Stone Schloss pulled off a Houston sports doubleheader, attending Astros opening day in the afternoon at Daikin Park before walking over to Toyota Center to see University of Houston in the Sweet 16 on Thursday, March 26, 2026.
Matt Young/Houston Chronicle
Alan Maxcy is a die-hard University of Houston sports fan, having been in the building for four of the Cougars’ seven Final Four appearances, including as a teenager in 1968 when Elvin Hayes and the Cougars were knocked off by Lew Alcindor’s dominant UCLA team.
So, it was going to take a lot more than simply a busy sports day in Houston to keep him out of Toyota Center, watching the Cougars face Illinois in the Sweet 16 on Thursday night.
The only slight issue was that the 72-year-old Maxcy has a standing Houston Astros opening day tradition with his daughter Rachel. Dating back to the Astrodome days, the two have a father-daughter day at the Astros’ home opener every year.
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The scheduling gods smiled upon Maxcy and all Houston sports fans with the Astros starting at 3:10 p.m. — and finishing at 6:08 p.m. with a 3-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels — and UH getting put as the nightcap of the Sweet 16 doubleheader, which meant a start time after 9 p.m. The Nebraska-Iowa game started at 6:30 p.m. and Maxcy and his daughter even managed to make it to their seats just in time for that tipoff as well.
“We’ll make it,” Maxcy said assuredly in the third inning of the Astros game. “It’s right down the street, so it’s worked out perfectly.”
University of Houston basketball fans Rachel Maxcy and her father Alan Maxcy at Houston Astros opening day at Daikin Park before walking over to Toyota Center to watch the Cougars in the Sweet 16 on Thursday, March 26, 2026.
Matt Young/Houston Chronicle
Others with plans for the ultimate Houston sports day weren’t in as big of a rush to get to Toyota Center.
Stone Schloss, wearing an unbuttoned Astros jersey over his Cougars shirt, went from Daikin Park straight to the Four Seasons — located conveniently in the middle of the two downtown venues — for a drink.
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“Get out of the heat a little bit, watch some of the first game on the TVs there, then I’ll head over,” the 28-year-old Maryland transplant said. “UH is the one I really care about and I’ll be there in plenty of time.”
Schloss moved from Baltimore to Houston in 2022 to attend University of Houston’s law school. He’s now an associate at a local law firm and has fit right into the local sports scene.
“It was kind of one of the easiest transitions someone from Baltimore could make due to the hatred for the New York Yankees,” Schloss said. “I fell in love with the Astros when I moved here. As long as you’re not from that horrible place New York, then we all can get along. We can all bond over that hatred for the Yankees.”
His original plan was to attend just the UH Sweet 16 game, because he rarely misses a Cougars home game and went to San Antonio for last year’s Final Four, but then he came up on some Astros tickets through work.
“I wasn’t going to turn that down,” Schloss said. “I figured, I’ll already be downtown, so just get the party started a little earlier.”
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Matthew Hogue pulled off a Houston sports doubleheader, attending Astros opening day in the afternoon at Daikin Park before walking over to Toyota Center to see University of Houston in the Sweet 16 on Thursday, March 26, 2026.
Matt Young/Houston Chronicle
Matthew Hogue had the perfect setup for an all-day Houston sports party. The big-time UH booster, who owns Hogue Landscape Services, had seats in the Daikin Park club level in front of the Beam Bar then moved over to Toyota Center where he was in the suite of Tilman Fertitta, Houston Rockets owner and former chair of UH’s board of regents.
“This is Houston sports,” Hogue said. “Being a hometown boy and a local business owner, I always want to support the city of Houston. Why would you not want to go to Daikin Park for opening day, then causally walk right down the street to Toyota Center and catch two Sweet 16 games?”
Hogue had his choice of food and drinks with his prime seats, so the only stop he had to make between events was at his car where he ditched his orange Astros shirt and traded it for Cougars attire so no Illinois fans would get any wild ideas about someone mistakenly wearing Illini orange.
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Steve Simons Jr., Rachel Maxcy, Steve Simons Sr., and Alan Maxcy at the Houston-Illinois Sweet 16 game on Thursday, March 26, 2026 at Toyota Center.
Courtesy photo
Maxcy is a big Astros fan, but he didn’t even tempt fate by wearing any orange. He and Rachel showed up to Daikin Park in Cougars red with no need for a wardrobe change when they met Rachel’s fiancé Steve Simons Jr., and his father Steve Sr., and had no doubt their night was in good hands with UH.
“I think we’re going to take care of business,” said Maxcy, who has his sights set on another Final Four trip. “Maybe by about 10 or 15 points.”