Sugar Land vs. Google, Kansas: A race for speed

Remember when Astroworld became Rocketworld temporarily after the Rockets won their second NBA championship?

Well, I do. I was a second-grader then, and I remember my season-ticket-holding days (at Six Flags, not The Summit — don't get too excited) like they were yesterday. Sigh. How I miss thee, Bamboo Shoot.

Well, the temporary name change is back in fashion, and we wonder if Sugar Land is next. The prosperous suburb is vying to be one of the test sites for Google's new extreme-high-speed fiber-optic Internet network. The network delivers speeds 100 times faster than "what most Americans have today," according to a company statement. Google is calling the experiment "Think Big with a Gig" and it's already turning into a public relations boon for the search-engine giant as communities apply for the program with very public pitches.

Think American Idol for techno geeks — with cities as the contestants.   

Sugar Land is not alone. Plenty of other towns across the U.S. are eager for the new network too, with Topeka, Kan., going so far as to declare they should be referred to as Google, Kan., for the month of March in an attempt to pucker up to Google's posterior. 

We don't suggest Sugar Land take such an obvious route. Maybe "Bing Sucks, Texas"?