Houston >>> Detroit

So the mighty (cough, cough) Detroit Tigers came into Houston this weekend for a series against the lowly (cough, cough) Astros, and they basically laid a doodie. The Astros won the series after grinding out a win on Friday, losing a heartbreaker in the ninth inning on Saturday, and scattering hits all over the place against Drew Smyly on Sunday.

As mentioned in my first post here, sports are one of my main passions, especially baseball, and similar to my other blog about the Kansas City Royals, I will likely focus a lot on the Astros in this one. So for all you Houstonians (Houstonites? Not sure yet what you call yourselves), or even just casual baseball fans, here are some thoughts from the weekend series:

First of all, shame on ESPN:

The Tigers lost the game, but ESPN seemingly expects them to win all the time, and probably got lazy with their graphics. I know they are not perfect, but after suffering through their love affair with Mike Trout this weekend, I am losing even more respect for the Worldwide Leader in Sports.  

Second of all, JOSE ALTUVE. The pint-sized dude is nucking futs right now. He batted 9 for 14 against the Tigers, almost single-handedly willing the Astros to their first series win over Detroit since 2009. He now leads the majors with 116 hits. He also has the most multi-hit games in baseball (suck it Miggy Cabrera), and just tied a 97 year old Major League record with multiple steals in 4 straight games after he swiped two on Sunday. Not surprisingly, he also leads the majors with 9 games with multiple steals. Oh, and he leads the American League with a .347 batting average (suck it Miggy!). AND HE CAN FIT INTO ONE OF MIGGY’S PANT LEGS, SO SUCK IT YOU FAT DOUCHE.

Third of all, GEORGE SPRINGER. After a rocky start to the MLB, he has been on a tear. He is quickly becoming my favorite player in all of baseball. He leads the Astros in home runs, RBI’s and swagger. He has been playing phenomenal defense, has a super awesome range in the outfield, but hilariously also leads the Astros with 92 strikeouts. Quite honestly, I don’t think anyone notices his strikeouts because he does everything else so well. I think a recurring theme on this blog will be JOSE ALTUVE AND GEORGE SPRINGER BECAUSE THEY ARE BASEBALL BEASTS. 

And finally, Tony Sipp is looking pretty solid. He has only allowed 4 earned runs in 22 innings. His WHIP (walks and hits per inning) is at 0.63. I think Astros manager Bo Porter (University of Iowa represent!) should name Sipp the closer and let him feast on batters in the ninth. The Astros are only 2 games behind the Texas Rangers, and assuming they can keep games close, Sipp can help them close the games out and move ahead of the Rangers. 

Detroit needs to clean up the doodie they left in this beautiful city and go back to their miserable town. Until next time- Go ‘Stros!

KC to Houston

Originally from the eastern suburbs of Kansas City, Mo, my career has taken me on an incredibly random and crazy path from Kansas to Iowa to West Texas and finally to the Bayou City.

I wanted to start a new blog to document my experiences in this part of America. A huge reason for this stems from the differences of living in Texas and the South versus living in the Midwest. My primary interests are health and sports, and thus, I imagine a large portion of what I write about will be related to one of those. However, I love to observe architecture, nature, music, arts and culture, and will try to include observations of those aspects in this blog.I also use facebook, twitter (@mattfromkc) and instagram (@mattyfromkc) to document things that I see and do in the places that I live. Please feel free to follow me on those platforms.

 One of my first impressions of Houston is a direct result of moving here from Lubbock. For those of you without a map, Lubbock is basically 9 hours west of Houston and slightly north. Located in "West Texas," Lubbock has an arid climate, meaning there is little to no humidity that is commonly experienced in the rest of the country. Lubbock has has an elevation of around 3,000 feet, another unique aspect of the city. As a result, it never rains there, the sky is always sunny with few clouds, and the humidity is pretty much non-existent. In contrast, Houston is basically at sea level and feels like a sauna.

Upon moving to Houston, the first thing that I noticed was how humid it is. Prior to moving here, I was warned about the humidity, and while I appreciated the warnings, it is not all that different from the humidity that I experience growing up in the Midwest. The main difference is that the humidity is more constant and omnipresent. Not necessarily a bad thing, but will take some getting used to after living in a super dry climate (especially since West Texas is supposedly in a multi-year drought. I have lived in Houston for around 3 weeks and it has already rained here more frequently than it rained in the 12 months I lived in Lubbock).

The second thing that I noticed was the incredible amount of culture here. Due to its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, it is reasonable to expect a large contingent of Mexican Americans, and while that does exist, there are plenty of other ethnicities that have made their presence felt, including Asians (Chinese, Vietnamese, and Thai), Caribbean and Mediterranean. The result being a massive array of restaurants and cultural events that can satisfy anyone searching for an international flavor. Lubbock is known for its huge selection of restaurants (seemingly a restaurant on every corner), but Houston clearly has more options and is a MUCH larger region.

In addition to the culture, Houston has a tropical climate with a resultant tropical atmosphere, by which I mean everyone is laid-back. At the same time, it has a big-city feel (especially around the Texas Medical Center and downtown), with plenty of palm trees and resort-like areas to make one feel like they are on vacation. Especially a Midwesterner like myself! Below you can see some pictures of what I have seen and experienced so far:

In the 3 weeks I have resided here, I have attended a major league baseball game, a professional soccer game, the Houston beer fest, and numerous restaurants. I have been impressed with everything and hope to experience even more as I begin my professional career here. I plan to post more about the health and sports scene, especially the Astros and Dynamo since baseball and soccer are two of my favorite past-times. I also hope to venture into the Houston music and social scene, and provide some commentary about those in hopes that my Midwestern friends can develop an appreciation for Southern living and the eclectic culture of "Htown."