Since we don't have an actual opponent to talk about this week, you're stuck with me fabricating things to discuss. In that vein, your fearless neighborhood blogger figured last night would be a fine time to catch the bye week edition of The DeMeco Ryans Show live and in person, held on Tuesday nights at Christian's Tailgate in Midtown. Good plan, huh? Maybe get a chance to ask the reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year how he thinks the team will respond to the loss of Dunta Robinson? Throw back a few cold beers and begin inquiring as to why Richard Smith refuses to blitz? Perhaps get a picture taken with DeMeco so I can tell people, "Yeah, DeMeco and I are tight. We hang out sometimes. You know, when I've got the time. Life's pretty crazy these days, you know?" Could have been awesome.
But no. Apparently, DeMeco Ryans is spending the bye week at home in Alabama. Of course, neither DeMeco nor anyone with 790--The Sports Animal tells me about this (though, upon further review, perhaps I should have checked the station website). So, uninformed, a buddy and I show up to Christian's and grab a table. We order some beers and burgers as we pan the room, looking for DeMeco. No sign of him, but we see Craig Roberts, who hosts the show. Sweet. We also see a disturbing number of people wearing Houston Dynamo gear, but it doesn't register anything except snide remarks about how (1) we didn't realize that Christian's opened a Manchester location; (2) despite repeated attempts, soccer will never develop a national audience in this country; and (3) we could count on two hands the number of people we know who played soccer after reaching age nine. Still, more and more individuals, several of whom are nattily attired in orange scarves, keep streaming in. No matter...DeMeco will be on soon enough. We still don't see him, but he'll be here.
We see someone striding to the radio booth. Wait a second...that's not Craig Roberts. It's someone named Glenn Davis (who, by the way, is not the identically named former Astros first baseman), who informs us that something called "The Dynamo Power Hour" is about to begin. This announcement elicits hooting and hollering from the orange-clad masses and looks of surprised disgust from my colleague and I. Really? No DeMeco? For this?
I felt, and still feel, used. It's football season, people. Breaking down soccer on a Tuesday night in November is right up there with breaking down cricket in...well, any time. Needless to say, we finished our beers and food before hightailing it out of there like scalded dogs. This is where I should probably close with some sort of information about the next Dynamo game, but I have to be honest. I have no idea when that is. I just know that their fans chant gibberish and wear scarves.
I also know this: Your Houston Texans return to action on 11/18/07 at Reliant against New Orleans, and the only kicking there will be off the golden feet of Kris Brown and Matt Turk.