The 2008 NBA All Star team starting lineups were announced yesterday, and Houston’s very own Yao Ming proved to be a fan favorite. The Rockets’ big man was voted in as the starting center for the Western Conference squad, ahead of such luminaries as Amare Stoudemire (2nd leading vote-getter amongst Western Conference centers), reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year - Marcus Camby (3rd), and Pau Gasol (6th). Yao was selected to start in the......

The tryptophan has worn off, we all trudge back to work, and sit down to surf the web. Between another crushing Texans loss, the Aggies poaching one of the Texans' coaches, and the Rockets finally getting their act together, it was a busy holiday season for Houston sports. Let Houstonist do the surfing for you and bring you up to speed on what the web is saying about our teams: - Ok, this is just......

The Rockets have been afflicted with shooting woes on a couple of occasions already this season. But the injury bug had stayed away so far, leaving many people optimistic about the team's chances for a high playoff seed in the Western Conference. But then Tracy McGrady's elbow barged in to the discussion. In the waning seconds of a disappointing first half against the Lakers at Toyota Center, T-Mac collided hard with Lakers forward Luke Walton......

It has begun, the 2007-2008 season is here. Actually it didn't really start for the Rockets until the end of the first quarter last night against the Los Angeles Lakers. Houston started off very slow as if they didn’t realize the season had actually begun. Kobe Bryant took control of the first quarter while McGrady and company struggled to find their identity. A new coach and a few new faces on the pine will......

After months of anticipation and one of the best off-seasons in recent memory, the Rockets will begin their 2007-08 campaign tonight in LA against the Lakers. With a new frontcourt featuring Argentine sensation Luis Scola and a fully healthy Yao, the Rockets will be able to give the Spurs and Mavs a run for their money as the best team in the state. The focus tonight, however, will be on the matchup between Tracy McGrady......

Happy Father's Day! For those of you who have dads, are dads, or know dads, this one's for you, from all of us at the Gothamist network. It was a week of bizarre, embarassing headlines at DCist. The trial of the local administrative law judge who sued his cleaners for $54 million over a pair of missing pants left everyone shaking their heads. Then the capital city was nearly brought to its knees, twice, by......

Seattlest has a talk with the photographer from last week's "Segway Mom" and then experiences some dissension in the ranks over the question of wine vs. beer. It's not West Side Story, but about as close as they'll get. They're also still waiting on some inbox relief after a spammer is arrested. As Chicagoist counts down the days to its third anniversary party, they found all-organic pizza to be underwhelming amidst the hoopla, tried......

You probably heard about Jerry Hines Jr., the city of Houston employee who was killed trying to help motorists on a Highway 59 entrance ramp during Wednesday's ice storm. But now there's a new development: Yesterday, Hines' family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a driver who they say caused the traffic accident that ended in Hines' death. The accident happened at about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday on Highway 59 in Humble. Hines and another road-crew......

Awful news out of Galveston today: A 42-pound, 8-year-old boy remains in the hospital for malnourishment, and his mom has been charged with child endangerment for not feeding her kids. The mother, Latrice Bryant, called 911 just before midnight Wednesday to report that the boy was malnourished, dizzy and had shallow breathing; he and his 12-year-old sister, who weighs 89 pounds, were taken to UTMB. The girl was released and placed in foster care, as......

The Harris County Toll Road Authority is switching out the old plastic EZ Tag transponders for sleek new stickers — a move that will reduce headaches for the county, but may not sit well with drivers who like being able to move their EZ Tags from vehicle to vehicle. About 150,000 of the old tags have already been replaced with stickers, but that leaves an estimated 850,000 to go. The good news: Anyone who has......

Independent gubernatorial candidate Kinky Friedman testified yesterday in the highly publicized trial of Max Alexander Soffar, who has served more than 20 years on death row for killing three people in a bowling alley in northwest Houston. Soffar's conviction was eventually overturned, and now defense attorneys hope Friedman's testimony can keep their client out of the electric chair. Kinky made his courtroom debut donning black and used the opportunity to announce he has switch stances......