Sports World Mourns And Contributes To Houston

In doing my job I attend a lot of games and talk to a lot of people. Sometimes I hear folks say professional athletes make too much money It’s true that some of them make a lot more than star players of the past. This many million, that many million. It seems like an awful, awful lot, But then something tragic happens and they pitch in. Consider the current flooding damage in Houston from Hurricane Harvey and contributions from the sports world.

Leslie Alexander, owner of the Houston Rockets, pledged four mllion on Monday but when he learned how severe the damage was he increased it to $10 million. Mike Trout, the Angels’ star outfielder who isn’t from Houston and plays against the Astros, is giving $27,000 as a reminder that his uniform number is 27. The Lakers have pledged $100,000. Chris Paul, who was an NBA free agent this summer after playing in Los Angeles for six years with the Clippers, chose Houston as his new home and has pledged $75,000. Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt has raised $2 million so far and is continuing his work. Titans owner Amy Adams Strunk, a Houston native, has contributed $1 million to Watts’effort and says “It’s so encouraging to see the nation and the locals come together.”

Hurricane Harvey might shake up the upcoming baseball playoffs. The Houston Astros, a strong World Series contender, were scheduled for a home series when the hurricane arrived. The Astros talked to the Texas Rangers about shifting their series to Dallas and later in the season moving another series between the teams to Houston. But the Rangers didn’t go for the second part of that deal because that would give them 18 road games in 21 days near the end of the season. As a result Houston will be the home team this weekend while playing in St. Petersburg, Florida. In a crisis like this hurricane not every solution is going to satisfy everyone. Some parts of Houston received 50 inches of rain and there have been 15 deaths.