Since joining TNT as an NBA studio analyst, former Houston Rockets star Charles Barkley has been quite the Negative Nancy when discussing the playoff chances of his old team. Year after year Barkley sits on his throne beside Ernie Johnson and Kenny Smith and waxes poetically about his displeasure over the play of Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady, and the rest of the Clutch City cast. Most particularly, Barkley constantly expresses his displeasure at the......

En route to a 117-99 road victory over the Indiana Pacers, the Houston Rockets set a franchise record with their 16th straight win last night. Courtesy of a stellar first half from Tracy McGrady (23 points by intermission), the Rockets went on a 15-0 run in the second quarter and overcame a third quarter surge by the Pacers to cruise to victory. Though so-called pundits around the nation left the Rockets for dead after......

In a classic case of keeping up with the Joneses the Houston Rockets executed a player swap late last night with less than 24 hours before the expiration of the NBA’s trade deadline. As their Western Conference cohorts have made headlines over the last three weeks with the acquisitions of All-Star talent such as Shaquille O’Neal (Suns), Jason Kidd (Mavericks), and Pau Gasol (Lakers), the Houston Rockets found their crusade to climb in the......

From local Houston headlines, we bring you these weekend news bits... • Two men were rescued from the Gulf of Mexico 130 miles southeast of Galveston when their helicopter crashed. • Deer Park resident and former Astros pitcher, Andy Pettitte, admitted to using a human growth hormone during his recovery from an elbow injury in 2002. • During future evacuations and before boarding public transportation criminal background checks will be standard operating procedure to......

From local Houston headlines, we bring you these weekend news bits... • A customer was fatally shot and a security guard wounded during a robbery at a Fiesta grocery store on Fulton St. • A Houston man was found dead in his apartment of multiple gun shot wounds on Walnut Bend Lane. Police speculate he had been dead for days. • One city work is dead and another is wounded after they were struck......

The Rockets not only lost their first game of the season, but they also lost the game to the division-rival Dallas Mavericks, making it just god awful to even watch. The game went back and forth for the first three-and-a-half quarters with several lead changes and neither team having more than a six-point lead.The Mavericks were plagued by turnovers in the first half and the Rockets were able to keep theirs under control, but......

On the heels of last week's performance on David Letterman, Atlanta-based indie-rock outfit Manchester Orchestra arrives at Warehouse Live tomorrow night. If you'd like to hear a man with a fantastic voice, check out former Mavericks lead vocalist Raul Malo Thursday night (also at Warehouse Live). Friday night, check out some local indie rock -- .belville at Rudyard's. Saturday is a tough call: The Killers with Louis XIV are at Reliant Arena and Reverend......

The Houston Rockets are set to re-acquire point guard Mike James in a trade that will send Rockets forward Juwan Howard to the Milwaukee Bucks. The deal, which is pending, could happen as early as today could include more players. James played for the Rockets in the 2004-05 season, helping lead the Rockets to the playoffs. After an early playoff exit to the Dallas Mavericks, James was dealt north of the border to the......

Jeff Van Gundy was mum about his future with the ball club during last night's post game press conference. However, ESPN is reporting that Van Gundy will leave the Rockets following last night's loss to the Jazz. John Kincade broke the news to Houston listeners earlier today on his ESPN Radio show. JK stated that Van Gundy was leaving the sideline to take a break from the stress of coaching. Van Gundy's coaching performance has......

There's so much going on across the Ist-a-Verse that it's almost impossible to keep track these days. Fortunately, we do it so you don't have to! Londonist took a walk through Oliver Twist's London, thanks to a gorgeous map layer for Google Earth. They also caught up with modern-day fictional London, with the Fantastic Four and 28 Weeks Later. It was a week of insanity over at DCist. They started the week off with......

It’s a Whitman’s Sampler of concerts this week: metal, blues, alternative, country, Celtic, zydeco, reggae, etc. If you can find the genre you like, that’s your problem. May we suggest Raul Malo tomorrow night at Warehouse Live. The former leader of The Mavericks recently released an album of covers that seriously challenge the originals. Also, the H-Town Blues Festival sounds like a good line-up (you may want to bring your Prozac). And metal is......

>> Texas: A Dallas man who was attacked by a Bengal tiger that escaped from an animal sanctuary last week is expected to make a full recovery. >> Nation: In Atlanta, defense attorneys for a scorned grandmother accused of killing her 89-year-old ex-boyfriend are claiming she won't get a fair trial because the legal age for jury exemption in Georgia is 70. >> World: New York, of all places, was ranked one of the......

The Rockets may be long out of the NBA's postseason picture, but tonight the Finals head back to the Lone Star with our state's basketball honor on the line. It seems like ages ago that the Dallas Mavericks were last home, where for two games they spanked the Miami Heat, neutralized their stars Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal, and headed to South Beach totally in command of the series. Since then, they've let one......

Finally, the concert scene is picking up for 2006, and it will only get better: Wednesday You could see Ricky Martin shake his bon-bon at Verizon Wireless tonight, but we recommend saving a few bucks and listening to Peter Hook spinning records at 1415. Hook was the bass player for Joy Division and currently, New Order. OK, it’s not “live” music, but it’ll still be a treat. He’s known to throw in some rare......