Work Together

These sporty nonprofits are bringing athletes and inspiration to The Tailgate

Come learn more about sports-related nonprofits.

Merging Vets & Players/Facebook

If you've been psyching yourself up for The Tailgate on October 27, you likely already know what we'll be serving and what you might want to wear.

But a key component of our newest party is shining a spotlight on sports-related nonprofits —and you'll even get to meet some of the athletes that champion these important causes.

Read up on who's going to be there and how you can get involved in their life-changing work:

Houston Texans Foundation
The mission of the Houston Texans Foundation is to be champions for youth. Since 2002, the foundation has raised more than $41.7 million dollars to support programs in education, character development, and health and wellness to empower the next generation of Texans.

The Houston Texans Foundation is proud to serve children in the Houston area through partnerships with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston and the Houston Texans Teen Club, the Houston Texans YMCA in the Third Ward, the Houston Food Bank, and more. Other key programs include disaster response efforts, youth football, support for members of the military, veterans, and their families, as well as funding social justice efforts in Houston.

Two big fans of the foundation — and Texans legends themselves — will be at The Tailgate: former safety Eric Brown and former offensive lineman Fred Weary. You can meet and pose for pics with them, Texans mascot Toro, and the Houston Texans cheerleaders.

Test your skills and win prizes at the Quarterback Toss, or buy a raffle ticket for a chance to score two VIP passes to The Taste of the Texans on December 5 under the stars at NRG Stadium.

The Astros Foundation
The official charity of the MLB team harnesses the passion of baseball fans to support youth baseball and softball programs, the recognition/honor of our nation's military, childhood cancer awareness, and efforts to reduce homelessness. Cornerstone initiatives include the Community Leaders program, the Astros MLB Youth Academy, and the Astros RBI Program (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities).

The Sugar Land Space Cowboys — the Astros' Triple-A affiliate team — partner with The Astros Foundation to extend these efforts and distribute funds back into the greater Fort Bend community.

The Space Cowboys will be at The Tailgate with their mascot, Orion, sharing information on the organization, their season, the 2022 Sugar Land Holiday Lights event, and how you can get involved.

Try your luck in the raffle for four tickets to a 2023 Space Cowboys game and some cool swag, plus the opportunity to throw out the first pitch.

Houston Dynamo Charities
Dynamo Charities believes in using the sport of soccer to support communities in the greater Houston area. They are committed to leveraging the passion of their players, staff, and fans to provide resources and education that positively impact lives in the community.

Photo courtesy of Houston Texans Foundation

Houston Texans Foundation helps serve and empower the next generation.

Stop by their tent to play yard games and show off your kicking skills at the giant inflatable goal, plus say hi to mascot Diesel while you're there.

For the raffle, each donation over $25 gives you a chance to win a 2022 team-signed Houston Dynamo FC jersey.

How to buy tickets
Fired up to make a difference in your community? Show up to The Tailgate on October 27 at Silver Street Studios, where delicious food and drink, fun games, and representatives from all these nonprofits will be waiting.

Here are all the ways you can benefit our nonprofit partners: make a donation through our Eventbrite page. Then, at the event, enter to win the ultimate sports package in the raffle and bid on silent auction items, where a portion of proceeds go back to the charities.

Get your tickets now, and use promo code CM15 for $15 off your ticket price.

sports charity promoted

Movie Review

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 doesn't match the first movie's enthusiasm

Blumhouse

Five Nights at Freddy's 2.

Blumhouse Productions first made their name with the Paranormal Activity series, establishing themselves as a leader in the horror genre thanks to their relatively cheap yet effective movies. In recent years, they’ve added on “soft” horror films like M3GAN and Five Nights at Freddy’s to draw in a younger audience, with both films becoming so successful that each was quickly given a sequel.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 finds Mike (Josh Hutcherson) and his sister Abby (Piper Rubio) still recovering from the events of the first film, with Abby particularly missing her “friends.” Those friends just so happen to be the souls of murdered children who inhabit animatronic characters at the long-defunct Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, children who were abducted and killed by William Afton (Matthew Lillard).

A new threat emerges at another Freddy Fazbear’s location in the form of Charlotte, another murdered child who inhabits a creepy large marionette. Mike, distracted by a possible romance with Vanessa (Elizabeth Lail), fails to keep track of Abby, who makes her way to the old pizzeria and inadvertently unleashes Charlotte and her minions on the surrounding town.

Directed by Emma Tammi and written by Scott Cawthon (who also created the video game on which the series is based), the film tries to mix together goofy elements with intense scenes. One particular sequence, in which the security guard for Freddy Fazbear’s lets a group of ghost hunters onto the property, toes the line between soft and hard horror. That and a few others show the potential that the filmmakers had if they had stuck to their guns.

Unfortunately, more often than not they either soft-pedal things that would normally be horrific, or can’t figure out how to properly stage scenes. The sight of animatronic robots wreaking havoc is one that is simultaneously frightening and laughable, and the filmmakers never seem to find the right balance in tone. Every step in the direction of making a truly scary horror film is undercut by another in which the robots fail to live up to their promise.

It doesn’t help that Cawthon gives the cast some extremely wooden dialogue, lines that none of the actors can elevate. What may work in a video game format comes off as stilted when said by actors in a live-action film. The story also loses momentum quickly after the first half hour or so, with Cawthon seemingly content to just have characters move from place to place with no sense of connection between any of the scenes.

Hutcherson (The Hunger Games series), after being the true lead of the first film, is given very little to do in this film, and his effort is equal to his character’s arc. The same goes for Lail, whose character seems to be shoehorned into the story. Rubio is called upon to carry the load for a lot of the movie, and the teenager is not quite up to the task. A brief appearance by Skeet Ulrich seems to be a blatant appeal to Scream fans, but he and Lillard only underscore how limited this film is compared to that franchise.

Five Nights at Freddy’s 2 is better than the first film, but not by much. The filmmakers do a decent job of making the new marionette character into a great villain, but they fail to capitalize on its inherent creepiness. Instead, they fall back on less effective elements, ensuring that the film will be forgettable for anyone other than hardcore Freddy fans.

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Five Nights at Freddy's 2 opens in theaters on December 5.

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