We interrupt Earl's novel with this relatively unimportant news...

...Houston 1836 won the MLS Championship today.

Yes, I know that everyone else refers to the club as the Houston Dynamo, but it's original name was Houston 1836, before a local group of cynical, race-baiting politicians claimed that the name was somehow racist to Mexican-Americans because it referred not only to the date in which the city of Houston was founded, but also to the date of the Battle of San Jacinto, which solidified Texas' independence from Mexico.

It should be noted that the city of Houston was named after the general who won that battle, Sam Houston. So, if any reference to the battle is offensive, why haven't they called for a change to the name of the city, hmm?

How the history of Texas is racist and offensive to Mexican-Americans, who presumably live in America because they want to, is an opinion that one can only hold if they are either:

A) Ignorant, racist peons who value their personal heritage over the objective history of the land they live in.

B) Cynical politicians, such as Sylvia Garcia, who can only maintain political office by appealing to the base prejudices of some of their constiuents, and through the use of dishonest appeals to a twisted and historically ignorant (see A) sense of political correctness, something we at DOUI, who generally strive to be non-political, have little tolerance for...though I speak for myself primarily in this matter.

C) Cynical sports franchise owners who are willing to abandon the fan base that innocently named the team based on the history of the city, and who are willing to abandon that history itself, and who are willing to rename the franchise a name that was the name of the KGB supported club in the Soviet Union, the KGB being that lovely instiution of Soviet government that assisted in the murder of millions, and the imprisonment of millions more. If I were a Russian American, I'd slap the GM of the Houston franchise with a wet noodle.

Of course, most Mexican-Americans understand this and were not a party to Ms. Garza's ridiculous, disgraceful campaign. I imagine many of them were embarrassed by her ignorance and self-serving hypocrisy, but that's a politician for you.

So, you will never hear me refer to the club as that other name, if I can at all help it, and I will never support them. I was pulling for New England today, a franchise that clearly has a fine sense of history and pride in that history.

1836 won today as far as I'm concerned. Houston had some fine players and a good season. I'm sure old Sam Houston would have been proud, if he could stomach the current totalitarian nickname of the franchise, which I sure he wouldn't.

Quite frankly though, the players and coaches aside, it's more than the rest deserve. As long as they keep that loathsome name, I hope they never win another one.

Rant concluded... but I hate it when football and politics mix, and I have no respect for those who mingle the two deliberately.