Houston Rockets Playoff Spot Gag Job Means Change Should and Must Come

A ticket stub from a Houston Rockets game does not stretch the length of my neck; so gag me with pages from the teams media guide.

Or, how about one of those towels used to wipe the Toyota Center court during timeouts?

Houston Chronicle writer Fran Blinebury opened an unforgettable column in April 1994 with a sentence that fit the jarring, abrasive headline.

Almost 17 years later, and for the first time since Tracy McGradys departure from Houston, it is time to retrieve that blasphemous but fitting and accurate phrase.

Welcome back to choke city. The hands of this metropolitan areas pro hoops squad have not strayed far from the vicinity of its throat since those back-to-back championships. The die-hard basketball fans here know the Heimlich like the words to the Star Spangled Banner.

Ugh. I hate typing this as much as you detest reading it. Just uttering those two words makes me want to upchuck my breakfast.

So does watching this April 2012 Rockets collapse of embarrassing proportions.

One week and five days ago, the team arrived home on its charter flight with a tenuous grip on its conferences sixth-best record but a clear path to a coveted postseason return. TV analyst Matt Bullard was picking the Rockets as the likeliest West playoff entrant to oust a higher seed. The marketing department solicited ideas for slogans involving the word fuel that would befit a run in the NBAs second season.

The Rockets swept a four-game road trip that included dates versus the Bulls and Lakers. Since? Cough. Barf. Gag.

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Houston Rockets Playoff Spot Gag Job Means Change Should and Must Come