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Disappointing that the roof will never open...

BattleBull

BattleBull

Practice Squad
as long as Bill O’Brien is coach. Sunday night would have been another perfect to open it up yet they chose to keep it closed due to “crowd noise.” Yet Seattle and KC, the two loudest stadiums have no roof. It defies logic.

(since were playing well I have to complain about something)
 
Maybe for night games but I’ll vote “nay” for any day game, don’t care what the temp is outside.
It’s hot AF in the north side of stadium.

Heck, I was in KC for that game, 52 degrees at kick off, beautiful day out, sunshine no clouds, but 52 degrees. It was HOT AF in that stadium and that stadium is wide open.

NRG isn’t wide open and the last game I remember the roof being open, it was low 70s out, beautiful day. Just flat out miserable on the north side of stadium. My ol lady had to watch from the concourse it was so bad.
 
LMAO at "crowd noise" .. seems to me even with a winning product the crowds aren't what they used to be. Prices keep going up. The Tailgate isnt as wild. For me the best seat in the house is in front of my 75" LED with a death grip on my remote control. Wait I did like the Chairmans Club seats with the free food and drinks and the pregame stuff they would do in the bubble, that was pretty sweet. Been .. 5 years now since my last live game. Dont miss them.
 
BattleBull said:
as long as Bill O’Brien is coach. Sunday night would have been another perfect to open it up yet they chose to keep it closed due to “crowd noise.” Yet Seattle and KC, the two loudest stadiums have no roof. It defies logic.

(since were playing well I have to complain about something)
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Wasn’t it like this with Kubiak too?

I disagree with open roofs. I don’t go for the ambiance of a starry night. I go to watch a game.

That’s why I stay home. Beer is cheaper and I can lay down butt ass naked and not get kicked out like that one time at Reliant.
 
Double Barrel said:
The sun roof is pointless, but it was a good marketing toy for a little while.
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A $48 million sunroof. If the point was to try to have the loudest stadium in the League, the roof should have been domed and constructed of metal, not fabric, and each level of the overhangs closer towards the field as they would basically act as noise catchers, deflecting the noise from below back toward the center of the field. Just like the ill-advised grass field and the poor sun orientation of the stadium, the brilliant NRG architects when conceiving the roof essentially created an expensive nondurable sound-absorbing umbrella. At least they didn't opt for a better sound containing/reflective clear plexiglass player/fan-frying material like their city predecessors. :toropalm:
 
Double Barrel said:
The sun roof is pointless, but it was a good marketing toy for a little while.
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I could have sworn the idea behind the retractable roof was about having an indoor venue on gameday with real grass, like an open stadium. It was supposed to be the best of both worlds.

I know it didn't work out that way, but that was the idea. Indoor game experience. Open during week to let the grass grow.
 
Well, that idea (closed roof=louder crowd) isn’t even working as the Houston crowd is rarely ever that much into the game. I don’t know if it’s because we haven’t won anything, or they don’t really care to even try to be one of the loudest crowds. I’ve been to quite a few outdoor stadiums that put us to shame. Mainly Centurylink in Seattle.
 
It's the same with the Astros, though they do open it up early in the season. At least twice in this year's playoffs the roof cost the Astros outs on popups that hit the roof. But hey, gotta have that noise because that obviously makes a difference (0-4 at home in the WS).

But I heard the players (Astros) prefer it closed.

As for the Texans, yeah, the stadium concept was flawed from the beginning. I believe the Texans did want it more open, but the rodeo didn't, so they came up with that design. Should have just made it a dome at that point.

I remember the Pittsburgh game where we thought we'd make the Steelers wear black, open the roof in September to have the sun blaring down on them, to gain some advantage. Big fail, of course, but that game was the most miserable I've ever been at any sporting event. You'd burn your arm just putting it on the arm rest. I moved to the south end zone where the sun never shines the following season. That's when they came up with their 80-50 BS that they never seemed to follow from the get go.

Odd that Houston has 2 retractable roof stadiums and in big nationally televised games, our overhead shots of the stadium suck because the damn roofs are closed.

I sorta get it with the Texans for noon games, because even when it's not that hot, the north end zone is looking straight into the sun for most of the game. It is a little difficult to see. But night games, even 3:00 games, the sun isn't an issue at all. No reason to have it closed.

But like someone has said up thread, I don't go to games to look at the sky, I'm there to watch a football game. In baseball though, the roof can actually have an effect on the game.

And the crowd noise thing? I've heard it ear shattering loud with the roof open at NRG before.

BTW, last open roof game at NRG - November 30, 2014.
 
I was all for the open roof until my section (500 level above the Bullpen endzone) became a furnace on Noon starts in the early months. In the early years they would often open the roof. There would literally be empty seats all around us until after halftime when the sun would move away.

Houston is the hottest, most humid place that I’ve ever lived and having an open roof stadium is not practical for typical NFL start times.

BTW, it can be brutal here in Tampa Bay on Sundays but it’s not like Houston. You have the 3 digit heat, humidity and air pollution on top of that.
 
Hookem Horns said:
I was all for the open roof until my section (500 level above the Bullpen endzone) became a furnace on Noon starts in the early months. In the early years they would often open the roof. There would literally be empty seats all around us until after halftime when the sun would move away.

Houston is the hottest, most humid place that I’ve ever lived and having an open roof stadium is not practical for typical NFL start times.

BTW, it can be brutal here in Tampa Bay on Sundays but it’s not like Houston. You have the 3 digit heat, humidity and air pollution on top of that.
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That Steelers game in 2005 was brutal I am glad they don't open it anymore.
 
It was simply a bad idea and came about in an atmosphere of denial about who "we" are. Houston is not a place that's fit for open air stadiums most of the year. The next owner of any sport who says something about a retractable roof needs to have this explained to him with a number of four letter words thrown in for emphasis. Not just "No" but "Hell No"
 
texanhead08 said:
That Steelers game in 2005 was brutal I am glad they don't open it anymore.
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I was there, as well. I remember the Steelers had brought their own benches, which had air conditioning built into them. The Texas were sitting on metal benches. And then the entire north end of the stadium was a frying pan.

I was also there for the season when the roof was damaged by a storm and stayed open all season. There was a Monday night game and the temperature dropped, so a northern wind was blowing in and freezing us out in the upper sections of the south end (Gridiron, TX represent!).

All in all, it was a dumb idea. Houston is a coastal city not far removed from being a swamp, and the consistent humidity alone should have mandated a closed stadium be built for noise and lots of sweet, sweet air conditioning. They knew that in the 1960's when they built the Astrodome, but somehow forgot that basic fact when the built NRG.

Now it's just a useless sunroof and a monument to the hubris of some engineers and marketing execs.
 
Why don't they just open it for the night games then? Sunday night was beautiful, would have liked to seen it open. Even one or two days a year would be cool
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
A $48 million sunroof. If the point was to try to have the loudest stadium in the League, the roof should have been domed and constructed of metal, not fabric, and each level of the overhangs closer towards the field as they would basically act as noise catchers, deflecting the noise from below back toward the center of the field. Just like the ill-advised grass field and the poor sun orientation of the stadium, the brilliant NRG architects when conceiving the roof essentially created an expensive nondurable sound-absorbing umbrella. At least they didn't opt for a better sound containing/reflective clear plexiglass player/fan-frying material like their city predecessors. :toropalm:
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thank goodness they spared no expense on a great playing surface!!:kitten:
 
TexansBull said:
We will build another stadium in 5-10 years. The sooner we win a Super Bowl the sooner we will get a new stadium.
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Um No. They would renovate NRG. There is no need for a new stadium anytime soon. Texans get plenty of revenue from the stadium. I could see them building a dedicated Practice facility.
 
Mr.Scarface said:
Um No. They would renovate NRG. There is no need for a new stadium anytime soon. Texans get plenty of revenue from the stadium. I could see them building a dedicated Practice facility.
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The short life of an NFL stadium

NFL teams are demanding and getting new homes much quicker than in the past.
money.cnn.com

Interesting article on the average life of an NFL stadium.

I wonder if Cal wants to play in the house his dad built, or the house he will build? Eventually everyone wants a house of their own.
 
usernameJJ said:
Why don't they just open it for the night games then? Sunday night was beautiful, would have liked to seen it open. Even one or two days a year would be cool
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That I agree with, the afternoon games the heat can be pretty ridiculous but night games really shouldn't be an issue. If they can open the thing in Arizona, they can open it here.
 
The idea of the retractable was a bad idea. The 8' square grass trays were a bad idea.

There is zero airflow in the stadium when the roof is open and the north end of the field can become unbearably hot even with mild temperatures.
The sun never hit the grass trays on the south side of the stadium and rotating the grass trays was too much of a problem.
Cloak is right in regards to the fabric roof absorbing sound. The Dome was loud because the roof is hard and sound waves bounce back into the stadium.

One curious byproduct of the open roof was the arching shadow it would create across the field. Punters used this to their advantage and would intentionally aim the punts where the ball would come out the shadows and into the sharp shadow line of the sun making it difficult for the returner to see the ball.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
A $48 million sunroof. If the point was to try to have the loudest stadium in the League, the roof should have been domed and constructed of metal, not fabric, and each level of the overhangs closer towards the field as they would basically act as noise catchers, deflecting the noise from below back toward the center of the field. Just like the ill-advised grass field and the poor sun orientation of the stadium, the brilliant NRG architects when conceiving the roof essentially created an expensive nondurable sound-absorbing umbrella. At least they didn't opt for a better sound containing/reflective clear plexiglass player/fan-frying material like their city predecessors. :toropalm:
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How did the architects get it so wrong?
 
thunderkyss said:
What time? I want to say it's always open when I drive by.
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Morning, afternoon, doesn't matter. And like I said, I do see it 2-3 times a week, whether driving north on 288 or passing right by it on 610, for the last 4 years at least. It's never open.

Used to be open during the week back when they had grass inside, but no more.
 
The Cardinals open State Farm stadium here when the weather is nice day or night. During the day it’s a huge issue for the first hour, the glare is unbearable. After an hour it’s fine but that first hour, geesh.

I seem to recall the Texans opened it for a PITT game and it boiled some fans alive, LOL, maybe that ended it.....
 
While the retractable roof doesn’t work well for us... it -is- a major reason why the NFL granted us a NFL franchise. With that being said... I don’t think it was a wasteful expense (48m).

We simply didn’t know how bad it was going to be. I mean... it’s the first retractable roof stadium the NFL has ever had. I think we’ve learned a lot since then.
 
Texanmike02 said:
If you think that's disappointing... don't watch the Denver game
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Pretty sad when it feels like a road game in your home stadium. And that's happening a lot more often these last few years. I guess that's the result of turning the fanbase apathetic.
 
Speedy said:
Pretty sad when it feels like a road game in your home stadium. And that's happening a lot more often these last few years. I guess that's the result of turning the fanbase apathetic.
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But will ownership ever see that with every game still being a sellout and seats filled on game days? I think not and not sure they would care
 
JB said:
But will ownership ever see that with every game still being a sellout and seats filled on game days? I think not and not sure they would care
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Thats the problem. They don’t care. Yeah, they sellout every game but the seats are far from filled. And those that are are becoming more and more of the opposing teams fans.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m starting to care less and less. I’m at a point where I’m considering dropping my tickets which I never thought I would.

I can’t make it to all the games anymore, sometimes I don’t even want to go, and some games I can’t even give my tickets away.

And since the stadium is packed more and more with opposing teams fans, I think it’s safe to say I’m not the only one feeling this way.

And be sure that after another division championship that ticket prices will go up again. Mine are about to triple what they were in 2002. I know some already have.
 
Speedy said:
Thats the problem. They don’t care. Yeah, they sellout every game but the seats are far from filled. And those that are are becoming more and more of the opposing teams fans.
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They sell out for the most part by May 1st, and the few remaining single seats by July. I know that there are times that season ticket holders can't attend, but sometimes I do wonder how many brokers own PSLs.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m starting to care less and less. I’m at a point where I’m considering dropping my tickets which I never thought I would.
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I am going to hold on to mine, but wonder if my kids will do likewise.

I can't make it to all the games anymore, sometimes I don’t even want to go, and some games I can’t even give my tickets away.
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I was somewhat lucky this year and was able to attend 6, including the two preseason games without a schedule conflict.

And since the stadium is packed more and more with opposing teams fans, I think it’s safe to say I’m not the only one feeling this way.
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Battle Red confused me on Sunday, since orange is close. The first roaring cheer I heard turned out to be the Bronco fans. They definitely showed up!

And be sure that after another division championship that ticket prices will go up again. Mine are about to triple what they were in 2002. I know some already have.
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Has it been two or three seasons in franchise history that ticket prices didn't increase? I'm in the endzone, if memory is correct, My first ticket was $44. Now they are $115.50.

All in all, I will hang in there until the end, but I can't say there aren't games that my enthusiasm isn't challenged. The first 11 seats in my row are still PSLs fans since the beginning.

I will never forget the game against Pittsburgh when it felt like the temperature in the North End Zone was 120. I stayed in the concourse area, and saw fans that literally looked as though they had come in from a heavy rain shower without an umbrella. Brutal!
 
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Retractable roof was another what 300 million? At least we could pre-film lady Gaga jumping from the open roof for the super bowl. I love football when it is played outside, especially when the weather is nice.
 
StarStruck said:
My first ticket was $44. Now they are $115.50.
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I'm in the endzone as well. (Sec. 525) My first season was the first playoff season. My tickets were $55~ per seat. This year they were/are $88.50 per.
StarStruck said:
temperature in the North End Zone was 120
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I don't care if they ever open the roof again. Wife and I spent the game watching from the concourse tunnel the last time the roof was open. Like you mentioned, it was HAWT!!!
 
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