, but the camel's nose is already under the tent. "Baby steps, y’all.  Baby steps," John Taylor of NBC Sports writes. "A four-team playoff may not be perfect, but it's a perfect step in the right direction," Yahoo! sportswriter and Death to the BCS! Author Dan Wetzel writes as he lays out some suggestions for the playoff's groundwork.

The Chronicle's UH beat writer, Sam Khan, discusses what this means for a UH program that is going to be one of the BCS's "haves" for only one season. Sports Illustrated's Stewart Mandel explains that the BCS is being replaced with a playoff because the BCS, quite literally, just got too old.

My Appalachian adventure

What do you do with a Rapid Reward that is about to expire and an urge to see a part of the country that you've never really explored before? In my case, I decided to spend an extended weekend exploring the Appalachian Mountains along the Blue Ridge Parkway.

On Friday March 23, I flew into Atlanta, rented a car, and the next morning embarked on my journey. Here are some sights I encountered along the way (click on any picture for a larger version):

Although in the 1830s the majority of the Cherokee Indians were forcibly relocated to Oklahoma along the Trail of Tears, some Cherokees in North Carolina managed to stay behind and a reservation now exists just south of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The Cherokee Syllabary was developed by Sequoyah in the 1820s. He would be proud of his legacy: in addition to being used extensively within the reservation (for example, street signs are in English as well as Cherokee), I've noticed that his writing system is also widely used in Oklahoma.

Clingman's Dome straddles the Tennessee/North Carolina border and, at 6,643 feet, is actually the highest point in the state of Tennessee. Normally, the observation deck atop it would offer wonderful views of the surrounding Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Alas, when I was there the clouds had rolled in and a thick fog had eliminated all visibility. The thin air and the fact that I am woefully out of shape made the uphill trek from the parking area to the observation deck rather tiring, but the fog actually gave the walk a thrillingly mysterious feel to it.

The "Great Smoky Mountains" get their name from the mist and fog that rises from them, as this picture clearly illustrates. Sometime in the future, when the weather is warmer, I want to spend more time in this park. On Saturday March 24, I was only there for about three hours.

I spent the night in Waynesville, North Carolina and ate dinner at the Sweet Onion restaurant. The food was excellent and I recommend it to anyone who might be traveling in that area.

The fog persisted on Sunday March 25th as I attempted to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway, which runs along the ridges of the Appalachians and connects Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina to Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. Below a certain altitude I was afforded wonderful views of the surrounding countryside. But above that altitude, as I was here at the parkway's highest point, I was literally driving inside of a cloud. The thick fog not only obscured the scenery but also made for treacherous driving conditions on the curvy parkway, so I eventually decided to exit the parkway outside of Boone, North Carolina (home of Appalachian State University, owners of the biggest upset in college football history) and make my way to Interstate 81 via Mountain City, Tennessee (a drive that was in and of itself very picturesque). I-81 might not have been as scenic, but it was much faster, and I spent the evening in Lexington, Virginia.

Lexington is the home of Virginia Military Institute and Washington and Lee University, the burial place of Confederate generals Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson and Robert E. Lee, and among its environs is the birthplace of my hometown's namesake. Also, the Hampton Inn there is ridiculously expensive.

Buena Vista is a town east of Lexington where I resumed my travels along the Blue Ridge Parkway on the morning of Monday March 26. It also means "good view" in Spanish, as this picture attests.

Once it reaches Shenandoah National Park, the Blue Ridge Parkway becomes Skyline Drive. The views of Shenandoah Valley to the west and the Virginia Piedmont to the east are superlatively spectacular.

A view of Skyline Drive as it makes its way through a ridgetop forest. Most of Shenandoah National Park's other amenities - visitors' centers and trails, for example - wouldn't open for several more weeks. As I drove along, there were times when I felt like I was the only person inside the entire park. It was a very cool feeling.

A view of the Shenandoah Valley. The redbuds seen at the bottom of the picture were in bloom everywhere in Virginia, and they added a nice splash of color to the early-spring greenery.

Speaking of blooms: after I left Shenandoah National Park, I got on Interstate 66 and made my way to the nation's capital, hoping to catch at least a few cherry trees still in blossom. I was in luck: although most of them had already bloomed, there were still a handful of cherry trees around Jefferson Memorial that were in full bloom. This was my third visit to DC and my first visit to the Jefferson Memorial.

More cherry trees in bloom near the Jefferson Memorial. The mild winter had caused most of the cherry trees in and around the memorial and the Tidal Basin to bloom well before Washington's annual cherry blossom festival. I'm glad I was able to get there in time to see a few stragglers.

Close-up of a cherry blossom in Washington, DC.

I spent a couple of hours in Washington, and then made my way up to BWI, where I caught a flight back to Houston. It was a short trip, but it was one that I nevertheless enjoyed. It was a nice, if short, escape from Houston and to a part of the country I've always wanted to see. And, as I said before, I'd love to do this again when the weather is warmer and when I have more time to spend.

Next time I drive the Blue Ridge Parkway it's also going to be in a vehicle that handles better than the rental I was given at ATL. Even at the parkway's posted speed limit of 45 mph, the rental I was driving felt loose and hard to control.

Houston Cougar news: spring game, new logo, new mascot and more

Last Friday evening the UH football program held its annual Red-White Game at Robertson Stadium. The scrimmage, which marks the end of spring practice, was entertaining and well-attended.

Of course, when your school's offense is playing its own defense it's hard to get a sense of how truly good or bad the team will be when the actual season rolls around (e.g. are your receivers really that good, or is your secondary really that bad?). There are other aspects of the team, however, that can be gauged during spring games, such as the speed and size of the athletes or the pocket presence and arm strength of the quarterback. I came away from Friday night's exhibition generally feeling good about the Coogs' prospects for the fall. But I reserve the right to change my opinion following fall practices.

The end of spring practice (and the agonizing wait until the fall) aside, the big news coming out of Cougarland this past week was the unveiling of two new logos: a beveled interlocking "Block UH" as the program's primary logo, and an "Oval Cougar" as the program's secondary logo. These insignia replace the "Fat UH" and "Wet Cat" logos, respectively, that the program had been using for the past several seasons. UH Athletics Director Mack Rhoades explained the reason for the update:

"People ask why now, why a refresh in terms of the logo?" Rhoades said. "We felt like as we continue to grow and we continue to move forward and to become part of a national stage - and certainly we think that will happen with the Big East and it's already begun to happen - that we need a bold and a brand new identity but without forgetting our past, because we've had such great, great tradition."

Reaction on the various UH message boards was mixed. A lot of posters liked the new logos, while others were less impressed. Some people asked why Houston had to continually change its logos every few years, while others wondered why the Cougars couldn't go back to the "Skinny UH" logo the team used on its helmets during the glory days of the Veer and Run-and-Shoot. Some posters complained that the new interlocking UH logo was difficult to see on the helmets during the Red-White Game, while others derided the "Oval Cougar" as a copy from the 80's cartoon ThunderCats. The Houston Press's John Royal, meanwhile, bemoaned that the "Oval Cougar" mark was a transparent rip-off of the venerable Penn State Nittany Lion logo.

I personally don't have a strong opinion, either way, about the new logos: I'm not jumping up and down with excitement about them, but I don't find them to be outrageous, inappropriate, or ugly, either. And although the cynic can argue that these changes are primarily being done to sell new merchandise, the fact remains that University of Houston is simply one of many athletics enterprises, college or pro, that frequently updates its "look."

The new logos aren't the only news of symbolic importance for the University of Houston: for the first time since 1989, the University of Houston has a live mascot. A few weeks ago, Shasta VI was introduced to his new habitat at the Houston Zoo. Shasta VI was orphaned after his mother was illegally killed by a hunter in Washington state last fall. He was transferred to the zoo, and per an agreement between the zoo and UH, this particular puma concolor will now become the living embodiment of all things Cougar.

Unlike previous Shastas, which lived in a small building on campus and were accompanied by their handlers to football games, this Shasta will reside permanently at the Houston Zoo. There will be cameras set up in his habitat and he will make appearances at athletics events via jumbotron. Although I have to admit that as a child I found it rather cool to see a live cougar strolling up and down the sidelines of the Astrodome during UH football games, sensitivities towards animal welfare have changed in the last couple of decades and I have no problem with the current arrangement.

Shasta VI will be the University's first male mascot. All five previous live cougar mascots were female, and the name "Shasta" itself is purportedly a contraction of the phrase "she has to," i.e. Shasta has to have a cage, Shasta be fed, Shasta have a keeper, etc.

Finally, here's a pretty good article summing up the Cougars' 2011 season. I don't agree with the writer's contention that 2011 was the "finest season in school history" - 1976 (SWC and Cotton Bowl champions, #4 in the AP poll) and 1979 (SWC and Cotton Bowl champions, #5 in the AP poll) were clearly better years for Houston football - but the 2011 season, in spite of the disappointing loss to Southern Miss in the CUSA Championship, was still a very good year. Thirteen wins, a bowl victory over a legendary, ranked Big Ten school, and a season-ending top 25 ranking for the first time in over two decades is nothing to be ashamed of. Can Tony Levine and his staff can keep the momentum going and lead the Coogs to bigger and better seasons in the future? This is what ESPN's Andrea Jackson asks in an excellent profile of Levine:

There is no doubt this is a critical juncture for Houston. The Cougars have to maintain what they have done, all while keeping an eye to their next destination -- a home in the Big East in 2013. They have turned to a man without the usual credentials on his résumé. But Levine brings continuity, consistency, energy, passion and a deep-rooted commitment to the city of Houston.

Now we will see how all those traits serve him -- and this program -- moving forward.

Indeed.

The season begins against Texas State at Robertson Stadium the weekend of September 1st.

Remembering Sam Kinison

Today marks the twentieth anniversary of the death of comedian Sam Kinison.

Kinison, a former preacher who began his stand-up career here in Houston, was outrageous, tasteless, vulgar, homophobic, and misogynistic. He was also the funniest comedian I have ever seen. Here are a few of my (decidedly politically-incorrect NSFW) favorite bits of his on famine, relationships and marriage:

 

Rest in peace, Sam.

Krewe of Pygmalion 2012

Since I had so much fun doing it last year, and since my float lieutenant invited me back to ride again this year, last weekend I headed back to New Orleans for the 2012 Krewe of Pgymalion Mardi Gras parade.
One thing I love about Mardi Gras is that New Orleans celebrates the holiday with the same festive intensity that the rest of the nation reserves for the Christmas season. People decorate their houses, like this one in the French Quarter, with elaborate and beautiful decorations.
If you've never been inside a float, this is what it looks like. Hooks are provided for participants to lay out beads and other goodies to throw. The rest of the throws are in the bags below, and although the hooks are nice to have, it's hard to "refill" them once the supply of throws hung from them is exhausted and the float is moving. Which means we spend most of the parade frantically tearing through our bags, pulling out throws, removing them from their plastic wrappers and tossing them to the crowds. By the time the parade is over the deck of the float is strewn knee-high with plastic wrappers, cardboard boxes, vinyl bags, broken strands of beads and empty food and beverage containers.
This year's theme was vintage board games, and each float was dedicated to a different game. Mine was the "Payday" float. It was rather windy and chilly Saturday night. I was wearing a shirt, sweater and jacket underneath my costume smock and I was still freezing cold.
Some revelers on St. Charles Avenue. It seemed to me that the crowds were a bit smaller than last year - the cooler weather probably had something to do with it - but they were still out in force. In terms of throws, beads are still the main attraction. When they're flying through the air, they are magical, priceless artifacts that spectators jostle each other for. If they hit the ground without being caught, however, they're deemed to be worthless! (And to the punk kids who ask for beads and then deliberately move out of the way to avoid catching them: you aren't being clever, you're being annoying and stupid.) Children's toys are also quite popular, as are some of the Krewe's other specialty throws like lighted medallions. The occasional Moon Pie or bag of Zapp's Potato Chips is also appreciated by the revelers. Doubloons didn't seem to be quite as popular; a handful of collectors go crazy for them, but they're too small for most people to see or catch, especially at night.
Saturday I was a participant. Sunday I was a spectator. Here, the Krewe of Carrollton rolls down Canal Street. In addition to being in and watching parades, I also ate at a few of my favorite New Orleans restaurants, spent a lot of time walking around the Quarter, and, of course, hung out on Bourbon Street.

All in all, I had a great time. However, as of right now I'm not completely sure if I'll go back for a third ride next year. As much fun as I had, and as much as I enjoy the folks on my float and the people of the Krewe in general, the fact remains that participating in a Mardi Gras parade in New Orleans is a costly endeavor. There's the membership fee, the cost of the throws, the cost of lodging (hotels in New Orleans gleefully jack up their prices for Mardi Gras), the cost of parking and transportation ($33 a night to park my car in the hotel garage? Seriously?), the cost of the afterparty and, of course, the cost for meals and drinks. To say I spent a total of about two grand on this year's trip would be a conservative estimate.

But, like I said, I had a wonderful time and I'm glad I got the opportunity to do this for the second year in a row.

I still hate Valentine's Day

Another Valentine's Day is upon us. I still think it is a silly and contrived Hallmark holiday. I wish people would stop celebrating it, or at the very least quit making such a big deal out of it. CNN commentator Dean Obeidallah explains why he hates Valentine's Day, and I can't argue with his logic:

What may have started out as a holiday intended to bring couples together has been transformed into a commercial spectacle peddled to us by florists, greeting card companies, jewelry stores and makers of stuffed animals.

My issue is not with being romantic or expressing your feelings to the person you love. My issue is being required to do so on February 14. This date has zero connection to us. Each year on February 14 we are in essence commanded to be "romantic."

Shouldn't romance be organic -- sort of like a "Cialis moment"? That's the "moment" in the TV commercials for Cialis, the drug designed to combat erectile dysfunction -- where the couple is lifting a table together, their eyes meet, and bingo: It's a "Cialis moment." It may be drug-enhanced, but at least they chose the moment.

I understand that Valentine's Day earnestly purports to bring couples closer together. Great idea, but let's be honest, how many of you have had fights on Valentine's Day because of Valentine's Day?

I certainly have had my share, usually when one of us in the relationship (namely me) didn't buy a nice enough gift or put in enough time planning a special "VDay" activity -- thus, transforming Valentine's Day from a romantic evening for two into a scene from the film "The War of the Roses."

Yep. Been there and done that. Many times. Including today. You see, my son has a doctor's appointment early tomorrow morning, which means that I can't drive all the way out to the suburbs to spend the night with my girlfriend. And so she says she is "a little irritated" with me, which is to say she's absolutely furious at me. There's no way to make it up to her, either. I can't do Valentine's Day on the 15th or the 16th. The nature of Valentine's Day is such that you have to do something, it has to be good enough for your significant other to accept, and it has to be on the 14th. Nothing less will do.

Perhaps I'm just an unromantic sourpuss. But what, exactly, is romantic about compulsion? What should I find joyful about a holiday that oftentimes inspires within me little more than dread, frustration, and shame?

If we as a society absolutely must celebrate Valentine's Day, fine. But let's not take it so seriously. Let's respect the opinions of those who don't care for it. Let's realize that love is just as worthy of celebration on the other 364 days of the year as it is on February 14th. And let's not let a day that purports to bring us together become one that drives resentful wedges between us instead.

The Menil's Byzantine Frescoes are going back home

A couple of weekends ago, my girlfriend and I went to the Menil (she had never been and I hadn't been in years) to look at the artwork. We then walked over to the Byzantine Fresco Chapel to see the restored thirteenth-century Greek Cypriot frescoes on exhibit there. I'm glad we got to see them when we did, because they are leaving Houston soon:

In 1987, the Menil Foundation and the Church of Cyprus reached an agreement. De Menil, the parties agreed, did not own the frescoes, but had acquired them and restored them on behalf of the Church of Cyprus. By then, the de Menils and their backers (including former President George H.W. Bush) had spent $1.75 million to save the frescoes. In exchange, the church agreed, it would allow them to reside for 20 years in Houston, where the Menil Foundation would show them in a chapel consecrated as an Eastern Orthodox church. That 20-year clock began ticking on Jan. 1, 1992.

The frescoes were looted from a Cypriot church shortly after Turkey invaded the island in 1974. Dominique de Menil discovered the frescoes in 1984. She realized that the people selling the frescoes weren't being honest about their provenance, but decided to purchase them anyway in order to preserve them. She discovered that the Church of Cyprus was the rightful owner of the frescoes, and reached the agreement with them described above. The frescoes were then restored and placed in the building designed by her son, François:

In a book about the painted churches of Cyprus, he found photos that inspired him - photos, oddly, of newer structures sometimes built around the ancient chapels to protect them.

That's it, he thought: There should be a modern building around an interior "chapel" that holds the frescoes.

The building's exterior would be the modern protective shell, boxy and heavy-looking, with stone at the base (a nod to Cyprus) and rough, modern concrete above. Inside that box, he designed a black steel box, lit from above by skylights. And inside the steel box, he designed a "chapel," an arching, domed metal frame that holds the Christ fresco at the dome and Mary at the apse. But where the original chapel's walls would have been completely covered, top to bottom, with yet more frescoes, these walls were made of frosted glass.

The chapel opened in 1997. After March 4th, the chapel will be closed, and the frescoes removed and returned to Cyprus for eventual display (the chapel from which the frescoes were originally taken lies on the Turkish-controlled side of the island, so they won't be returning there). The metal frame that holds the frescoes will be dismantled as well, and the building will be repurposed.

I admit that I wasn't aware of the history behind the frescoes, or that their exhibition here in Houston was meant to be temporary. And while I'm sad to see them leave, it makes me happy to know the role the Menil Foundation, as well as the city as a whole, played in restoring, preserving, and repatriating these priceless medieval works of art.

If you haven't seen them yet, you have three and a half weeks to do so. Go check them out.

Texas raises rural speed limits to 75 mph

Following up on action taken by the State Legislature last year, the Texas Department of Transportation has approved raising the speed limit from 70 to 75 miles per hour on over 1,500 miles of rural Texas Interstates. This means that, with the exception of urban areas and stretches of Interstates 10 and 20 in West Texas where the speed limit is already 80, 75 mph now becomes the default speed limit for the state's Interstate network.

As I noted last April, raising the speed limits on rural Interstates by five miles per hour isn't going to make a significant difference in travel time savings. It's also going to reduce motorists' fuel economy and may very well result in more accident-related deaths. But it also brings Texas in line with the maximum rural Interstate speed limits of surrounding states, such as Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and for that matter most of the central and western United States. So I can't find myself in opposition to this change.

What I would like to see accompany these higher speed limits is more aggressive enforcement by state, county and municipal agencies of Section 545.051(b) of the state's Transportation Code, which reads:

An operator of a vehicle on a roadway moving more slowly than the normal speed of other vehicles at the time and place under the existing conditions shall drive in the right-hand lane available for vehicles, or as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, unless the operator is:

(1) passing another vehicle; or

(2) preparing for a left turn at an intersection or into a private road or driveway.

In other words, SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT regardless of the posted speed limit. Driving slower than the actual flow of traffic in the left lane is dangerous, it causes congestion, and it makes people angry. If you're going 60, get out of the left lane. If you're going 75 and the car behind you wants to go 90, get out of the left lane and let that person risk getting a ticket. The only time slow drivers should be in the left lane of the Interstate is if they are passing a vehicle slower than them, such as an 18-wheeler. Slow drivers in the left lane are one of three major behind-the-wheel peeves of mine, the other two being motorists who litter and motorists who wait until the last second to merge.

Anyway, enough of that soapbox. This is the second adjustment to speed limits on Texas highways since last September, when the nighttime minimum speed of 65 miles per hour was abolished. Kuff has more, including the obligatory Sammy Hagar video.

A bicycle superhighway

Transportation planners in Sweden are proposing a four-lane "bicycle freeway" between the cities of Lund and Malmö:

The proposed bicycle superhighway would, in addition to four lanes (2 in each direction) have exits but no intersections, two types of wind protection (low bushes as well as solid fencing), periodic bicycle service stations, and would take eight years to complete.

Total cost of the superhighway is estimated to be about 50 million Swedish crowns (US$ 7.1 million).

We already know that building bicycle infrastructure is magnitudes cheaper than building new car roads, and better for our health and our air quality. So, what will the first U.S. cities be to build this type of interurban?

I doubt Houston is going to be the first American city to build a bicycle superhighway, but this city has been making progress towards becoming more bike-friendly, with a growing network of bike trails (another segment will be opening this summer) and a bike-sharing program about to get underway. METRO put bike racks on all local buses several years ago, and the city's overall bike network is currently over 300 miles in length (map here; admittedly, the network relies heavily on on-street routes). Not too bad for a city that's not known for being a bicycle utopia, although there's always room for more progress.

But generally speaking, high-quality bicycle infrastructure like the Swedish bicycle freeway described above remains a fantasy in the United States. In my experience as a transportation planner, cycling is too often regarded as a recreational novelty rather than a legitimate form of transportation. Efforts to increase cycling are regularly met with excuses (e.g. it's too hot or too cold for people to cycle, bicycles get stolen too often, motorists will never tolerate the sharing of pavement with bikes, etc.), and attempts at providing amenities such as bike paths, bike lanes and bike racks are oftentimes regarded as frivolous wastes of money rather than the creation of useful infrastructure.

Which is unfortunate, given the fact that bicycles are an efficient and inexpensive means of transportation. They're pollution-free and they combat obesity. But until attitudes towards bicycling change here in the States, high-quality infrastructure like bicycle superhighways will only be seen on the other side of the Atlantic.

Renaming the Astros?

It appears to be under consideration:

New Astros owner Jim Crane unveiled some fan-friendly initiatives earlier today, including lower ticket prices, partial rebates for season ticket holders, lower concession prices and relaxed policies on outside food and beverage. While those are all well and good, they were overshadowed by some interesting comments about the team’s future as they prepare for a move to the American League next season.

According to the Associated Press, Crane indicated that they are currently mulling over changes to the uniforms and most interestingly, whether to change the team’s name.

My first response to this is: are you out of your mind, Crane? But John Royal of the Houston Press comes to a logical, if not highly qualified, defense of the proposal:

I'm not too thrilled by the prospect of a name change, but I can understand the thinking. When a product is as bad as the Astros, nothing is sacred. And with the Astros moving to a new league in 2013, and with a new owner and a new management team, why not go with a new name. It's like making a brand-new start.

That said, it's very, very doubtful that Crane changes the name of the team, new league, new start aside. But it does make sense to consider it, to study it. To find out just how damn damaged the brand really is because of the neglect and incompetence of the previous owner and management team.

Kuff is slightly less enthused:

I assure you, this will not go over well. Many people are already upset at the forthcoming change to the American League. Save yourself the money on the study.

Yes, I know, the team changed its name once, from the Colt .45s to the Astros, back in 1965. That was a long time ago, and it was a three-year-old franchise updating its name to fit a brand new, first of its kind stadium. That team had no history to leave behind, and the move into the Astrodome made the name change make sense. There’s no parallel here. Besides, the other time a team changed leagues, the Milwaukee Brewers kept their name.

I can see Royal's logic. Maybe the name is outdated: the team no longer plays in the Astrodome, the end of the Shuttle program has diminished the Johnson Space Center's role in the nation's space exploration program, and with the team switching leagues in 2013, maybe it is indeed time for a new start. And yes, maybe the brand has been tarnished by the club's recent struggles. But Kuff is also correct: there's no precedent for teams (that aren't relocating cities) doing this in modern MLB history (he provides the research), fans are already annoyed by the team's moving to the American League as it is, and the Astros name itself is unique (the same cannot be said for the name of the city's NFL franchise) and carries with it a lot of history.

I'd like to thank Mr. Crane for lowering ticket and beer prices and allowing fans to bring in their own food and water. I have no problems with a possible uniform change: the Astros have made many such changes throughout their history. And, if Jim Crane must, he can go ahead and undertake market surveys on how the "Astros" brand is regarded by local sports fans. But I think he'll find that, the team's recent struggles aside, it's a name that people in this city cherish and want to keep.

(UPDATE 1/30/2012: Jim Crane has apparently heeded fans' protests and decided against considering changing the team's name. I guess the backlash has shown him that the "Astros" brand still has tremendous value to local sports fans.)