Living in Tennessee about an hour from Nashville, the Titans are all anything people talk about around here. It's ridiculous all the stickers that they put on their vehicles to show that they like this team. I have nothing against the Titans, but I'm a Broncos fan and have been for 18 years. If Nashville had gotten a team when I was growing up and looking for a team than I would have probably started pulling for them (I was a Falcon fan for a time). My question is this: I know that Houston will be getting a new team next year, but how many people here still like and root for the Titans? I'm especially curious to know how many people living in Houston still root for the Titans.
Still root for the Titans? I never rooted for the Titans, I was an Oilers fan. And I stopped rooting for them the second they dropped "Houston" from their name.
Remember when it was the Oilers last season here in Houston and people were boycotting going to their games? It was nothing personal against our fantastic bunch of young players, just personal against the A-hole owner Bud Adams. For me, rooting for the Titans would mean rooting for Bud, so NO I never root for the Titans.
I root for em, and I don't blame Bud, I blame Bob Lanier. How good of a business move was it to let the Oilers go? They paid 4 TIMES the money to get a new team, and they had to build a stadium anyway. Not to mention, that Drayton was saying that the Astrodome was a perfectly good stadium at the time. Funny how time brings out the truth. GO TITANS !!! DaDakota
Oily: that was one of the coolest graphics I've ever seen!! I figured that a lot of Oiler fans would not root for the Titans because of Bud Adams. It makes me wonder that if the Rockets move would people that were Rocket fans still root for them? I would. I guess we could ask Grizzlies fans this, but there's probably not many of them at all!!
I agree with DaDakota. Bob Lanier is a bastid. We're fortunate to be getting another team. Jeff Fisher said in an interview that he was suprised the NFL was going back to Houston. He added he never for a second thought Houston was going to get an NFL team again. Fisher and the Titans including Bud Adams are good people. Bud showed that when he matched Bob McNair's offer for flood relief in Houston. Sure the man has ego...but he was not lying when he said he needed a new stadium. The Astrodome is a piece of crap. I'm not talking about the lack of luxury suites, I'm talking about the playing surface and the sightlines of fans. I don't watch the NFL except for Sunday and Monday Night Football. I don't have a favorite team. I tried to follow the Tennessee Oilers, but when the logo changed I couldn't follow them anymore. Any mayoral candidate who says he hates Bob Lanier has my vote.
I love the Titans. Loved them when they were the Oilers and still love them to this date as the Titans. Glad to see that they are one of the NFL elite teams. They have a great group of young players, they have an excellent coach and probably the best GM in football. Floyd Reese is a genius. I have been counting down the days for the NFL season since the Titans got knocked out of the playoffs as a result of Al Del Greco. Bring on the NFL season and the Ravens.
Titans fan. I am not sure which way I'll go when Houston gets the Texans. Anything beats being a Cowboy fan though.....
Not this again!!! Da Dakota -- Who paid 4X the amount they would have to keep the Oilers?? I sure as hell didn't. One man, named Bob McNair, paid that sum. It was his investment. That cost the city nothing. We are building the world's finest football stadium. Bud wanted to build another crappy dome...one that he wanted to share with the Rockets. One problem...the jackass never even asked the Rockets if they were interested. They were stunned when the articles began running that they were interested in playing in a shared dome. That, plus the fact Bud didn't have a friend in the business community step up for him, killed any chance of the Oilers sticking around. Bud signed an agreement with Tennessee whereby he would negotiate only with that city. He sold off even his ability to speak with Houston about building a new stadium. Lanier made a last-ditch effort at getting a stadium built, but Bud wouldn't hear it. Keep in mind...this was a good 2 years before the funding mechanism that is building the new football stadium, the new arena and Enron Field was even passed by the Texas legislature. More or less, before voter approval to use those funds for a new stadium for the Oilers. Was Bob Lanier perfect?? Hell, no!! But public sentiment was clearly on his side at the time. No one...I mean no one...thought Bud was actually leaving until he signed the agreement to negotiate exclusively with Nashville. He had pulled this twice before...most recently with Jacksonville. We were still paying the interest on the loans that went to refurbising the Dome...the refurbishment he demanded in order to stay in Houston some 6 years earlier!!! What a joke!!! The very idea that someone could side with that guy in this argument is laughable to me. Loving the Oilers is one thing...I freaking loved the Oilers! But I was never a Bud Adams' fan...never. He nickeled and dimed that team and its fans to death. He is absolutlely classless...the evidence of that is him shooting the middle finger on national television to the city of Houston and Bob Lanier with his AFC Championship ring...the same city that made him his wealth and sold out games such that he claimed he had to have a new stadium to seat everyone (they sold out 8 straight years at 110% capacity before he made them a lame-duck team). When you treat people poorly you receive the same treatment back. McLane found tons of support from the business community in building Enron Field....Adams couldn't find one freaking friend to step up for him...not one...after 30 some-odd years of business here. That's pathetic and it tells you all you need to know about the man. I stopped rooting for the Oilers when Bud said, "These are no longer the Houston Oilers...they're no longer Houston's team...they are simply Bud Adams' entry in to the NFL." Go to hell, Bud!! Someday soon my Texans run over you in front of a sellout crowd in Houston. And I'll be there to see it. I can't remember who I hate worse...the Titans or the Cowboys. I don't see many Ravens fans in Cleveland...I'm betting you won't see many Titan fans in Houston after the Texans hit the field. We have a classy owner who seems willing to spare no expense to build the finest franchise in all of pro sports. Now that's something to rally behind. Go Texans...and go whoever is playing the Cowboys and Titans.
MadMax, we finally agree on something (actually, there's been at least one other thing, but each one deserves recognition!). For all of you Bud Adams lovers, read <I>Loser Takes All</I> by Ed Fowler. If you still love him after that, then you've got problems.
Madmax, Your right. Here we go again. But you know the original question was how many people here root for the Titans. The question was not how many of you root for Bud Adams. I have no problem if you do not like the Titans. That is your opinion. But it seems like anytime someone even mentions the Titans the conversation quickly turns away from the team and turns into a I hate Bud Adams thread. I can respect your opinion but I just wish we could stick to talking about football and not about owners. Speaking of which. Don't hold your breath waiting for the Texans to be beating the Titans anytime soon. The Texans will need several years before they start running over teams. NFL owners do not mind adding another cupcake to the schedule (and I am sure the Titans will love that as well). The NFL owners realize they made a mistake by giving up to much to the Jaguars and Panthers. The Texans will have several long, long seasons before they become a dominant NFL team. Not saying it will not happen just that you should expect to be very patient.
Cmon, the Titans ARE Bud Adams, thus I don't root for the Titans nor put money in his pocket. Well written Mad Max!!!!!
I am a Ravens fan but I can't wait for our Texans. I just like the relentlessnes of Ray Lewis, especially after he punked Eddie George in the playoffs last year.
i'm not so sure... the titans have crested. the salary cap is already starting to impact them, and will continue to do so more and more over the next few years (george and kearse, if memory serves, are still on their rookie contracts), robbing them of, at the very least, quality depth. the texans, otoh, while not granted the advantages given to jacksonville and carolina, were given something no other start-up team has EVER had -- three years to prepare. think about that... casserly was hired in december, '99, meaning when tagliabue strolls to the podium next april with the team's first pick... that pick will have been watched and scouted for TWO FULL college seasons -- a luxury no team currently enjoys. hard to screw that up. same goes for the expansion draft, free agency... the texans have been running mock drafts the past two years, in preparation of signing players -- late round picks who don't stick, early round picks who, for whatever reason, flameout. they've likely known for a year who will potentially be a free agent in 2002... i bet casserly already has a very good idea who he wants, etc. what other GM can say they have their 2002 off-season already mapped out? does this mean they'll be in the afc championship game in year two, ala jacksonville? no. but i don't think it'll take as long as some seem to think for them to be competitive. houston has nowhere to go but up; the titans nowhere but down.
I was an Oiler fan since the age of 5. I wanted to grow up and play for the Oilers. I stopped being a rabid fan once basketball and the Rockets became my focus. But, I still followed them very closely. I never liked the Titans owner when he was here, and I don't like him or his organization now. But, I still root for some of the players on the team. I just hope they lose every game. GO TEXANS!
