Introducing SB Nation Houston, Where Andre Johnson Burns The Competition

When I think of Houston, I think of the heart of a champion. Of the (now-defunct) Astrodome and Andre Johnson torching secondaries. All in all, it’s a pretty underrated sports city.

And now, with SB Nation Houston launching Wednesday night, there’s a place for Houston sports fans to gather ‘round on the internets. Led by the estimable Tom Martin of our excellent Rockets blog The Dream Shake, along with a phalanx of some of the finest Houston bloggers, SB Nation Houston joins our first batch of six regional sites -- D.C., Boston, New York, Chicago, Arizona and Detroit -- in bringing some kickass, grass-roots perspective to your sports world. As one commenter put it: it’s the sports page, without all the BS.

As part of its launch, SB Nation Houston came up with its list of the top five most popular athletes in the city. Yao Ming likely would have been the slam dunk (see what we just did there?) were it not for the myriad injuries that have derailed his career and forced him to the sideline for the past season. Instead, Andre Johnson captured the top spot after another scintillating (and fantasy MVP-caliber) campaign for the Texans. China’s biggest export still came in second, with DeMeco Ryans, Lance Berkman and Case Keenum rounding out the list. Surprisingly, David Carr did not make the cut.

Now it’s your turn to tell us how you would rank Houston’s sports stars -- after Andre Johnson. Is Yao still near and dear to Houston’s fans hearts, or has the Big Puma supplanted him?