mack attack

Mattress Mack explains f-bomb-laden exchange with Philadelphia fan

Mattress Mack didn't back down from Philly fan.

Courtesy photo

Chances are, a large part of the Greater Houston area was uttering a colorful metaphor or two after the Houston Astros Game 3 World Series 7-0 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday, November 1.

But before the game, one of Houston’s most celebrated citizens dropped a profanity-laden bomb against a group of Philly fans. Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvaleresponded with a series of f-bombs to hecklers and trash talkers who were out to prove that Philadelphia’s “City of Brotherly Love” is clearly just clever branding.

“The guy was screaming ‘f*ck the Astros, take the jerseys off and show us the buzzers,’” the cherished Gallery Furniture owner tells CultureMap via phone from Philadelphia, sounding much more relaxed. “Then it was, ‘José Altuve will never make the Hall of Fame — he’s the biggest f*cking cheater ever. I had enough of him.’”

This is unbelievable. @MattressMack is the nicest dude ever. BUT he has like 15 million on the line and he’s in Philly. I don’t wanna say this was inevitable but it was inevitable. Fair play on both sides. pic.twitter.com/tL6wuvjJ9E
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) November 2, 2022

Philly fan got an earful and the internet got a near-viral video. While some fans have responded with shock at the local businessman and benefactor’s retort, many are rallying — even offering to provide free security for the slender "Save You Money" superfan.

Never one to back down (clearly), McIngvale has a cool $10 million riding on an Astros World Series win; some speculated that he was nervous about losing. Mack shrugs that off and is confident the team will bounce back. “We’ll be fine,” he reassures. A win could net him $75 million or more. (Yeah, he’ll be fine.)

Now that he and the city can laugh about it all (the exchange, not the loss), we pitched the pitchman a marketing idea: how about a “Mack cussing tip jar”-type promotion, with proceeds going to charity?

“Hey, that’s certainly a great idea,” he responds. “Let me get back to Houston and I’ll get back to you.”

Here’s hoping Mack and the rest of us won’t be swearing when the ‘Stros take on the Phillies in Game 4 on Wednesday, November 2.

H-Town rising

Houston leaps back into top 50 'World's Best Cities' list for 2025

Photo by Adrian Newell on Unsplash

Houston made a big leap back into the top 50, ranking No. 40, after previously plummeting into No. 72 last year.

Lively Houston has regained its rightful place among the top 50 best cities in the world, according to a prestigious new report by Resonance Consultancy.

The Canada-based real estate and tourism marketing advisors ranked Houston the 40th best city worldwide for 2025 in its annual "World's Best Cities" list.

The report quantifies the relative qualities of livability, "lovability," and prosperity for the world's top 100 cities with metropolitan populations of 1 million or more. New to the 10th anniversary edition, Resonance partnered with global market researchers Ipsos to include perception-based data into the rankings, surveying over 22,000 people in 30 countries worldwide to determine "the most desirable places to visit, live or work."

Houston made a major rebound after plummeting to No. 73 in last year's report. In 2022, Houston ranked No. 42.

Resonance refers to its previous "World's Best Cities" reports and its 2024 "America's Best Cities" list – which ranked Houston in the top 10 – when explaining the Bayou City's successes. The report praised Houston's vast cultural diversity and placed a great focus on its economic prosperity, even going so far as to suggest Houston residents make more money "and can sock more away."

"...[W]here America’s fourth-largest city truly takes off is in its economic heft and wealth, ranking No. 9 globally for GDP per Capita and No. 14 for Fortune 500 companies in town," the report said. "All that rolls up into an overall Prosperity index ranking of No. 36, which is even more impressive given the No. 14-ranked Price-to Income Ratio [of the city]."

Elsewhere in Texas, Austin and Dallas also earned spots on the World's Best Cities list for 2025, but only one made a similar rebound from the previous year's rankings. Dallas moved up from No. 66 in last year's report to its current rank as No. 55. Meanwhile, Austin took its first tumble out of the 43rd spot (which it had occupied for two years straight) and now ranks No. 53.

London held onto its crown as the No. 1 best city in the world for 2025, followed by New York (No. 2), Paris (No. 3), Tokyo (No. 4), and Singapore (No. 5).