Look-alikes

This post will deal with people who look very similar.

The first one is former baseball player Darryl Strawberry and former Flintstones star Dino:

Our second pair is me and some rabbi named Menachem:

And our last for now is Cavaliers PF Anderson Varejao and Simpson's character Sideshow Bob:

NFL Mock Draft

On April 28th & 29th will be the NFL Draft. So here is the first round of the Draft as I see it. I was going to do this later in the month, but after yesterday's trade between Atlanta and Houston, in which they swapped first round picks, I decided to just do it now.

1. Oakland: JaMarcus Russel, QB, LSU - Oakland likes the strong armed QB to turn the Raiders' woes around.
2. Detroit: Joe Thomas, OT, Wisconsin - Although they picked up George Foster from Denver I still think they will take Thomas instead of Brady Quinn because Detroit's Offensive Coordinator is Mike Martz, who has proven in the past that he does not need a top of the line QB to win with (Kurt Warner was an undrafted player who Martz made into a Super Bowl MVP).
3. Cleveland: Brady Quinn, QB, Notre Dame - Firstly, Quinn grew up as a Browns fan and has said he would love to play for them. Secondly, Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis is very close with Browns coach Romeo Crennel, and Weis has told him to trade up to get Quinn. Lastly, the Browns have good receivers, picked up RB Jamal Lewis and OL Eric Steinbach so now they need a big time QB to put in the mix.
4. Tampa Bay: Calvin Johnson, WR, Georgia Tech - Possibly the best player in the Draft, Tampa Bay will be giddy to get Johnson.
5. Arizona: Alan Branch, DT, Michigan - Arizona allowed an average (how is that for alliteration) of 119 yards and a touchdown on the ground per game last year. The running backs in Arizona's division are Shaun Alexander, Frank Gore, Steven Jackson, so Arizona needs to shore up the defense.
6. Washington: Gaines Adams, DE, Clemson - Washington needs a pass rush and adding Adams' 13.5 sacks will help.
7. Minnesota: Ted Ginn Jr., WR, Ohio State - Since Moss and Carter left Minnesota has not had a deep threat. Ginn needs to work on his route running, but he can still make the big play.
8. Atlanta (from Houston): Amobi Okoye, DT, Louisville - He is quick, strong, and gets penetration in the backfield. One other thing to think about is Atlanta's new coach Bobby Petrino used to coach Okoye in Louisville.
9. Miami: Levi Brown, OT, Penn State - Miami needs to address an inadequate offensive line. If they get 36-year old QB Trent Green then they will need someone to protect him.
10. Houston (from Atlanta): Adrian Peterson, RB, Oklahoma - Houston needs a RB. It's just as simple as that.
11. San Francisco: Jamal Anderson, DE, Arkansas - They have signed an elite CB, a couple of solid LBs, but their defense still needs help, and Jamal Anderson is a complete player.
12. Buffalo: Leon Hall, CB, Michigan - Hall can step in for Nate Clements who was lost to San Francisco.
13. St. Louis: LaRon Landry, S, LSU - Some of the leagues best WRs are in their division, so St. Louis could use the help in their secondary.
14. Carolia: Dwayne Jarrett, WR, USC - Keyshawn Johnson hasn't played well, plus he is mulling over the idea of retirement, so Carolina should take Jarrett to team up with Steve Smith.
15. Pittsburgh: Charles Johnson, DE, Georgia - New coach Mike Tomlin is moving to the 4-3, and they could use Johnson's 19 tackles for a loss.
16. Green Bay: Marshawn Lynch, RB, California - The fact that he can catch as well as run makes him a good fit for the Packers.
17. Jacksonville: Reggie Nelson, S, Florida - They are looking for an impact defender in the secondary and Nelson would be a good fit.
18. Cincinnati: Aaron Ross, CB, Texas - The Bengals were vulnerable at corner last year.
19. Tennessee: Dwayne Bowe, WR, LSU - When you have a franchise QB (Vince Young) it makes sense to surround him with playmakers.
20. New York Giants: Lawrence Timmons, LB, Florida State - His production and consistency are what jump out at you about him. Also the Giants have had issues at linebacker in recent years.
21. Denver: Adam Carriker, DE, Nebraska - They need help along the defensive front and Carriker is good against the run and the pass.
22. Dallas: Patrick Willis, ILB, Mississippi - He's a fierce tackler who will add a lot to the middle of the Dallas defense.
23. Kansas City: Sidney Rice, WR, South Carolina - They need a threat outside to help the passing game.
24. New England (from Seattle): Brandon Siler, ILB, Florida - The Patriots picked up OLB Adaulis Thomas in free-agency, but their inside linebackers, Teddy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel are getting older, so it's time to draft a young guy.
25. New York Jets: Greg Olsen, TE, Miami (FL) - They have gotten little from the tight end position in the passing game and Olsen can change that.
26. Philadelphia: Michael Griffin, S, Texas - With Michael Lewis going to SF and Brian Dawkins getting older they need youth at the safety position.
27. New Orleans: Daymeion Hughes, CB, California - With Fred Thomas getting scorched most of last year the Saints need a good corner to "march in".
28. New England: Robert Meachem, WR, Tennessee - I know you are thinking, wait a minute didn't the Patriots add 3 wide receivers this offseason, well yes they did but the Donte' Stallworth deal is really a one year contract.
29. Baltimore: Anthony Spencer, DE/LB, Purdue - With losing Adaulis Thomas to the Patriots, Spencer would be the logical pick because he can play defensive end or outside linebacker.
30. San Diego: Anthony Gonzalez, WR, Ohio State - San Diego needs a total makeover at the wide receiver position and Gonzalez would be a good fit because of his combination of speed and good route running.
31. Chicago: Quinn Pitcock, DT, Ohio State - Their defense had problems on the interior part of the d-line.
32. Indianapolis: Darrelle Revis, CB, Pittsburgh - Revis can step in for Nick Harper who left for Tennessee, plus he can return kicks and punts.

C.J. Nitkowski

This year C.J. Nitkowski will be playing in Japan. The season there starts on Saturday March 24th and this post is to wish him good luck, and tell everyone out there that if you would like to know what is going on with C.J. you should check out his website http://www.cjbaseball.com/.

this picture is from http://www.mlb.com/

this picture is from http://www.cjbaseball.com/

Hopefully I will keep everyone posted on the latest news from C.J. Nitkowski, and once again we all wish him the best of luck on his upcoming season.

Dennis Rodman

Recently a lot has been made about the possibility of Dennis Rodman being elected into the NBA Hall of Fame. When some people hear this they think of all the crazy things Rodman has done during his career, like wear a wedding dress to a book signing, or a different hair color for each game. But the fact is if you look at Rodman’s numbers he deserves to be a Hall of Famer. Firstly he won 5 Championships, (2 with Detroit, and 3 with Chicago), he also has been named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team seven times (1988-89 to 1992-93, 1994-95, 1995-96). He was also named NBA Defensive Player of the Year in 1989-90 and 1990-91. He has grabbed 11,954 rebounds during his long career.
One of the other knocks on Rodman has been that he never was a major scorer; you need to keep in mind who he played with. In Detroit he played with Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Bill Lambier; while with San Antonio he played with David Robinson and Vinny Del Negro; while with Chicago he played with some guy named Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoc and Ron Harper. So at best he was a third option with the teams he has played for. Rodman’s job on most of these teams were to be a tough defender, great rebounder, and to go hard after every loose ball which he did better than most others, and that is why Dennis Rodman should be in the Hall of Fame.

March Madness

Tomorrow starts the first games of the NCAA Tournament which ends on Monday April 2nd in Atlanta. There is no doubt in my mind that the winners of the tournament will be THE OHIO STATE BUCKEYES. Of course you are probably thinking that I'm picking them because they are my favorite team, well that is true but I do have some facts to back me up.

• 8 Head Coaches have won the Championship before they turned 40. Ohio State Coach Thad Matta will turn 40 in July.


• Ohio State has a relatively easy bracket to get to the Final Four (on my brackets OSU is the only #1 seed that I have making the Final Four).


• Greg Oden (pictured below) is able to use his right hand again after he had surgery early in the year.

• Besides Oden, they have another great freshman named Mike Conley Jr. who can shoot, pass, and run the break.
• They also have guys like Jamar Butler, Ron Lewis, and Daequan Cook who were in the tournament last year when Ohio State lost, and they are looking forward to showing the country that Greg Oden is not the only player on the team.
• The most important reason why Ohio State will win is because April 2nd is the first night of Pesach and I will not be able to watch the game. When the football team played Miami for the National Title, a few years back, the game was on a Friday night, I couldn't watch the game so of course they win. This year when they played Florida the game was on a Monday night when I was able to watch and they lose. The fact is "I can't watch = winning National Championship".

Other thoughts as March Madness approaches:

• Texas F Kevin Durant reminds me of Marcus Camby. I know everyone is saying that Durant is better than Oden, and that he is the guy to build a team around, but every time I watch him play all I can think about is how they use to say the same things about Marcus Camby. He has had a nice career but Duncan has won.
• Georgetown C Roy Hibbert is another one in the long line of great Georgetown Centers, which include Patrick Ewing, Dikembe Mutombo and Alonzo Mourning.
• Memphis, a #2 seed, has only beaten one team in the top 25 when they beat Kentucky on November 22nd, by the score of 80 - 63.
• Tyler Hansborough of UNC is wearing a protective mask because of the shot to the face that he endured from Duke's Gerald Green. He may start getting used to playing with the mask on by the Final Four...but don't be surprised if they don't make it that far. UNC has a very tough road to the Final Four, having to get passed Michigan St. If Drew Neitzel is on then UNC will be going home. In the next round they would have to face Texas and Kevin Durant. If they can make it past them they would face Georgetown, and Roy Hibbert will overpower Hansborough.
• And finally Davidson freshman G Stephen Curry could do some damage in this tournament. His father was long time NBA sharp-shooter Dell Curry, and the apple does not fall far from the tree.

ENJOY THE GAMES!!!

The Good Guys Part 2

At the end of last year I wrote a post about some of the good things that some athletes have done. This was amid a lot of bad press for sports with athletes getting arrested and doing other unlawful things. In that post I mentioned some athletes and the good things they have done, and today I would like to write about a couple more.


Jalen Rose- Jalen Rose recently donated 1 million dollars to Dikembe Mutombo to help build a hospital in Africa.

Curt Schilling- Curt Schilling has helped raise funds to find a cure for ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease). If you would like more information about how to help you can check out Schilling's blog at www.38pitches.com.

I will hopefully post about the good guys in sports every once in a while, because these are the athletes that we should look up to. These are the men that our children should say that they want to be like, not only because they are famous athletes but because they are good people as well.