Rashard Mendenhall Is Beetlejuice

Hat tip to Mondesi's House for the picture.

MH shows evidence that Beetlejuice (nsfw), the weird, tiny little man best known for his Howard Stern Show appearances, is a proud member of Steelers Nation. Personally, I admire him most for his award-worthy role in Bubble Boy.

The picture and write-up is uncanny, because I was planning on making a Beetlejuice mention today. I've been trying to put my thumb on who Steelers draft pick Rashard Mendenhall looks like, and my thoughts echo those on several random message boards. Listen to these:

- "Mendenhall looks like a non ******** version of beetlejuice [sic]." DChess on Draft Countdown Forums.

- Posted pictures of both Mendenhall and Beetlejuice, Catch17 on CowboysZone (requires registration).

Now its time for you to decide (NFL Juice say they look nothing alike, but posted this picture):



100%.

(Side note: No disrespect to Rashard. Well, as least amount of disrespect as possible when one likens you to Beetlejuice. Its not the teeth, or short appearance or wacky antics. Its the eyes. Definitely the eyes.)

Foreshadowing, Brought To You By Roberto Clemente

Spooky, huh?

I know its easy to make a claim that you never know when your time may be up in this world, but it sounds odd coming from a professional athlete. Nowadays, with so many players worried about contracts, injuries, playing well in contract years for bigger paydays down the road, endorsements, etc., its peculiar to think any of 'em might actually contemplate their own demise. Maybe this video shows how much the modern athlete has changed from his predecessor.

Or maybe Clemente was just that special of a guy.

We always hear of Clemente's skill and his incredible sense of compassion for disaster victims. However, his time was before that of Youtube (damn you, Al Gore), so actually seeing him talk of his own mortality is entirely spooky.

Clemente's head was in the right spot. He was a season away from his 3,000th hit, and knew it was still a distant possibility. He was injured throughout the '72 season, and his hit came in September, well after the All-Star break. Still, with such a historic achievement within grasp, Clemente knew that the plateau was still out of his hands. His untimely death is foreshadowed in this video, a thought that sends chills up my spine.

Roberto Clemente. Baseball player, humanitarian, hero, All-Star...clairvoyant?

The Best Defensive Outfielder In MLB History

That is an image of the best outfielder in MLB history, according to Rawlings.

Recently, Rawlings announced the Gold Glove All-Time Team. The mashup at the top of this post takes the 3 outfielders and makes one super baseball player. The three honorees are Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr. and Pittsburgh's own Roberto Clemente.

And now you can have night terrors about that image.

The Pirates are planning on celebrating Clemente's inclusion at this Saturday's home game against the Blue Jays. Pittsburgh will host Clemente's widow, Vera, as well as Roberto's sons Roberto Jr. and Luis. Roberto Jr. will throw out the first pitch.

Clemente was a 12-time Gold Glove recipient during his 18 years as a Bucco. He helped pave the way for the modern Latin ballplayer and became an inspiration to Pittsburgh kids of all generations. Though I come from a different age group, I was taught at an early age to respect and admire anything Clemente-related. This is why I've wanted the league to retire Clemente's #21 league-wide.

And in case you were wondering, I used these pictures of Mays, Grif (classic)and Clemente. Horrifying.