Inspite of his well documented shortcomings, Steve plays with heart and desire. He leaves it all on the court and he has from day one. And trust me if the rockets make to the playoffs in the west they will need Yao's humbleness and Steve's arrogance to survive the likes Shaq, Kobe, Garnett, or the Kings. Kobe will try to dunk on Yao again and so will Garnett and the rockets need someone like Steve to come right back down and let them know the rockets are not to be punked. I think that is what appeals to Houston fans. That is one thing the NBA knew when Hakeem was here was that if you wanted to embarass us you will get embarassed.
This just demonstrates the immensely bizarre nature of online polls. Dr. Richard Murray is one of the most respected pollsters in this part of the country, so I'm guessing his numbers are more accurate. Houston is an exceedingly diverse city, so those who participated in the phone survey were likely a much wider range of ethnic and socio-economic people. Online polls are predominated by those who can afford online access, take the time to visit the Chron sports section and actually vote. That restricts it to more affulent sports fans. For hard core Rockets fans, Francis gets a bad rap, but the guy is second in all-star voting among guards in a conference with a lot of talented guys at those positions, so it shouldn't be too surprising that he is also well-liked in the city where he actually plays.
