Fearless Critic 2010 is here

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Tom

The best local restaurant evaluation guide — Fearless Critic Houston Restaurant Guide 2010 — is now available. The brutally honest restaurant guide is put together by a group of undercover local critics who "dine incognito, don’t accept freebies, and don’t pull punches" in rating a cross-section of 450 restaurants in the Houston metropolitan area.

Da Marco, Tony’s and Catalan take the top three spots this time around (the guide is published every other year), but one of the aspects about Fearless Critic that I most enjoy is that it rates restaurants based upon the quality of the food relative to cost, so many not-so-high-priced restaurants rate far better than many expensive restaurants. For example, Huynh, a relatively inexpensive Vietnamese restaurant in downtown, comes in at 7th in the rankings.

You won’t always agree with their evaluations, but the Fearless Critics make their case well. It’s definitely worth the eleven buck cost currently on Amazon. Check it out.

Why pay even more?

Posted on September 29, 2009 by Tom

In addition to being quite frustrating from a purely football standpoint, attending Houston Texans games is incredibly expensive. And as ESPN.com’s Lestor Munson points out, if the NFL has its way in the American Needle case currently pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, then professional franchises will have virtual carte blanche to coordinate high prices with other clubs in their leagues.

A group of sports economists led by Roger Noll have filed the brief below with the Supreme Court explaining how the NFL position in favor of an exemption from anti-trust laws will likely result in a loss of consumer welfare. In short, the economists argue that economic research provides a firm basis for distinguishing between collaborative activities of league members that enhance economic efficiency and benefit consumers, on one hand, from collusive activities that are not essential for the efficient operation of a league and that simply benefit league members by reducing competition among teams.

The owners of professional sports leagues have already received a dramatic financial benefit from the billions of dollars of public financing for stadiums that local governments have thrown their way over the past generation. Providing an unnecessary anti-trust exemption that will provide anti-competitive incentives for league members while providing no economic benefit to the members’ customers will only make matters worse.

Food for thought as Houston leaders prepare to gift-wrap another dubious public subsidy for the owners of a professional sports franchise.

Sports Economists Amicus Brief in American Needle Case

2009 Weekly local football review

Posted on September 28, 2009 by Tom

(AP Photo/Dave J. Phillip; previous weekly reviews for this season are here)

Houston Cougars 29 Texas Tech 28

In one of the most entertaining games of the young season, the now 12th-ranked Cougars (3-0) pulled out the victory over Tech (2-2) with a magnificent 95-yard TD drive late in the 4th quarter engineered by QB Case Keenum, who has played better than any QB in the nation through the early part of this season. The Coogs did not play as well in this game as they did in knocking off then fifth-ranked Oklahoma State two weeks ago, but a plucky defense and the cerebral Keenum — combined with a boneheaded decision by Tech Coach Leach to eschew a chip shot field goal in the 4th quarter — were enough to propel Houston to victory. The Cougars travel to El Paso next week to face a UTEP (1-3) team that is licking its wounds after being hammered by Texas.

Jaguars 31 Texans 24

The Texans (1-2) continue to be plagued by a generally horrendous defense, although a horrific penalty call nullified what should have been a game-tying TD with about two minutes left. Although the Texans’ offense looks to be productive enough for the club to have a decent shot at winning half their games, the lack of defensive development through three games raises a legitimate question of whether Head Coach Gary Kubiak has the depth necessary to correct the Texans’ chronically deficient defense (anyone else think that Mike Nolan looks like a really good hire by the Broncos?). When an NFL defensive team that is comprised of multiple high draft picks still cannot stop the run or put pressure on the opposing QB, that’s usually a sure sign that something is seriously wrong in the coordination of that unit. The Texans better even their record next Sunday against the Raiders (1-2) at Reliant because four of the following five games are on the road.

Texas Longhorns 64 UTEP 7

I mean really — what are the second-ranked Longhorns (4-0) doing playing opponents such as UTEP (1-3)? The Horns’ third-team could have beaten the Miners by 30. Incredibly, the Horns’ defense held UTEP without a touchdown and to a total of 53 yards on 51 plays. Texas has an off-week before facing under-performing Colorado (1-2) in Austin on October 10th and then 8th-ranked Oklahoma (3-1) the following weekend in Dallas.

Texas Aggies 56 UAB 19

The Ags (3-0) won their third straight against creampuff competition, so the jury is still out on whether the Ags will be competitive against the better teams of the Big 12. Nevertheless, the Aggies are halfway toward qualifying for a bowl game for the first imte in three seasons and those chances improved markedly over the weekend with Baylor’s loss of star QB Robert Griffen (torn ACL) for the season. The Ags take on an Arkansas (1-2) team next weekend in Dallas that has to date not been able to stop a hard-chargin’ marching band. But at least the Razorbacks are an SEC opponent. That counts for something.

Vanderbilt 36 Rice 17

You know that the renaissance in Rice (0-4) football is over when the local media emphasizes that the Owls defense played really well in holding Vandy (2-2) to a 10-10 halftime tie. The reality is that the Owls are playing with an inexperienced group of QB’s with a new offensive coordinator. This has not gone well and the next three opponents — Tulsa (3-1), Navy (2-2) and East Carolina (2-2) — are unlikely to allow the Owls to turn it around. My current over/under on Rice victories this season is two.