RealGM

Fellow fans of the Houston Rockets who hang out at RealGM, I have a question for you: why are you a Rockets fan?

For ol' Mr. E it comes from the fact that I'm a Houston guy, through and through. This is my home town. I have lived all around this country, but Houston has and will always be home to me. Being a fan of the Rockets is in my blood. Same goes for the Astros and Texans - and while I'm not an overly voracious fan, I will stand by the Dynamo all day long (tho they should have kept the 1836 name).

I know that there are other people out here who are rooting for their home team, but I know that there are Rockets fans out there who do not live in the ever-expanding Houston or it's surrounding areas. What was it about the Rockets that earned their privilege of calling you one of their fans?

Was it a player that you liked who played here? Do you have family who are Rockets fans who passed it on to you? Were you just born as a decent person who naturally gravitated towards the Good Guys?

Curious to see how our motley little crewe of posters came about.

All in all I'm a home town fan of every Houston team. My dad being from south florida grew up a fan of every Miami team so I took after him when it came to Houston.


Sent from the Villain

Same as you mr. E...born here, raised here most of my life. Been around the world but always came back here

Been a fan of all Houston teams since I could watch tv (oilers until they left) then the Texans rockets Astros and Dynamo even though I don't watch them as much as I should

Also always been a Knicks fan too because we always visited New York and going to games at msg when I was young had me love them...but never on the level of rockets

I've been a fan for about the past 5-6 seasons even though I live in Vancouver and I've followed Seattle sports franchises my entire life. After the Sonics move, I was "teamless" for almost a year...I tried following the Thunder but I didn't feel any attachment for them and they just didn't do it for me.

I was watching a Rockets game randomly on league pass, and really liked a lot of their young players: Yao Ming, Aaron Brooks, Chase Budinger among others. They were always attack oriented and were fun to watch, and I was shocked at how well they did without any brand name superstars.

The above players mentioned have now moved on, but watching the games has allowed me to ingrain myself in the Rockets team, culture, media etc. Although there has been a lot of turnover, I've still been able to follow a lot of Houston players and after seeing almost every single game over the past 3-4 years I feel pretty solidified in the Rockets franchise. You won't catch me cheering for the Astros or Texans though!

For me, my choice to tie myself to the Houston Rockets is tied to how I grew up in a lot of ways. Father was a career military man, which meant we moved a great deal. I lived in New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, Florida and Alaska in the first 13 years of my life. New places, new schools, new friends...etc. Finally, we moved to Texas in 1999 and it was the last stop as my father would retire there. It was the first place I felt was home, and I adopted the closest professional team as my own...which happened to be the Rockets. I also ride with the Texans for the same reasons.

There have been so many memorable games and teams in those years, and one of the greatest sports heartbreaks for me was never getting to see TMac make it out of the first round in a Rockets jersey...and I'm ecstatic that things have progressed to a point where we just ended a season in the WCF and then found a way to keep the squad together while adding an all-star caliber PG to fill the most pressing need we had entering the offseason.

I know nothing is promised in the NBA, but I feel more confident heading into this season than ever before.

I still have a life sized poster of Hakeem saved from 4 consecutive Sundays of the Houston Post.

moofs wrote:I still have a life sized poster of Hakeem saved from 4 consecutive Sundays of the Houston Post.

You and I are probably the only ones who know what the Houston Post is.

I got into basketball when they started the 94 season 15-0. I followed it passively the rest of the year, then in the 95 season I watched them religiously. Since then, I've followed them closely with the exception of the 98 and 99. They somehow thought they could still compete by adding Pippen, Roderick Rhodes, Cuttino Mobely, and Michael Dickerson.

I grew up in Wisconsin but raised in gyms. At a young age, I went to both Badgers and Bucks games but as a child my favorite player was Dream.

Then 20 years ago, my mother moved to Houston while I stayed in Wisconsin. However I began visiting regularly and officially adopted the Rockets and my second favorite team since they were my second home team, per se.

Then 5 years ago, I moved down and the Rockets became my primary team while the Bucks moved to second.

I'll never leave Houston and support the Rockets through and through. I just find it fitting that I grew up adoring Dream and now the Rockets drafted Sam Dekker. It's all so poetic for me.


Therefore, I think it's about time the Rockets win another title.

Nebula1 wrote:I grew up in Wisconsin but raised in gyms. At a young age, I went to both Badgers and Bucks games but as a child my favorite player was Dream.

Then 20 years ago, my mother moved to Houston while I stayed in Wisconsin. However I began visiting regularly and officially adopted the Rockets and my second favorite team since they were my second home team, per se.

Then 5 years ago, I moved down and the Rockets became my primary team while the Bucks moved to second.

I'll never leave Houston and support the Rockets through and through. I just find it fitting that I grew up adoring Dream and now the Rockets drafted Sam Dekker. It's all so poetic for me.


Therefore, I think it's about time the Rockets win another title.

I saw the Wisconsin/Rocket logo under your name and figured "man I bet this guy is happy the Rockets drafted Dekker!" lol. I don't think he'll play a ton this season, but I'm sure he will be given every opportunity to be a solid contributor on the Rockets going forward.

Houston is the first US city i live in

1. I love basketball.

2. I lived in Houston from the time I was 0 until 27, then spent 6.5 years in Asia, then moved back to Houston where I am now.

3. I was 13 and 14 when the Rockets won their two titles.

A few years ago I gave up 100% fandom of the Rockets and allotted 1 or 2 % to the Spurs (what can I say? they wore me down with over 15 years of continuous excellence). So now I root for the Spurs unless they're playing Houston, but I really only follow Houston religiously.

Yao

dream (such a big man yet his mesmerizing spin move had me got hooked, so much talent yet a team player)
t-mac (better shooter than Penny Hardaway and sees the floor almost as good as Penny Hardaway)
Linsanity (an underdog story, to be continue in small scale)

My family moved to Houston from overseas when I was 3, back in '92. I instantly fell in love with The Rockets and particularly Hakeem Olajuwon. Since then I've been a diehard Rockets fan.

I'm also a big fan of the Texans and Astros (they finally made the playoffs again!).

That's my reason.

DMo

A lot of very interesting answers so far. Thank you for taking the time!

Sakkreth wrote:DMo

Are you from Lithuania?

How are the Sabonis kids looking so far as players?

Mr. E wrote:

Sakkreth wrote:DMo

Are you from Lithuania?

How are the Sabonis kids looking so far as players?

Tautvydas the older one is 23 already, he plays in spanish league and is nothing special. He's considering to drop it to become coach or an agent even as he has the skills for that.

Domantas the 19 yrs old last year freshman for Gonzaga is someone to look out for, definetly will be first a rounder. Expect him to be Gonzaga's top player this season. He's exceptional rebounder and defender, high energy player who had one of the highest fg% in the country at 66.8%. Last year he didn't shoot many jumpers, but this summer with national team he did shoot some and made some which is something new(yes he made national team that finished second in eurobasket as 19yrs old, missing some players in that position but still), and you could see him working with his dad on shooting very often this summer. I hope he can become consistent from mid range which is I believe really is the only thing he is lacking to become an elite PF.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ0cE0YSwq8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grczGxKp7xk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Gxgljhcqog

As a Chinese studying in UK when Yao joined the league, I started following the Rockets. Steve, Cat, Maurice Taylor, Sura, Pagget, C Weather, Derrick Anderson, Bonzi...those were the first bunch of guys I knew. Highlights? 22 in a row, Landry's missing teeth, Rafer abusing Sasha, etc. etc.

With the time difference it's tough but I was doing my PhD back then so my time was flexible. Getting up 2am in the morning was doable from time to time. I was catching 30% of our regular season games, the important ones, and all of our playoff games. Remember the days when I woke up a 2am, watched the games, and went onto ESPN forum trash talking with Jazz/Mavs fans, and went to work with my Tmac eyes. Sadly we lost those series.

Life took a big turn when I ended up applying for a job in the Netherlands after 7 years living in the UK, and 3 years later the company opened an office in Houston and intended to relocate me here to find more oil(!). I was trying to act cool to leverage more but inside me it was like 'wtf u kidding me or not, just give me a boat!!! (yeah boat)'. The year I moved here was sadly the year Yao retired, well, can't complain can I?

Everything has changed since then. No more rugby, started following the Texans. Hard to watch Dynamo as I used to watch premier league so the drop off in quality is big. Hard time picking up baseball. Wife is still not here with me, she travels every month due to business reason spending half the time here and half the time abroad - already a huge Rockets fan herself though, except she constantly fall asleep in toyota center being dragged there right after landing in IAH - including WCF game 4 first quarter! Having said all that, life cannot be more perfect with Rockets being part of my everyday life, with Yao or not.

pr0wler wrote:

Nebula1 wrote:I grew up in Wisconsin but raised in gyms. At a young age, I went to both Badgers and Bucks games but as a child my favorite player was Dream.

Then 20 years ago, my mother moved to Houston while I stayed in Wisconsin. However I began visiting regularly and officially adopted the Rockets and my second favorite team since they were my second home team, per se.

Then 5 years ago, I moved down and the Rockets became my primary team while the Bucks moved to second.

I'll never leave Houston and support the Rockets through and through. I just find it fitting that I grew up adoring Dream and now the Rockets drafted Sam Dekker. It's all so poetic for me.


Therefore, I think it's about time the Rockets win another title.

I saw the Wisconsin/Rocket logo under your name and figured "man I bet this guy is happy the Rockets drafted Dekker!" lol. I don't think he'll play a ton this season, but I'm sure he will be given every opportunity to be a solid contributor on the Rockets going forward.

The guy already went waxing poetic 4 years ago when we drafted JJ Watt.