Jeff Balke

The Astros are in a curious offseason position. They have one huge name free agent and, at minimum, a pair of stalwart pitchers unlikely to return. They are also counting on the return from injury for several players who could play a significant role well beyond 2025. But, in reality,...

Continuity is something the Rockets have not enjoyed for quite some time. Since the 2020-21 season when the Rockets went into full rebuild mode after dealing James Harden to the Brooklyn Nets, this has been a team gathering talent and trying to get those players as much growth and experience as...

The Rockets are unlikely to be a "great" team this season. This is still a fairly young and inexperienced group of guys. But going .500 last year and coming in with a very deep squad should make fans feel better about their chances of being at least a good team...

Perhaps the most important signing (or non-signing) watch of the offseason began Thursday. With the Dodgers beating the Yankees in a yawner of a World Series, baseball is officially over until 2025, which means teams will begin the mad scramble that is hot stove season. For the Astros, all eyes...

It's the most loved/hated time of the year when pumpkin spice seemingly takes over North America even when some of us are still sweltering and praying for a cold front. It's everywhere and not just at Starbuck's. We saw our first glimpses in late August: shelves or orange-colored, pumpkin-spiced everything...

On Sunday, Alex Bregman became a Gold Glove third baseman for the first time in his career. It came on the heels of a season that, as per Bregman's usual, began slow, but ramped up significantly as the season went along. He also displayed his trademark outstanding defense.

It's very early in the NBA season and "on-pace" guy is already out in full force. We try to not do too much wild analysis based on only a handful of games, but then again, why not? A trend is a trend even if it is just seven games into...

The Houston Rockets are a very solid 6-4 ten games into the young season. They have quality wins against New York and Dallas, as well as some disappointing losses to the Spurs and Hornets. They appear to be a little ahead of schedule for the season but still right about...

Major League Baseball announced its finalists for Cy Young, Rookie of the Year, MVP and Manager of the Year this week. Unsurprisingly, the list did not contain a single representative of the Astros organization. While the Astros had solid pitching from their starting rotation, no one reached the rarified air...

We are fans of the Astrodome. Many of us grew up visiting it for all kinds of events. We have advocated in this space several times for keeping it around and doing something, anything with the legendary structure. But failed referendums and a culture of not protecting historic landmarks in...