HOUSTON – “This next’s week’s going to be crazy,” said Howard Lau.
Tucked away in a strip mall near Westheimer and Dairy Ashford roads, you'll find Houston Sports Connection and Lau, the store's owner.
“The fact that the teams do well, the collectible side of it will do well also,” Lau said.
As you can imagine, Astros memorabilia is popular right now because of the team's success.
“It just gets magnified, so more people that haven’t been involved may get involved all of a sudden,” Lau said.
People collect baseballs, jerseys, bats and bobbleheads.
“People collect programs. They collect lanyards. It’s just anything really that’s Astro related right now,” Lau said. “They want to feel that they’re part of it and their enthusiasm is what’s propelling the team to do well.”
Past successes, such as the 1997 National League Central Division Championship or the 2003 six-pitcher no-hitter at Yankee Stadium, are also being discussed.
“Some of the collectors that we have, they treasure this stuff,” Lau said. “I had a gentleman, came in the other day, (who said,) '(Harvey) wiped out my house but I got my baseball cards and memorabilia in the attic and I saved it.' He was so happy.”
And that is really the bottom line for Lau because he's just as interested in the team as his customers are.
“I just like to see fans excited about our teams. That’s, the business side is good, but the fact that you can see joy in people when they come in,” Lau said.
