Second Thoughts

Texans can't stomach new restaurant

Ayesha Curry (center), wife of Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, opened a barbecue restaurant in Houston — home of the Warriors’ bitter rival — to less than enthusiastic reviews from Rockets fans.
Ayesha Curry (center), wife of Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, opened a barbecue restaurant in Houston — home of the Warriors’ bitter rival — to less than enthusiastic reviews from Rockets fans.

Ayesha Curry, the entrepreneurial wife of Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry, is expanding her barbecue restaurant business to Houston, and let's just say Rockets fans aren't licking their chops.

The Food Network star and cookbook author partnered with James Beard award-winning chef Michael Mina for a pop-up preview of International Smoke in Houston in late May, when the Warriors were in the midst of their seven-game Western Conference finals victory against the Rockets. Fans of both Texas basketball and BBQ have since inundated the restaurant's Yelp profile with one-star reviews.

International Smoke's Houston locale doesn't open for good until July 5, but Houstonians already have littered its Yelp reviews with Warriors-inspired critiques of snake and cupcake dishes.

It's unclear what Ayesha Curry -- a Californian by way of Canada and North Carolina -- expected when she chose to open a barbecue restaurant in Houston, home to Golden State's most bitter rival and a whole lot of people who don't want San Franciscans telling them how to smoke their meat.

In an effort to clean up this NBA rivalry's mess, Yelp vowed "to remove both positive and negative posts that appear to be motivated more by the news coverage itself than the reviewer's personal consumer experience with the business."

Garbage time

Japan showed why it has the best fans at the World Cup after they stayed behind to clean up the stadium after its victory against Colombia.

The Asian nation earned its first World Cup victory on European soil after edging out their South American opponents 2-1 in a Group H opener.

And the fans celebrated in style by tidying up the ground -- just as they had done during the World Cup in Brazil four years ago.

Supporters took bags with them to the game against Ivory Coast in 2014, and despite losing, stayed to clean up after themselves.

Bull Durham

It was 30 years ago that the film Bull Durham conceptualized the "church of baseball."

The Durham Bulls exist today as the Tampa Bay Rays' Class AAA affiliate in the International League, and one of the most recognizable brands in the minors.

There are some artifacts and references from the movie that are permanent staples at Durham Bulls Athletic Park, including the red-eyed, tail-wagging, smoke-breathing animatronic bull. Though not the original sign from the film, a player and one lucky fan net a gift certificate to the Angus Barn steakhouse if it's struck by a home run.

" 'Hit Bull, Win Steak' is alive and well," said Matt Sutor, Durham's director of marketing and communications. "While it was in right field in the movie, it currently sits above our left-field wall, tucked just inside the left-field foul pole. Every time a Bulls player hits a home run, whether it hits the sign or not, we light the bull."

Sports on 06/21/2018

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