- Sports in Houston
Houston, Texas has a rich sportingculture and the area residents are active in many spectator and participant sports. Spectators attend events including teams from many of theMajor U.S. Professional Sports League andcollegiate sports . Participants enjoy activities from running in Memorial Park to sailing onGalveston Bay and Clear Lake.Major league sports
Houston has teams in nearly every major professional sport, including the
Houston Astros (MLB),Houston Texans (NFL),Houston Rockets (NBA),Houston Comets (WNBA),Houston Dynamo (MLS),Houston Aeros (AHL), andHouston Takers (ABA).Minute Maid Park (home of the Astros) and Toyota Center (home of the Rockets, Comets, and Aeros) are located in downtown—contributing to an urban renaissance that has transformed Houston's center into a day-and-night destination. Also, the city has the first domed stadium in the United States and also holds the NFL's first retractable roof stadium—Reliant Stadium . Other sports facilities in Houston areHofheinz Pavilion ,Reliant Astrodome ,Robertson Stadium , andRice Stadium .On
October 19 2005 , the Astros advanced to theWorld Series for the first time in the team's history, subsequently losing to theChicago White Sox . In 2006, the Dynamo won theMLS Cup in their first year after moving fromSan Jose, California and in 2007 became the first MLS franchise since 1997 to repeat a championship. The Aeros have won four championships: in the WHA (1973, 1974), the IHL (1999), and the AHL (2003). The Rockets won back-to-back NBA titles in 1994 and 1995. The city's former professional football team, theHouston Oilers , also provided the city with 2 AFL championships in 1960 and 1961, before the merger with the NFL. [" [http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/HH/xoh2.html Houston Oilers] ", "TSHA Handbook of Texas Online",2001-06-19 . Retrieved2007-03-31 .]Annual events
Houston hosts annual sporting events such as the
PGA Tour 'sShell Houston Open , thecollege football Texas Bowl , andcollege baseball Houston College Classic. In early 2006, theChamp Car auto racing series returned to Houston for a yearly race, held on the streets of theReliant Park complex. The city had previously been home to a Champ Car round from 1998 to 2001. Since 1971, Houston's twoNCAA Division I FBS football teams, theRice Owls andHouston Cougars have faced off in the annualBayou Bucket .Other major events
Houston has hosted recent, major sporting events, including the 2004
Major League Baseball All-Star Game ,Super Bowl VIII ,Super Bowl XXXVIII , the2005 World Series , the 2005Big 12 Conference football championship game, the2006 NBA All-Star Game , theU.S. Men's Clay Court Championships from 2001-2006, and theTennis Masters Cup in 2003 and 2004.References
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