The Houston Comets was a Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) team based in Houston, Texas, United States. Formed in 1997, the team was one of the original eight WNBA teams and won the first four championships of the league's existence. The Comets were the first dynasty of the WNBA and won more championships than any other team in the WNBA. The team was folded and disbanded by the league in 2008 because new ownership could not be found.
The Comets was also known for courting great women's basketball stars. The team had among its members Cynthia Cooper (the WNBA's first MVP), college and national team standout Sheryl Swoopes, Kim Perrot, who succumbed to cancer in 1999, and college stars Michelle Snow and Tina Thompson.
The Comets were one of the founding teams in the WNBA. They capped off the league's inaugural season in 1997 with a win over the New York Liberty in the WNBA championship game to win the WNBA's first championship. When the league expanded the next season, the Comets were moved from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference. In 1998, they put together a win loss record of 27-3 for a .900 winning percentage - a WNBA record that still stands. They went on to repeat as championships, defeating the Phoenix Mercury in the first-ever WNBA Finals that year due to the championship game being extended into a three game championship series.
Houston (i/ˈhjuːstən/ HYOO-stən) is the most populous city in Texas and the fourth most populous city in the United States. With a census-estimated 2014 population of 2.239 million people, within a land area of 599.6 square miles (1,553 km2), it also is the largest city in the Southern United States, as well as the seat of Harris County. It is the principal city of Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land, which is the fifth most populated metropolitan area in the United States.
Houston was founded in 1836 on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou (now known as Allen's Landing) and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837. The city was named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the Republic of Texas and had commanded and won at the Battle of San Jacinto 25 miles (40 km) east of where the city was established. The burgeoning port and railroad industry, combined with oil discovery in 1901, has induced continual surges in the city's population. In the mid-twentieth century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Center—the world's largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA's Johnson Space Center, where the Mission Control Center is located.
Houston is an Amtrak intercity train station in Houston
The present Houston station, which opened on October 26, 1959, was built by the Southern Pacific Railroad to replace Grand Central Station, which was just east of the present station. That station operated from September 1, 1934 until the property was sold to the U.S. Government in 1959 to become the site of the Houston main post office. Grand Central Station had replaced the original Houston & Texas Central depot of 1886. When Amtrak was created it was one of two stations in Houston that served Amtrak trains, the other being Union Station, now part of Minute Maid Park. All Amtrak trains moved to Southern Pacific Station by the end of July 1974, and all trains were canceled or rerouted out of Houston except the Sunset Limited. This station continued to be owned and operated by the Southern Pacific Railroad after the creation of Amtrak, and has been owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad since the merger of Southern Pacific and Union Pacific.
"Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)" is a song written by Larry Gatlin and recorded by American country music group Larry Gatlin & the Gatlin Brothers Band. It was released in September 1983 as the first single from the album "Greatest Hits Vol. II" then included to first track of "Not Guilty" (1984). "Houston (Means I'm One Day Closer to You)" was the group's third and last number one on the country chart. The single went to number one for two weeks and spent a total of fifteen weeks on the country chart.