Houston Stadium
While arsehole Gov. Greg Abbott is out purging anti-voucher members of his GOP in the primaries, ISDs throughout the state are making harsh budget cuts. See this from the Chron:
Spring Branch ISD Superintendent Jennifer Blaine announced on Friday the final phase in the district’s plan to stave off a looming budget crisis by cutting librarians and slashing the elementary and middle counseling programs, the athletic training staff and other central office positions.
Go check out this story where right wing nut jobs are calling librarians groomers. The MAGA takeover of the GOP is downright sick.
In honor of our librarians, the featured photo is a sampling of books Commentary has. I have a lot of books.
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My pal Thomas Jones got a key appointment. See this from the Chron:
Houston City Council on Wednesday chose Thomas Jones, president of the Houston Fund for Social Justice and Economic Equity, for one of two seats it controls on the Port Commission, which runs Port Houston.
Jones will take a seat that came open when Cheryl Creuzot, appointed by the council under former Mayor Sylvester Turner and a contributor to Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee’s failed mayoral campaign, decided to leave the board after her second two-year term. Commissioners can serve up to six terms on the unpaid board and usually stay on it for many years.
Thomas is a veteran political player in town. I have known him for close to three decades now. He is a great guy who I respect a ton. Thomas was a key and early supporter of Mayor John Whitmire’s campaign for mayor.
FYI: Thomas was former Mayor Turner’s longtime campaign treasurer up until around 2014.
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I did not know this. I am glad NRG is being a good sport about the following from the Chron:
NRG Energy is paying a lot of money for its name to be on the Houston Texans stadium, but none of that will be apparent when World Cup matches are played in NRG Stadium in 2026.
FIFA refuses to acknowledge corporate stadium names, despite many naming rights agreements being in place long before host cities even put in a bid to lure the tournament to town.
So, due to FIFA regulations, the seven matches at NRG Stadium actually will be played at “Houston Stadium.” It will be the same for all 16 stadiums hosting World Cup matches. SoFi Stadium will be called “Los Angeles Stadium”, the Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium will be designated “Dallas Stadium”, even though it’s located in Arlington, and MetLife Stadium gets the even clunker moniker “New York/New Jersey Stadium.”
“Going way back to the bid process, there’s always things that you work through before you even bid for an event, so we are super thankful to our corporate community, especially NRG in this case for stepping up and agreeing even before we put the bid in to help us with this,” Harris County Houston Sports Authority CEO Janis Burke said.
Before the stadium opened in 2002, Reliant Energy paid $300 million for it to be called Reliant Stadium for 30 years. When NRG Energy bought Reliant, the venue was renamed NRG Stadium in 2014.
“We certainly want to say thank you to NRG for being a great partner to us and understanding that when you host world-class events this is not uncommon,” said Bishop James Dixon II, chairman of the Harris County Sports & Convention Corporation.
“We consider ambush marketing to be a priority in our brand protection work, as this practice puts FIFA’s commercial program directly at risk by effectively devaluing official sponsorship,” the organization posted on its website. “The World Cup tournaments are the result of significant efforts to develop and promote the tournaments, something which would not be possible without the financial support of our commercial affiliates. Ambush marketers try to take advantage of the goodwill and positive image generated by the FIFA tournaments without contributing to their organization.”
Dixon said details are still being worked out as to what is required to be done with the NRG signage on and around the building when the World Cup is in town.
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Opening Day is five weeks from today and I think I am ready.
