Houston Texans starter spent the majority of last season

Houston got the money in NFL betting odds  for just 7 games last year and went over the total just 5 times. Houston is again talking playoffs and there is reason for hope starting with an offense that ranked 4th overall in the NFL and was the top ranked passing unit in the league. Quarterback Matt Schaub and wideout Andre Johnson became a dangerous combination last year looking forward to 2011 Super Bowl odds. Schaub completed nearly 68 percent of his passes for 4,770 yards and 29 touchdowns although there were 15 costly picks as well. Johnson had 1,569 yards receiving and 9 TD's. Bet the Texans football jerseys 40-1 as longshots in NFL predictions to win the 2011 Super Bowl with up to a $250 bonus.

Barbecue judges have to wear name tags. Mine usually says "Ken Hoffman, Houston Chronicle." When other judges aren't Chronicle readers or just don't read my column, they'll sometimes ask, "What do you do for the Chronicle?"

I tell them, "I write the obituaries."

I do this for a couple of reasons.

One, it's hard to explain what I actually do.

Two, I have a joke.

"I've been writing the obituaries for a few years now. It never ceases to amaze me how people in Houston die in alphabetical order."

I really did write obituaries for my first newspaper, a small daily in Central Florida. Starting at a newspaper in Florida was a good learning experience. Mostly, I learned how to gamble all of my paycheck on jai alai.

Jai alai is a betting sport in Florida where players throw a rock-hard ball against a Brian Cushing wall so their opponent can't return it on the first bounce. It's sort of like racquetball with concussions. They show jai alai during the opening credits for Miami Vice.

An older reporter, he was in his 70s and semiretired, and a few of us rookies used to sprint to the jai alai fronton on our lunch breaks to catch the matinees.

One day, I was making everybody wait while I finished an obituary. I was on the phone talking to the deceased's widow, asking her about the dead guy's background. It wasn't the most fun part of my job.

Many times, stories of TV bloopers are embellished. But I heard this one with my own ears.

It was on the 5 p.m. news. An anchorwoman said, "George Strake was in Austin today rallying support among Republican legislators for a proposed bill …"

Then she turned to her partner and asked, "That's interesting, why would a country music superstar be talking to politicians in Austin?"

Whoa! She confused George Strake with George Strait, the country legend who happened to be appearing at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo that night.

She wasn't done. After her co-anchor ignored her question, she tried again, "I hope George Strake finishes up in Austin in time to get to the rodeo tonight."

Cut to commercial. She never corrected her mistake, which apparently wasn't her first, since she was gone from the station a few months later.

I told Strake, who heads a remarkably philanthropic Houston family (Strake Jesuit school, Camp Strake Boy Scout facility) this story. He had never heard about the newscaster's blunder.

He was probably too busy rehearsing for his rodeo concert that day.

 The former new Houston Texans jerseys starter spent the majority of last season on injured reserve with a knee injury.

Pitts is an eighth-year pro from San Diego State.

The former second-round draft pick, if healthy, could be a good fit for the Bills.