Houston Scrubs Up, But a Stain Remains

It’s Super Bowl time in Houston, and the city is spending millions in an effort to spruce up its image before about 120,000 visitors arrive.

More than 20,000 trees have been planted along highways leading into the center of the city, Associated Press reported. More than 20 tons of trash and debris and 1,300 illegally dumped tires have been removed. Even mold growing atop the roof of the baseball stadium, Minute Maid Park, was cleared.

Now if the city can only figure out a way to get rid of the postseason tarnish of the Astros, who have never won a playoff series.

Trivia time: North Carolina State quarterback Philip Rivers improved his NFL stock Saturday by completing 12 of 19 passes for 213 yards and two touchdowns during the South’s 28-10 victory in the Senior Bowl. Who is the only college quarterback to surpass Rivers’ 13,484 passing yards?

All wet no longer: To understand how far the Carolina Panthers have come since their first season in 1995, Tom Sorensen of the Charlotte Observer noted some of the quirks of their inaugural season.

The Panthers played home games at Clemson University and practiced at Winthrop in Rock Hill, S.C. The bus ride to Clemson was 2 1/2 hours each way, and the team got home more quickly when it played on the road.

“At Winthrop, the showers flooded every time,” tight end Pete Metzelaars told Sorensen. “The weight room was under the stands. It was fun, with the camaraderie and guys that had never been together trying to pull the whole thing together. The road trips and Winthrop weren’t fun. But when you go through things together it brings you closer together.”

Bad omen? Belichick, a 4-year-old colt named after the New England Patriot Coach Bill Belichick, finished third Thursday in a race at Gulfstream Park in Florida.

“He couldn’t handle the winner,” Belichick’s jockey, Vernon Bush, told Associated Press. “But he gave me everything he had.”

Fan unfriendly: Miami Herald columnist Dan Le Batard is miffed that the World Series champion Marlins haven’t even sold 5,000 season tickets.

“The Marlins might be good enough to visit the White House today, but they’re evidently still not quite good enough for you,” Le Batard wrote. “As a fan base, we continue to lead the league in awful. Our baseball team may be the best in the majors, but this town remains minor-league.

“The Angels win the World Series in what has never been a sports town and their base immediately jumps by 8,000 to 21,000. The Red Sox, with by far the most expensive seat in the sport, have a waiting list for season tickets that is longer than Florida’s entire list, period.”

Trivia answer: Brigham Young quarterback Ty Detmer passed for a NCAA-record 15,031 yards from 1988-91.

And finally: An Angel fan worried that the team’s $146-million splurge on free agents might result in increased beer prices recently stopped Angel owner Arte Moreno to inquire about his fear. “I said, ‘No,’ ” Moreno told Associated Press. “ ‘We have to keep our priorities in order.’ ”