I think this is an interesting poll. Hakeem is winning by a large margin, which actually surprised me, but that might be because it's on the Rockets page of the chron. I altered the poll a little to see how'd you would vote if Nolan was an Astros his whole career. They are each, arguably, the GOAT at their position. Nolan has two records that will probably never be broken. I voted Hakeem, but wondered what others would say who like football or baseball better than basketball.
I voted Hakeem...while all of their career stats were impressive, you have to tip your hat to the man that brought the most championships to Houston...
Baseball is easily my favorite sport. But Hakeem was a greater basketball player than Nolan was a baseball player. The closer competition is with Campbell...but Hakeem is tops in this poll.
This is a basketball board. No offense but the poll outcome is going to be more biased towards basketball no matter how much people claim to be "neutral and unbiased"
Since Hakeem probably wins this, to add to the discussion, is there anyone more deserving to be in this poll than those three, whether they wore #34 or not? Another poll would be, "Which #34 rallied Houston more." Does Earl beat Hakeem on that?
Well, more Houstonians believed in Earl who really was more completely dominant than Dream for a few year span. But even in the AFC Championship years most people I knew thought he'd have to kill himself to get us a championship - and he practically did just trying. But Dream proved himself to be a force not to be denied in '94 & '95. When a play had to be made he somehow did it. So, of course it's still about the rings, but it's still significant that Earl couldn't get a sack, an interception or stop the best guy on the field at any given moment - much less beat an entire defense designed to stop him by himself when it counted most. There's just nothing possible to do on a basketball court Dream didn't and so when people think of him most remember the scoring, but many remember a rebound, a block or a steal that defines those runs. Even his TO's were interesting. Regarding Nolan, well everybody loves him, but man he was always one pitch away from giving up 5 runs.
You're not seriously arguing that Nolan was anywhere near the greatest pitcher, are you? I don't want to go Palilo on this, so I'll digress.
Ryan is a distant, distant third. Might be different if his whole career was with Houston, but it wasn't and the year he got here he wasn't even the best pitcher on the staff. Anyone who was alive during the Earl years and anyone who's a Rockets fan inherently knows this.
I don't think there's any team exemplified what Houston is better than those Oilers teams with Earl and no players exemplify the city better than Earl and Nolan. Pit Earl against a bulldozer in a tug of war and the rope would lose. That being said, the greatest to wear #34 is Hakeem because he brought the rings and pretty much put the city on the map for a couple of years at least.
^^ I agree "Luv Ya Blue" vs "We Believe" and "Clutch City" ... What pulled the city together most...Earl wins that vote. Still seems to me people love Earl over Hakeem. But I think that's a football vs basketball issue more than anything else. And Nolan's longevity and level of perfection on any given night will probably go unmatched in baseball history. (thacabbage, I agree with you, but then Nolan pitchd 5 more years at same level...it was simply amazing). Plus, Nolan and Earl define Texas as much as any sports stars ever ... It says a lot about Hakeem's dominance that he handily beats Earl and Nolan in this vote. handily.
Earl is actually who I identify with 34 the most since he was the first. When Dream first wore 34, I almost felt is was to honor Earl.
Hell, I just went with the guy that actually won something. Love Campbell and I saw plenty of Nolan in person as a kid, but damn it, I like WINNING.
I voted for dream but the Tyler Rose and The Express were awsome too. They just didn't get a title. They came kinda close a few times.
