Biggest "Waiting on Pins & Needles" Feelings in Houston Sports

Summary

Payne & Pendergast — "Biggest 'Waiting on Pins & Needles' Feelings in Houston Sports"
July 17, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast dive into the most nail-biting, anxiety-filled moments that Houston sports fans have experienced: when beloved athletes’ futures were uncertain and the city waited on "pins and needles." Whether it’s a superstar free agent, a franchise-changing trade, or a dramatic off-field saga, they recount the gut-wrenching anticipation that has defined pivotal moments for the Texans, Astros, and Rockets. Frequent guest Cole Thompson joins for this lively trip down memory lane, and the crew discusses everything from LeBron James’ latest NBA decision to infamous local sports impasses.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Fanatics Fest and The LeBron James Watch

[01:30–04:36]

• Fanatics Fest Recap: The team discusses Fanatics Fest, noting past viral moments (ex: Kevin Durant’s trade announcement) and Houston connections.

• LeBron’s Hold Over the NBA: LeBron’s impending free agency has the basketball world, and cities like Cleveland, Golden State, Miami, and Philadelphia, in suspense—he’s holding up not just teams but even the NBA Christmas schedule.

• LeBron’s Current Value: At age 41/42, LeBron still “holds the league hostage,” despite being less than his peak but retaining “marquee value.”

  Quote:

  "They're kind of being held hostage. And to a degree, basketball is being held hostage by LeBron right now."
  — Cole Thompson [03:05]

2. Houston's Own "Pins & Needles" Moments

[04:54–09:30]

Chris Bosh's Free Agency (2014)

• Bosh nearly joined the Rockets, only to "do what every fan would hope for and decide to stay home in Miami." Rockets fans had braced for his arrival; the letdown was major.

  Quote:

  "It was all set up to be the perfect landing spot for Chris Bosh... Instead, he’s staying, and he's going to be with those laggards in Miami."
  — Seth Payne [05:29]

Astros Player Departures in the Jim Crane Era

• The hosts reflect on moments where it felt like Houston could (or should) re-sign a star, including Alex Bregman, Justin Verlander, George Springer, Carlos Correa, and Garrett Cole.

• The sense: Unlike other franchises, the Astros never truly left fans in major suspense except for instances like Verlander's short-lived free agency.

  Quote:

  "The signature of the Jim Crane era... None of us really felt like any of these guys were coming back."
  — Cole Thompson [07:14]

Carlos Beltran's Departure (2005)

• A classic example: Beltran leaving after the 2004 playoff run. The wait felt endless, and Houston made a rich offer, but he declined.

  Quote:

  "In my mind it was like that he held on until, like, February or March... The Astros made a really respectable offer to Carlos Beltran back then. They offered him a record deal, and he just said no."
  — Seth Payne [09:06–09:22]

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3. Texans History: Franchise-Defining Drama

[11:02–16:14]

Jadeveon Clowney Tag & Trade Saga

• Clowney’s situation—with the franchise tag and Bill O'Brien’s trading shenanigans—gets a thorough revisit.

• The Texans’ habit: trading prime players for surprisingly meager returns.

  Quote:

  "It would have been like Clowney walking in, signing the franchise tag, and then three goons come in and kidnap him and take him off to Miami."
  — Seth Payne [11:54]

• Notably, the Chiefs didn’t even know Clowney was available as a trade target—an example of Houston’s cloaked decision-making under O’Brien.

Deshaun Watson’s Off-Field Saga and Trade

• The Watson saga held the fan base hostage in a different way—the “suspended animation” of his playing status, possible criminal charges, and the eventual massive trade package.

• The hosts reflect on how surreal it felt watching Watson at practice as a scout-team DB, every day, every camera on him, as the city waited for resolution.

  Quote:

  "That entire season...I would have dealt him off for so much less just because of the stress level and the weirdness and everything...him being out there wearing a penny as a scout team defensive back in training camp was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen at a football [field]."
  — Seth Payne [15:19]

  Quote:

  "You want the answer to your question? Hit Twitter right now. Yeah. Go see the retweets. I promise you, you're going to find out."
  — Cole Thompson [16:14]
  (on Watson’s viral training camp moment)

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4. Houston Rockets and LeBron’s Free Agency Odds

[16:14–16:57]

• The Rockets odds for signing LeBron? In the “100 to 1” group—far from favorites, grouped with lottery teams like the Wizards and Pistons, generating a resigned laugh from the crew.

  Quote:

  "I feel good about our chances. I say, you're saying there's a chance?"
  — Cole Thompson [16:54]
  (deadpan referencing the famous Dumb & Dumber line)

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Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On Cleveland Fans’ LeBron Fatigue:

  "They're always so miserable about something."
  — Seth Payne [03:12]

• On Chris Bosh’s Decision:

  "Mike made the very good point. It's like, hey, don't we as sports fans want our guys to stick around and be committed and be loyal?”
  — Seth Payne [06:07]

• On Trade Strategy under Bill O’Brien:

  "He had no problem scratching out these massive draft choice checks to get guys in...and then he'd send guys out...and they'd be at thrift store prices."
  — Cole Thompson [12:25]

---

Timeline of Important Segments

| Timestamp | Topic / Segment | |------------|-------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:30–04:36| Fanatics Fest; LeBron James “holding the NBA hostage” | | 04:54–09:30| Houston’s most nerve-wracking free agency/trade moments | | 11:02–16:14| Texans sagas: Clowney’s tag & trade, the Deshaun Watson saga| | 16:14–16:57| LeBron’s free agency odds; Rockets’ hopes (or lack thereof) |

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Tone & Style Highlights

• Conversational & Sarcastic: The hosts maintain their signature blend of insider analysis and tongue-in-cheek wit (e.g., “three goons come in and kidnap him…” / “saying there’s a chance?”).
• Relatable & Candid: Open reflection on fan emotions ("the stress level and the weirdness…” / “that was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen at a football [field]”).
• Local Focus: Consistently centered around Houston teams and their unique relationship with fans.

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Concluding Thoughts

This episode is a must-listen for Houston sports diehards, as it explores not just the facts of big transactions, but the fraught emotions that make “pins and needles” moments so memorable. Whether dissecting the wisdom of ownership or commiserating over past heartbreaks (hello, Beltran!), Payne, Pendergast, and Thompson tap into the specific anxieties that have shaped Houston’s sporting identity.

Transcript

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[Cole Thompson]

So we've got, we've got Fanatics Fest going on right now. Is Cole Thompson in studio with Seth and I today and on Monday, as you pointed out earlier, Cole, you talked about the video of Cody Rhodes making

[Sports Analyst Seth]

that a fanatics fest.

[Cole Thompson]

That was a fanatics fest. Yeah. So I think this is the second one. I think, I think the first one was last year and the Houston tie to the first one was that the Kevin Durant trade literally came down while Kevin Durant was on stage stage with them at Fanatics. That's doing an interview. Didn't somebody ask him a question? He couldn't respond because of it hadn't gone official for the new league. I think that's what it was. Yeah, I think that's what it was. So then they, it was like a stand up interview he did and then he did a sit down interview on the stage up there and I think he started talking a little more openly about it because it had been Reported by that at that point that the trade was going down.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

The first One was in 2024, which was notable because C.J. stroud was involved in it. Oh, we got a lot of CJ Stroud content.

[Cole Thompson]

So we're on number three. Three. And the content is the thing like when I. When I saw the dates, I like. Oh, we. We've gotten some good stuff from Fanatics Fest. Yeah, we haven't really gotten anything like earth shaking yet. The big thing that was being anticipated yesterday was LeBron James did a sit down, I think, with Tyrese Halliburton. I think he was sitting down with. I knew it was somebody from the Pacers. And I think a lot of folks, especially in cities that are anticipating LeBron James possibly being on their team, which I think is kind of whittled down to Cleveland, we know he's not going back to the Lakers. Cleveland, Golden State, Miami and Philly feel like the four leaders in the clubhouse. You would say Philly. Philly, six to one. Okay.

[Oregon Lottery Announcer]

Yeah.

[Cole Thompson]

They're so. They're on the fringe. I'm just looking at the odds. And I listen. Seth knows this. I listen. I like the guys in Cleveland on our sister station up there.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

They're always so miserable about something.

[Cole Thompson]

It's a fun listen.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

We got to listen. We got to listen to them talk themselves into James Harden being a clutch playoff. Yeah.

[Cole Thompson]

Yeah. And we played it on the year.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

This is the year he's gonna a clean Kershaw it all around. Yeah.

[Cole Thompson]

I've not pulled any audio from those two guys. Yeah. Yes. Ken Carman and Anthony Lime are the two guys I'm talking about. They do a great job. But I was listening in on them on the way in this morning. And right now, the big story up there is when is LeBron James going to make his decision? Which is something they've been through multiple times now up in Cleveland. And it's funny to listen. Particularly Ken is just like, wake me up when he makes this decision. We've been through this too many times before of him leaving us on pins and needles. And the three previous times, it's only worked out for us once. Once. And that was back in 2014. So they're kind of being held hostage. And to a degree, basketball is being held hostage by LeBron right now. Cause Adam Silver said this yesterday also that he would like LeBron to make his decision. Cause we got a schedule that we need to make. You know, they.

[LinkedIn Ad Voice]

They.

[Cole Thompson]

They got to make their Christmas schedule because LeBron is for sure gonna play on Christmas, you know, they. We need to know who he's gonna play for, so we know how to sequence and stack some of the national games and things like that. So I find it fascinating. We'll get to the Houston angle on this in a second. But I find this fascinating that at age, what, 41, 42 now, LeBron's still capable of holding the league hostage.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

But it's also fascinating because if you made the equivalent, like, okay, he's. He's also being treated as if. Like, he's the mediocre quarterback who needs circumstances to be just right. So, like. Like, you know that, yeah, you can win a championship with him, but, guys, circumstances got to be just right.

[Cole Thompson]

He's at that stage.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

He's not quite the guy he used to be.

[Cole Thompson]

Yeah, he is at that stage now. He is marquee value, though, man. He is marquee value. So I just. In listening in on Cleveland, like, ah, these poor bastards got to go through this with LeBron again. And I. I got to thinking about it as I'm driving in. I'm like, when were the times, Seth? When were the. When is the biggest time you can think of? When you. Since you and I have been doing this show together? Or maybe even before. Maybe.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Yeah, before it was. Chris Bosch is the one. I'm. Put Chris Bosch in there, because that was the one where we were really. I mean, look, the Astros went away and traded away what's his face there? The Roc.

[LinkedIn Ad Voice]

Yeah.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

What did I say? The Astros. Yeah, okay, sorry. Like, it was all set up to be, like, the perfect landing spot for Chris Bosh. And then Chris Bosh did, annoyingly, what every fan would hope for is he decided to stay. He decided to stay home in Miami. Like in Meltzer. Shut me down hardcore on that one, because I. I was lambasting for Chris Bosh for not wanting it. Not wanting it enough that if you wanted another championship, he could come to Houston. Instead, he's staying, and he's going to be with those laggards in Miami.

[Cole Thompson]

LeBron. What did I say?

[Sports Analyst Seth]

LeBron. Boston.

[Cole Thompson]

No, no, no, no, no, no.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

That was after LeBron.

[Cole Thompson]

LeBron left. That same.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

No, that was.

[Carl's Jr. Spokesperson]

It was.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Yeah. Everything had been dismantled. And so I was saying, look, if you want to. If you really want it, come to Houston. And Mike made the very good point. It's like, hey, don't we as sports fans want our guys to stick around and be committed and be loyal?

[Cole Thompson]

And you said, stop making such good points.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Yeah, I said, go to law did.

[Cole Thompson]

Bosh is a Good one. I guess, to me, just thinking recently here, to me, the reason I love this topic about LeBron and cities and cities being held hostage or the emotions being toyed with with fans, you know, kind of having them on a string, is that I think of the Astros in the Jim Crane era, and I had a hard time thinking, now, you brought this up during the break set, that maybe, you know, maybe Bregman, when they kind of came in, they swooped in at the last second with a. With an offer for Bregman that was competitive.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

And I would say there was a certain portion of the fan base on pins and needles that really wanted him back. I was. A lot of people did, actually. I felt like I was in the minority for saying, like, no, we're not. We're not just going to kowtow to your every little wish and win. Yeah.

[Carl's Jr. Spokesperson]

Yeah.

[Cole Thompson]

I mean, it's. He's got good memories of Alex Bregman, so it's so. So I guess Bregman kind of fits that to me. Like, the signature of the Jim Crane era, though, is that we really didn't go through a lot of that because none of us really felt like any of these guys were coming back. Yeah, you know, Garrett. Garrett Cole leaves that. That one's a little different. Just because I feel like a lot of people were like, yeah, get the hell out of here with your. Scott Boris. Remember what happened in 2019. I'll represent myself. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So. But. But we knew. But. But I. But if they had resigned, it might have been cool with it. Garrett Cole, George Springer, I don't think they made offers to all these guys, but I think the fan base, by and large, in these instances, you know, Carlos Correa, after the 2021 season, the biggest one for me of that era is probably Justin Verlander 2022, because I think the Astros would love to have brought Verlander back. And I think they were. My hunches, from everything I've heard is that they were competitive with what the Mets offered Verlander. And I remember being disappointed. I remember feel. I remember at least feeling with. Like, with Verlander after the World Series in 20 when he went to the Mets, that the Astros had more than a puncher's chance to keep him, in part because Justin Verlander feels like he's in that Jose Altuve category where Jim Crane. Well, I think we saw that when they traded for him. Like, Jim Crane will do whatever is reasonable to try to still have Justin Verlander as long as he's still pitching at a high level on his baseball team.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

The. The Jose Abreu. It's funny, in my mind, I wanted to check the date on Jose Abreu and when he left in 2005.

[Cole Thompson]

Carlos Beltran.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Oh, my gosh. What did I say? I was okay with him leaving. I was okay with him leaving. I think Carlos Beltran, when he left, it ended up being. It was January 9th.

[Cole Thompson]

Yeah.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

In my mind, it was like that he. That he held on until, like, February or March.

[Cole Thompson]

That was a long time back then, though.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

It was. Yeah. The hot stove league was actually a hot stove.

[Cole Thompson]

Different. Yeah. Yeah. The free agency was a lot more like. Like, football, like back then. So that.

[LinkedIn Ad Voice]

That.

[Cole Thompson]

That probably did feel like a long time and.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

And back. And the Astros made a really respectable offer to Carlos Beltran back then. They offered him a record deal, and he just said no.

[LinkedIn Ad Voice]

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[Sports Analyst Seth]

See you later.

[Cole Thompson]

Yep.

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[Sports Analyst Seth]

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[Sports Analyst Seth]

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[Sports Analyst Seth]

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[Sports Analyst Seth]

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[Sports Analyst Seth]

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[Cole Thompson]

can I present one to you? Because he wasn't technically a free agent, but there was a lot of conversation with him. Yeah. Jadavian Clowney. Because they franchise tagged him.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Oh. Oh, yeah.

[Carl's Jr. Spokesperson]

Yeah.

[Cole Thompson]

That's a good one.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Yeah. Ryan tried to Dupe him into a trade to the Dolphins.

[Cole Thompson]

Yeah, reset that, Seth. For those who don't know the o' Brien thing, Clowney.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Clowney very adroitly understood that. Look, once he signed that franchise tag, he didn't have any leverage at all, right? And o' Brien was saying, hey, listen, we can't do anything until he comes in and signs his franchise tag. And it would turn out later, we would find that they had a deal all ready to go to send him to the Miami Dolphins. And it would have been like, it's. It would have been like Clowney walking and walking in, signing the franchise tag, and then three goons come in and kidnap him and take him off to Miami.

[Cole Thompson]

Yeah, they put him in the room.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Clowney ended up being like, understanding his leverage and what he, what he was going to do with it. And that was like, that was yet another one of these trades that on the surface of it, look, you can say the Clowney trade made sense if you look at it from a certain angle. The Hopkins trade, I could make an argument for that. It was the sum total of all those things. Like you had to bend over backwards for all those guys to figure out. Like, just, no, you're not going to consistently make these weird deals and have it work out for you.

[Cole Thompson]

Well, the big thing about it was that with o' Brien was that in the deals where they were getting draft picks, he. He completely undershot on those. And on the deals where they're trading picks out, yeah, Tunsil being the most notable, but a third round pick for Gary and Conley, like a third round pick for Duke Johnson, like he had no problem scratching out these massive draft choice checks to get guys in the building. And then he'd send guys out of the building and he'd get next. He'd. They'd be a thrift store prices.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Well, remember, the big story with, with Clowney was that like you trade him away and people forget because Clowney wasn't like. Because he didn't end up doing all that electrifyingly great afterwards. Everything people thought, oh, that was a good deal. No, Clowney was coming off of a really good year. But the big thing was nobody knew that he was even a potential trade piece.

[Cole Thompson]

Right.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

That was the year the Chiefs had traded Frank Clark. Frank Clark for a pretty healthy sum

[Cole Thompson]

d Ford and someone else, wasn't it?

[Sports Analyst Seth]

The chief said afterwards that they didn't even know that Clowney was an option. Yeah, you know, like, so they waited and dragged it out. They kind of pulled the Jerry Jones Yeah. And they got a future draft pick. And it was just. Yeah, it was a. It was. Every deal was just a little lopsided in the wrong direction.

[Cole Thompson]

This is one that I put in the rundown, guys that. That a listener points out says in a different way. We were held hostage for a period of time by Deshaun Watson because you could. I'm guessing that that's all the text.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Kidnapping was never an allegation. He did not kidnap anybody.

[Cole Thompson]

That we know there are other things. Yeah, but. No, no kidnapping.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

But.

[Cole Thompson]

But desean was. I mean, obviously the legal issue. Yet you had to get. Really. As we learned, the only thing you needed to get resolved was whether or not there were going to be criminal charges because Cleveland and three other teams had no problem offering trades for a guy with 24 civil lawsuits. I would say this is the reason I put Watson in the rundown for this wasn't because of being held hostage for that one weird season where he was inactive every week. It was the anticipation of who's he going to get traded to? What are we going to get for him? I can't. We. Seth, you and I had countless hypotheticals.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Oh yeah.

[Cole Thompson]

Once the criminal charges were or once the. Once he was absolved of doing anything criminal and we knew who the teams were. Countless hypotheticals of this player, that player and these three first round picks that kind of.

[Carl's Jr. Spokesperson]

Oh, no.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Yeah. It got to the point where like in. When people got some disenchantments to it, they realized that was a real haul. But so many people had speculated that they might get five first round picks for deshaun Watson or something really absurd that like in the moment, people. Some people thought it was a great deal for the Texans, like with time. Yeah, pretty much unanimously people said, okay, that's. That is a really, really good haul. Especially when desean Watson ended up being

[Cole Thompson]

a horrible quarterback and one of those picks turned into Will Anderson Jr. Yep. You know, like it's. I mean, the Texas, you know. No.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

But. Yeah. That whole. No talking about being on pins and needles though that entire season. Ye. I felt like I was very open about it at the time and I still am. I would have. I would have dealt him off for so much less than they would. Would have gotten for him just because of the stress level and the weirdness and everything. It was strange, man. Him being out there wearing a penny as a scout team defensive back in training camp was one of the weirdest things I've ever seen at a football.

[Cole Thompson]

That was the. That was the. Okay, we are so far down this rabbit hole now, like, we are you to. You know, like, we're in a really weird place. When I saw him in that shower

[Sports Analyst Seth]

cap in training camp where they would film him every day coming out at practice.

[Cole Thompson]

Yeah.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

And it was the same thing every day.

[Cole Thompson]

Yeah.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

And then the one day he said, why are y' all filming? It's the same thing every day. He got his answer immediately because that went viral. That was like, this is why we're filming. For the moment, you ask, why are we doing this? Yes.

[Cole Thompson]

You want the answer to your question? Hit Twitter right now. Yeah. Go see the retweets. I promise you, you're not. You're going to find out. Yep. Yep. All right, Pain and pender gas with you. Cole Thompson in studio with us here today. All right, coming, by the way, the favorite for LeBron, just to put to close the book on LeBron and. And I don't know when this announcement's going to come from LeBron. They were hoping for it yesterday at Fanatics Fest. Cleveland is even money right now. Warriors 3 to 1, Heat 4 to 1, Sixers 6 to 1. If you're wondering where the Rockets are on the list, Rockets are in a group that includes the Milwaukee Bucks, the Washington Wizards, the Detroit Pistons, the Thunder, the Raptors, and the Suns. At 100 to 1, I feel good about our chances. I say, you're saying there's a chance?

[Sports Analyst Seth]

I say, oh, yeah. But by the way, Sean, Yeah. The CJ did a bunch of stuff with Michael Rubin in Fanatics, but not the inaugural fan.

[Cole Thompson]

I think that.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

Yeah, I thought the inaugural was in 2024, but it was in August.

[Cole Thompson]

Okay, gotcha, gotcha.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

But remember, that's where he had been doing, like, the. The whites party and everything. First off season for him. That was all that Michael Rubin stuff.

[Cole Thompson]

Gotcha, gotcha. All right. Pain and pender gas with you. All right, coming up next, proof that even the most famous athletes are not as famous as we might think. And also, Seth and Luke Morrow did an exercise earlier this week, one of the days that I was out, that I am taking great offense to the. To the data in this particular study that was done here.

[Sports Analyst Seth]

It's not a good look for you.

[Cole Thompson]

Yeah, it's a bad look for me, and I don't like bad looks for me. We'll do that coming up next.

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[Cole Thompson]

Hey, it's Jen Hatmaker. Here's what I've learned in midlife. Joy isn't the reward you earn after all the work is done. Joy is the work. That's what this new series on for the Love is all about. The sacred. Yes, it's choosing delight, rest and pleasure on purpose. Because saying yes to yourself self that's the thing that finally lets you fill your table with everybody else. Come find your sacred yes with me. Follow and listen to for the love wherever you get your podcasts.