Will this week's game be postponed or moved due to Ike? [Yes]

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by popanot

Reliant is open to a large expanse of nothing, whereas MMP is shielded by a large city, freeway structure, and GRB. There's a big difference. Ike was hardly "a gust of wind" judging by the devastion in the area, which we are all experiencing to some degree or another.

I disagree. Ever been in any downtown when it is windy? The tall buildings amplify the wind speed around them making it even windier at ground level. That's part of what happened to the Georgia Dome during the SEC basketball tournament last spring. These downtown venues are far more vulnerable to wind damage, not "shielded".

Frankly, I couldn't give a rats ass about the Texans schedule, Reliant, or the impact of having the bye week in Wk2. My main worry is how to keep my wife and 3 young kids cool, fed and healthy in the next couple of weeks. It's going to get nasty around here if they can't get power going and the food, fresh water and gas supply going soon.

And yet you had time to come online to a football website and vent. I'm glad you and your family made it through okay. Once you get the electricity back, everything will return to normal and they will have crews from all over the country down there working to get you back on as fast as they can. If they have to replace a lot of lines where you are, you'll probably have to wait longer but I predict that 80-90% of the affected area will be back on by the end of the week. Only the hardest hit areas will need to wait longer.

I went through Alicia myself and I have had family scattered all throughout Florida and the Gulf Coast so I know how recovery goes. The media will always paint the worst possible picture for you. Pockets of devastation down by the coast will be really hard times but much of the rest of the region will be largely back to normal by the end of the week.

[popanot]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

I disagree.

Then we agree to disagree.

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

And yet you had time to come online to a football website and vent. .

Please forgive me for trying to have some sense of normalcy here. I went through Alicia was well and this is far worse.

[HPF Bob]

There was no internet or cell phones back during Alicia so I'd say things are probably better.

[Mike]

Having moved here 10 years ago, I was a hurricane virgin. I must say that I was scared when it kicked up and got bad. My house is certified for windstorm of 140mph, but I swear I've never heard sounds like I heard the other night. Happy to say that I live near my towns water supply and apparenly we were some of the first to get back power. What an experience. My house only suffered minor shingle damage and my fence got tore down but I am lucky.

Hope you others in Ike's way get your electricity and life back to normal. You are in my prayers.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

I disagree. Ever been in any downtown when it is windy? The tall buildings amplify the wind speed around them making it even windier at ground level. That's part of what happened to the Georgia Dome during the SEC basketball tournament last spring. These downtown venues are far more vulnerable to wind damage, not "shielded".

I'm with Popanot on this one. The buildings might swirl the wind and make it windier at ground level, but the more stuff there is the more friction there is to slow down the winds. That's why winds speeds are always higher up off the ground then they are at ground level.

The stadium should have been able to handle Ike though, and I'd be surprised if there isn't a lawsuit down the road...much like the one for the juice box's climate control and the problems they had with the roof. Wind is a weird thing. My fence is 20? years old. Half the wood is rotted, and it was already crooked and leaning over. It's fine, but the nice new one my neighbor put up a year or two ago is down.

[superbowlbound]

i'm with you, PB. I'd be mighty surprised if there isn't a lawsuit filed. Aside from the fact that a 350 million dollar stadium should be able to handle a category 2 storm without large sections of the roof being completely torn off, just look at the lost revenue. I'd be shocked if we're able to play in reliant before november, if at all. Rice stadium? please. we'd be better off at the Rob.

[HPF Bob]

Gee, there was a time when a football stadium didn't need a roof to play a game. If the rest of the structure is sound and no more pieces from the roof are apt to drop, they should just play the game.

[papabear]

I saw somewhere that the stadium was built to only withstand something like 115 mph winds....or basically pretty close to what it got. That's a little stupid IF it's correct.

They are considering playing with an open roof, but the problem is that since they planned on having a roof, the drainage system couldn't handle a big rain without it turning into a lake.

[WMH]

I have a question, it sounds incredibly in-sensitive, especially with everything going on around here, but I am going ask anyway......
With Rice having a capacity of about 50K, how will our season tickets be handled? How many season ticket holders are there?

Just curious.

[Joshua]

It's my understanding that about 90% of the stadium are season ticket holders. Since it holds 70,000 and change, by my estimation, about 63,000-65,000 are season ticket holders. Don't know how they'll handle that.

I agree on the open roof. I thought it was silly we had a roof in the first place. However, after the Pitt game when all of the fans complained so much, I guess McNair guessed right in having a roof. I hate to say it but we're probably not the most diehard fanbase in the world.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by WMH

I have a question, it sounds incredibly in-sensitive, especially with everything going on around here, but I am going ask anyway......
With Rice having a capacity of about 50K, how will our season tickets be handled? How many season ticket holders are there?

Just curious.

They can expand capacity to 70K if needed.

[CWade]

Originally Posted by papabear

I saw somewhere that the stadium was built to only withstand something like 115 mph winds....or basically pretty close to what it got. That's a little stupid IF it's correct.

They are considering playing with an open roof, but the problem is that since they planned on having a roof, the drainage system couldn't handle a big rain without it turning into a lake.

Isn't the roof of Reliant some 260ft up in the air? Ike's 110mph winds are measured at ground level-up 260ft they would be considerably faster. Buoys were measuring, IIRC, 135mph winds at 122m when Ike was still a 105mph storm.

[Warren]

This article talks about the stadium design and says that the roof was supposed to withstand winds up to 120 mph. The desire to make Reliant more of a multipurpose facility than a pure football field (it hosts more rodeo events per year than NFL games) seems to have a lot to do with why it wasn't set up to have an open roof indefinitely. The floor without the drainage system is probably a lot more useful for non-football events.

Rice Stadium may be the next best option but I don't think it's a real attractive one for the team. Even if every Reliant ticketholder gets a seat at Rice, Rice would clearly be a step down in quality for the fan -- sightlines, benches instead of seats, no luxury boxes (right?), fewer concessions and bathrooms, less parking and access for traffic, no video screens (right?) etc. The team would need to do something to make up the difference to the fans, not to mention the hit it would take in lost signage, video, and other in-stadium advertising revenue.

[cadams]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Gee, there was a time when a football stadium didn't need a roof to play a game. If the rest of the structure is sound and no more pieces from the roof are apt to drop, they should just play the game.

yeah, i dont know what all damage there is, but if possible just open the roof and play like it is a regular stadium, rain or shine.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by cadams

yeah, i dont know what all damage there is, but if possible just open the roof and play like it is a regular stadium, rain or shine.

I hope that's what they do, but the stadium doesn't have the drainage of an open air stadium. A decent rain could turn the field into a lake.

[cadams]

Originally Posted by papabear

I hope that's what they do, but the stadium doesn't have the drainage of an open air stadium. A decent rain could turn the field into a lake.

this still baffels me. i know a lot of people in houston are wimps with regard to sports (see the steelers game a couple of years ago) but how do you build a football stadium that can't handle rain?