Houston PR vs. the media

We recently hit the trifecta of Houston PR folks overstepping their bounds for no apparent reason.

First, the recent Rockets-China debacle:

Then there was the whole Verlander-Freep situation:

Oh, and let’s not leave the Texans out of the mix. I know there was some hubbub when this happened because I believe the memo was provided to the AP and then team PR folks got upset: Texans players warned not to eat room service or leave hotel in Mexico before game vs. Raiders

If you see writers from Houston on the road, get them a drink.

 

That one you posted with the Rockets is ridiculous. I don't even think she was trying to get them to talk about the China situation in a roundabout way. It was more a general question about being careful around social media. I understand if the players might be hesitant to wade into it given the way this week has gone, but it's a legitimate question that they can answer -- thoughtfully, even -- without going anywhere near the topic that spawned it. It certainly didn't require the Gestapo tactics the PR person employed.

 

So, feels like a good time for an update. Start with this:



Then read this:

 

And in the center of the room, assistant general manager Brandon Taubman turned to a group of three female reporters, including one wearing a purple domestic-violence awareness bracelet, and yelled, half a dozen times, “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f------ glad we got Osuna!”

The outburst was offensive and frightening enough that another Houston staffer apologized. The Astros declined to comment. They also declined to make Taubman available for an interview.

Taubman's timing was odd.

Closer Roberto Osuna had allowed a two-run home run to tie the game in the top of the ninth. He had been, by Baseball Reference’s calculations and any intelligent observer’s assessment, the least valuable Astro that night. So why would Taubman choose that moment, to taunt that demographic? It’s not hard to figure out.

***

I gotta think there's video of that.

 

No video yet, but at least four witnesses have corroborated, including a beat writer from the Houston Chronicle.

 

We've entered an age when the response to any scandal will be to lie about it, wait for it to blow over, and carry on. That's just how things are going to work.

 

Wonder how that happened

 

Will ever be a mystery.

 

Astros executive Brandon Taubman under fire for Osuna comments

Not only does he very much look like a guy named Brandon Taubman, he looks like a guy who say such a thing. Not that it makes it any more or less likely that the SI article was correct. I just get a serious "Ellis" vibe from him - and he looks like nobody's white knight.

 

The SI story infers significantly malicious intent. Even if I suspect the story is right, hope there's video to reveal tone.