Chron: Francis Houston's FAVORITE athlete

I'm speechless.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/2370887

Football is king, but hoopsters hold court

By DAVID BARRON
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

With Super Bowl XXXVIII at Reliant Stadium just six days away, football remains the unquestioned leader as Houston's favorite spectator sport. But when it comes to fantasy meals or autograph collections, basketball players get the nod over football stars.

That dual loyalty is among the findings of a telephone survey of 504 residents of Harris, Fort Bend and Brazoria counties, conducted last week for the Houston Chronicle by pollster Richard Murray of the University of Houston's Center for Public Policy. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Poll respondents were asked about favorite spectator sports and such topics as Pete Rose's candidacy for the baseball Hall of Fame, whether college football needs a playoff system, what should be done with the Astrodome, and whether newly acquired pitchers Andy Pettitte and Roger Clemens will lead the Astros to the World Series.

Appropriately, given the approach of Houston's first Super Bowl in 30 years, football came out on top as favorite spectator sport. Seventy-three percent of residents have at least moderate interest in football, and 41 percent follow it more closely than they do any other sport.

Houston's favorite local male athlete, however, is Steve Francis of the Rockets (18 percent), followed by Texans quarterback David Carr (15 percent), Astros first baseman Jeff Bagwell (13 percent), Rockets center Yao Ming (11 percent) and Clemens (9 percent).

"It's a good honor, especially in the fourth-largest city in America, that people look at me like that," Francis said. "But I want to continue to help this team so they can really, really not only respect me, but respect our team."

If local fans could have dinner with any professional athlete, they would opt for former NBA great Michael Jordan (9 percent) over active athletes such as Tiger Woods, Yao and Carr (5 percent each), and Francis and Clemens (3 percent each).

Murray said the preferences for football teams and basketball players reflect Houston's relative youth and its diverse ethnicity.

"Our under-65 population is much smaller than that of the nation," Murray said. "Florida, for example, has twice as many seniors as the nation. Houston has about 60 percent (of the national average).

"We have a big bulge in young adults and, since we're a working city, not a lot of retirees. And we also have a larger minority population, which is reflected in the way we look at sports."

Football's strength in Houston extends across ethnic boundaries. Of the four major ethnic groups -- Anglos, African-Americans, Asians/Pacific Islanders and Hispanics/Mexican-Americans -- only the latter checks in under 50 percent when describing its interest in football as high or very high. The same holds true for each age demographic, from under 25 through the 55-64 age group.

In keeping with those numbers, the 2-year-old Houston Texans were picked as the city's favorite local pro franchise by 29 percent of respondents, beating the Rockets at 26 percent and the Astros at 25 percent.

"The Texans have across-the-board fans (in all demographics)," Murphy said. "When you look at the Astros and Rockets, they're much more segmented by race and ethnicity. But football remains the most popular sport, and the Texans have mined that to create a very valuable franchise."

A look inside the numbers, however, includes good news for the Rockets, who will share the Super Bowl week spotlight in Houston with games at Toyota Center on Wednesday against the Sacramento Kings and Saturday against the New Jersey Nets.

The youngest fans -- and, thus, the most desirable age group for advertisers -- prefer basketball in larger numbers than football. Among fans under 25, 63 percent describe their interest in basketball as high or very high, compared with 54 percent for football.

And, when the poll question on favorite local sports franchise is broken down by age, the Rockets rank first with those under 25 (38 percent, to 29 percent for the Texans and 23 percent for the Astros) and first in the 25-34 bracket (31 percent, to 27 percent for the Texans).

Fans, however, can be fickle -- particularly in Houston, where the winners of the moment are often the favorites of the moment. And if fans' hopes for the Astros come true, they could supplant the Texans and Rockets by World Series time.

Since Houston-area natives Pettitte and Clemens came into the fold, 62 percent of poll respondents have a higher opinion of the Astros organization. Fifty-one percent say they are more likely to buy tickets for Astros games this season, with heavy support from fans under 25 (60 percent) and from Hispanics (61 percent).

Seventy percent believe the Astros will be back in the playoffs for the first time since 2001, and 47 percent think the Astros will be in the World Series for the first time in the team's 43-year history.

Although Astros owner Drayton McLane appreciates the fans' confidence, he was even more pleased that 56 percent of respondents believe Houston is getting its money's worth from its investment in its three publicly funded sports facilities -- Reliant Stadium, Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center.

"If you'll remember, the referendum (that led to funding for the baseball and football stadiums) passed with only 50.7 percent of the vote," he said. "So this support is encouraging. We asked people to trust us that this would be good for taxpayers and good for sports.

"And look at us now. We're about to have the Super Bowl and the (baseball) All-Star Game and the World Series in October. People trusted us, and we got the investment, and now we have three of the best facilities in America."

As for Houston's oldest signature stadium, the Astrodome, respondents reflect the Harris County Commissioners Court: They're not quite sure what to do with the Eighth Wonder of the World.

Ten percent want to tear it down. Twenty-six percent want it converted into convention space, and a like number think it should be leased for private business. Twenty-two percent believe it should remain vacant until it can again be used as a sports venue.

Forty percent said they would support using public tax dollars to convert the Astrodome to a new use; 45 percent are opposed.

"We believe there is value to the Astrodome," said Harris County Judge Robert Eckles. "It's an international icon. We're looking for investors and ideas on how best to use the facility ... but we're not prepared to go back to taxpayers (for money to renovate it).

"If it makes sense as an entertainment venue of some kind, the private sector will be there with the funds to make it work."

On other topics of note, respondents favor an age limit for NBA players (62 percent), oppose lifting Rose's suspension from baseball even though he has admitted to gambling on the sport while a manager (50 percent) and favor a Division I-A college football playoff (54 percent).

In other categories:

Favorite local athletes, coaches, owners: Nolan Ryan was the favorite Houston-based retired athlete at 27 percent, followed by Earl Campbell (23 percent) and Hakeem Olajuwon (19 percent). Sheryl Swoopes (41 percent), Cynthia Cooper (34 percent) and Tina Thompson (4 percent), all of the Comets, are the favorite Houston-based active female athletes.

Texans owner Bob McNair (43 percent) led as favorite Houston sports franchise owner over McLane (28 percent) and Rockets owner Leslie Alexander (16 percent). Texans coach Dom Capers (29 percent) led Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy (25 percent) and Astros manager Jimy Williams (11 percent) as favorite local manager or coach.

Mascots, uniforms: Clutch, the Rockets bear, received 30 percent as favorite mascot, to 28 percent for Texans mascot Toro. The Texans led for favorite uniform at 42 percent, to 25 percent for the Rockets and 21 percent for the Astros.