The Houston Astros won 7-3 over the Kansas City Royals Monday night, maintaining their winning streak and their place at the top of the American League.
So surprising is the team’s massive success that it has some long-time fans waiting for the other shoe to drop.
“I’m a Houston sports fan, so I know that disappointment is always around the corner,” says Craig Hlavaty, who covers pop culture for the Houston Chronicle. “They could win the World Series and we would still wonder if we were being punked.”
Yet, what may be getting Astros fans going more than the team’s accomplishments, is their conspicuously new fans.
“I think when we started winning I started getting a little aggravated when I started seeing people who I recognized wearing Cubs hats last year now wearing Astros hats,” Hlavaty says. “And I say welcome aboard, but please be respectful of the people who were here when they were only winning 50 games a year.”
Hlavaty says you can spot a bandwagoner by their crisp, mustard-stain-less Astros gear and their lack of childlike excitement over the return of the team’s beloved green alien mascot, Orbit.
But as long as bandwagoners have respect for the fans who’ve stuck around, Hlavaty thinks a win for the Astros would be a win for the whole city.
“We lost the Oilers, we got the Texans back, we’ve had glory with the Rockets,” Hlavaty says. “If the Astros were to do this it would really just cap off, I think, a lot of things for people.”
Written by Lila Weatherly.
The sixth annual ATX Television Festival kicks off Thursday, where fans of the medium will gather at different venues around Austin for a weekend full of screenings, Q&As with writers and actors and even series reunions.
The festival features cast and crew from popular shows such as “Alias” and “Girls,” as well as a nine-person panel for the “Battlestar Galactica” reunion, which will be presented with Entertainment Weekly and Syfy.
Co-creators Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson founded the festival to celebrate the past, present and future of television, in the same way that other mediums are often honored.
“I think people understand film and music festivals,” McFarland says. “You have to come to our television festival to really understand that it is essentially the television community come to life for a few days.”
She says television has the advantage of time. Since series often air over several years, viewers have the unique opportunity to grow with the characters.
“You know, a movie, at the most you’ve got maybe three hours, and then there may be sequels or what not, but some of these shows have hundreds of hours,” McFarland says. “And the amount of time you spend with these characters and these stories, they really do inform who you are potentially.”
The festival aims to not only attract fans of television, but support those who hope to have a future in the industry. Ten finalists from the “pitch competition” will have the opportunity to pitch their television ideas live to top producers in the field.
McFarland and Gipson are both from Texas, and hope the festival specifically supports fellow natives.
“My hope is that people, especially Texans – because we try to really represent Texas productions and things like that, and work to bring more productions to Texas – come check it out,” McFarland says.
Written by Lila Weatherly.
