Houston does not need to host any sports this week.
Hurricane Harvey’s devastation in the Houston and Southeast Texas area is a reminder that sports is trivial entertainment that should not be place on a pedestal. But sports goes on and there are the questions, what is happening with two football games scheduled in Houston, a pre-season NFL Game Thursday and a college football game on Saturday. Should the games be played in Houston or moved elsewhere? Considering what is occurring in Houston that should be an easy call. Move the games. The same holds true with a series between the Arlington-based Texas Rangers and the Astros that is scheduled to open in Houston on Tuesday. Major League Baseball has an easy call. Houston is simply not equipped to handle those games either.
This is sports biggest weather-related crisis in 12 years. As soon as the rains and winds from Hurricane Katrina subsided in 2005, it was clear when the damage was seen, New Orleans was going to be out of the sports business for quite a while. The Superdome was unusable which forced the NFL Saints owner Tom Benson to relocate his team’s home games to San Antonio in 2005. The National Basketball Association’s Hornets left town for two years.  There was some question whether the two franchises would return to town. The 2006 Sugar Bowl was shifted to Atlanta because the Superdome was being rebuilt following the damage sustained from the hurricane. The last thing Houston and vicinity need is sports in town. If FEMA officials are correct, it is going to take years for the area to recover. That doesn’t means Houston’s pro and college teams, the Astros, the Texans, the NBA Rockets and the colleges aren’t going to be able to play in town eventually. But it probably is in everybody’s best interests that Houston not host any events in the near future. After all, it is just sports, something that is really not all that important.
No need for an NFL Pre-Season Game in Houston on Thursday.
