Boy it sure was difficult

being a Houston sports fan this past weekend.

The Rockets finally gave up on advancing in the NBA playoffs in spectacular fashion, losing to the Dallas Mavericks by 40 points Saturday night. That set a an NBA record for futility in Game 7s. At times this past season the Rockets were a thrill to watch (when their cobbled-together components jelled, such as in Game 6 when they punished the Mavs). At times I just cringed. Maybe a junkyard dog with three-point range, in the body of a 6-10 power forward, will show up in the free agent pool over the summer.

And the Astros lost to the Atlanta Braves 16-0 Sunday afternoon, running their road losing streak to 11 games. Former Astro Mike Hampton applied the beatdown, throwing a two-hitter and hitting a home run.

(Rocket Clemens outdueled AJ Burnett last night for some payback, but the 'Stros really need to start hitting. Berkman's returned so perhaps we'll see some improvement.)

It was more fun watching -- and then reading -- the post-mortem on the "Worst" Kentucky Derby ever.