Live it! It's Time! (To) Get Red!

As a younger kid watching the championship years, the Rockets organizations would come up with crowd-pleasing, catchy slogans, usually designed to promote the upcoming season. You can't help but picture those bright yellow signs that say "Believe It" and of course the sequel, "Believe It Again". Maybe the most famous and my personal favorite is "Clutch City". "Clutch City" was an actual response to the "Choke City" title we earned by blowing 20-point leads in two consecutive home games against Barkley's Suns and maybe for that reason it has stuck to a certain extent. It is more of our nickname than our slogan.

Now, I take strong pride in our organization's themes. This year is no different. “GET RED!” I love it. This is more than a slogan this year; it is a call for action. It is an attempt to unify this city’s sports fans and make Houston's color Rockets’ Red.

It is no longer an opinion to say Houston fans have been disloyal as a whole. Seats have been empty for years. IF you go to a game, the only cheers you hear are during the timeouts when the free stuff goes flying, and the only discussions going around are "trade this" or "blame that" or "The Spurs are better."

Maybe last year's "It's time" slogan was a bit premature. It would’ve been right, but people did not believe it and probably considered it business propaganda. The year before offered a little bit less confidence and asked fans to "Live it". I liked this, and adhered to it, but it wasn't for the city. It was nothing measurable, and I have a feeling if it were, it would be a huge failure.

This year slogan paints a beautiful picture: different but just as rewarding as those championship years. The Toyota Center packed seat to seat in a sea of Red, rowdy fans booing and yelling at the top of their lungs, and a sense that everyone knows what’s going on. In fact, maybe we can use the early timeouts to rest our legs or get food? Imagine a 4th quarter with MORE people than the 3rd quarter. Imagine a tip off as loud as a fourth quarter buzzer beater. I love this year's slogan.

Submitted by Earnie Banks