All of you have heard about the earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, no doubt. The images and news we have heard or seen on numerous websites and on the news each night are hard to bear. Seeing pictures of the wreckage and chaos the people of Haiti are living in really makes one stop and pause for a moment. When reading my favorite blogs yesterday, I saw that Jane Heller (Confessions of a She-Fan) had written an entry on the earthquake and was taking “a time-out for Haiti.” I thought this was a very admirable thing to do and I decided to write a Haiti-related post today (I hope you don’t mind me copying you, Jane).

This terrible news related to me especially because my younger brother is adopted from Haiti. Although my family is no longer in contact with his birth parents, there is the possibility that his grand-parents or relatives were seriously injured or worse in the earthquake (thankfully, the last we heard from his parents, they were living in Florida). My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and all the Hatian-Americans who don’t know the fate of their relatives, but most especially to the residents of Haiti.

Despite the many troubles Haiti has encountered over the years, the country has produced some excellent athletes that have succeeded in several major sports in the United States. I feel that paying tribute to a few of my favorite Haitian athletes is a fitting sports-related gesture to the country in this difficult time.

Samuel Dalembert

Samuel Dalembert is a Hatian born professional basketball player. He currently plays center for the Philadelphia 76ers, and has put up respectable numbers during each of his 7 years in the NBA. He is most renowned for his excellent shot-blocking skills, averaging about 2 blocks per game. He is one of the top shot blockers in the game today, and is a force to be reckoned with when driving the lane. For the sake of space, I’ll provide you with links to two youtube clips showcasing Dalembert blocking two of the most powerful players in the NBA:

-Dalembert blocks Shaquille O’Neal twice

-Dalembert blocks Yao Ming twice

Dalembert is a player who has always been very well respected by his teammates and other players in the NBA. So far, the news from Haiti has been good for Dalembert, as he found out recently that his father survived the earthquake and is well. He is yet to hear from any other relatives. Best wishes to Dalembert, and good luck to him with the rest of his season.

Pierre Garcon

Pierre Garcon was born in New York, but has many relatives in Haiti. He is currently a wide-receiver for the Indianapolis Colts
. Although Garcon served as a backup in his rookie year last season, he had hopes of getting more playing time coming in to the current NFL season. Due to an early season injury to second-string WR Anthony Gonzalez this year, Garcon was given the starting job as the #2 WR in Peyton Manning’s unstoppable passing attack. Garcon proved to be the perfect target for Manning, racking up great stats and helping the Colts earn the #1 AFC seed in the playoffs. The Colts play on Saturday in their first playoff game this year, and Garcon is listed as probable for that game, due to a thumb injury that has sidelined him for the past 2 weeks. Apparently Garcon has also received good news about his relatives so far, and now that my Patriots are out of the picture, I have no problem rooting for this young wide reciever to put on a show come Sunday. I hope you tune in to check him out as well, he is a phenomenal young player.

Reginal Simon

There are currently no Haitian players in the MLB,
but there are several up and coming prospects that hail from Haiti throughout the Minor Leagues. Although I was previously not familiar with any of these prospects (a list can be found here), Simon is described as “the most advanced” of the group by the MLB.com article I linked. He is a pitcher for the Williamsport Crosscutters, a class A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. Simon boasted a 4-4 record this past season, but went 5-0 with a 1.11 ER in the 2007 season. While I do not know of any news surrounding Simon’s relatives and his family, I hope that they are all well and that his career continues to be a succesful one. Maybe we’ll see him someday on the mound at Citizens Bank Park.

It’s too bad that there aren’t more Haitian baseball players, but at least there are a good deal of minor leaguers. The important thing to focus on, however, is the current news from Haiti. I ask you to keep the people of Haiti in your thoughts.

Thanks for reading.