Nolan Ryan, Astros franchise icon and co-owner of two of the team's minor league franchises, today exited his personal services contract a year early to assume the team president position offered by the Texas Rangers. Ryan will oversee the daily operations of the floundering Arlington-based team, working with mercurial owner Tom Hicks. The fate of his owner's stake in the minor league affiliates is up for debate, but the assumption is that they will remain......

Back in June, we heard that Six Flags was planning to sell or close several of its properties, including Houston's Splashtown. And sure enough, the company is selling Splashtown and six other parks in a $312 million deal. The parks' new owner, PARC 7F-Operations Corp. of Jacksonville, Fla., will immediately sell them to CNL Income Properties, then will lease them from CNL. Whatever. The good news for all you Splashtown lovers is that the park......

First Six Flags shut down AstroWorld, and now it's talking about closing Splashtown, too. It makes us wonder: Why doesn't Six Flags want Houstonians to have fun? The Oklahoma City-based Six Flags announced overnight that it's struggling financially and may be forced to sell or close six of its 30 properties, including the 20-year-old Splashtown. The company cites falling atendance and rising operation costs as reasons for the trouble; Six Flags President and CEO Mark......

So the Dixie Chicks have a new album that tons of people are buying, and they are becoming more popular/notorious every day. That would seem like good fuel to sell scores of tickets for venues on their tour, right? Apparently not, at least in the United States. Houston, along with St. Louis, Oklahoma City, Indianapolis, and Memphis have either been cancelled or postponed due to lack of ticket demand. St. Louis' Savvis Center website reads:......

Talk about your inexplicable magazine lists: Houston has ranked No. 42 on Prevention magazine's list of America's top 100 walking cities. Huh? Prevention and the American Podiatric Medical Association recognize the country's most walker-friendly cities each year using a formula based on the percentage of adults who walk for exercise, the percentage of residents who walk to work, percentage of adults who participate in sports and/or ride public transit, the number of parks and walking......