Lion's Avril, Delmas, and Cherilus Among the Many Affected by Haiti Earthquake

Safety Louis Delmas

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The devastating damage done in Haiti by an earthquake that registered at a 7.0-magnitude hits way too close to home for

Cliff Avril, Gosder Cherilus, and Louis Delmas, who all have close ties to the small country.

Avril was born in Jacksonville, Florida, but both of his parents are from Haiti and moved to Florida before he was born. He says his family is incredibly emotional right now considering he has five cousins still there with no way to contact them.

“We don’t know what’s going on – we can’t get in contact with them,” he said. “So they are basically out on their own.”
Avril says he heard about the earthquake an hour or so after it happened from people sending him text messages.
“I turned it to CNN and I saw all the crazy stuff going on,” he said. “I’ve been to Haiti quite a few times, but I don’t know the areas that well. I was listening to my mom and my aunt – they were talking about later on in the day – and they starting hearing things and they started telling me that it was near their house is at.”
Avril’s aunt, who is currently staying at his mom Marie’s house, is visiting from Haiti. She is a schoolteacher in Port-au-Prince where the earthquake occurred, and has heard that the school she teaches at has collapsed.
“She is supposed to leave Thursday,” Avril said, “but she’s actually not going to go back for awhile now, until she figures out what’s going on.”
Though the earthquake lasted just 10-15 seconds, the damage is unfathomable. Countless buildings have collapsed, injuring, killing or trapping civilians.
Even the National Palace was destroyed.
“It’s weird to see the Palace collapse,” said Avril, who has visited Haiti seven or eight times throughout his life. “That’s the prettiest part of Haiti.
“It’s just crazy to see that and to see the main hospital in Haiti – that collapsed also. If the main hospital collapsed and these people are all hurt, where are they going to go?”
Because most of the homes in Haiti are made from brick, they haven’t been able to withstand the earthquake. There were even reports of houses continuing to go down into the early hours Wednesday morning.
Despite the difficult circumstances, Avril and his family have their hands tied.

“A lot of people are either stuck inside a building or it collapsed on top of them. We’re just hoping maybe my cousins weren’t inside a building during the earthquake,” he said.
“There is a help line, but it’s still going to be hard to get in contact with five people. I don’t even know how they would tell us where people are.”

Avril is also planning to help in some capacity, but says it’s hard to know what to do right now since they haven’t been able to communicate with anyone in the country.
Cherilus, whose grandmother still lives in Haiti, is trying to orchestrate something with his foundation to help.
“I definitely want to help out in some way,” said Avril. “But we don’t know what steps to take just yet.”

By Chrissie Wywrot
Main Article

Defensive End Cliff Avril

Helm and Abdelkader = Dumb and Dumber?

The Red Wing's Darren Helm and Justin Abdelkader have been nicknamed Dumb&Dumber by their teammates. Read on for the full story. 

LOS ANGELES -- There's little question Darren Helm is fast -- but to teammates, he is also, hilariously, dumb. Or Dumber, actually.

Helm and Justin Abdelkader joined the Red Wings full-time in September, and as with hockey players, they immediately became known by monikers based on their last names -- Helmer and Abs.

A few months later, they're now known within the team as Lloyd Christmas (Helm) and Harry Dunne, the delightfully bumbling best friends of the movie "Dumb and Dumber."

The nicknames were bestowed by Kris Draper and Kirk Maltby, who sounded like a comedy routine as they laughed and explained their reasoning.

"Well, sit beside them and you'll find out," Draper said.

"Do a piece on them where you have to spend a lot of time with them, you'll see," Maltby said.

"But you know, we actually changed the movie to 'Dumb and Dumbest,' " Draper said. "They're Harry and Lloyd, and you know what, the more of these road trips we're on, they live up to the billing."

But Helm and Abdelkader, who room together on the road, take the ribbing in stride.

"I think they're jealous in a way," Abdelkader said. "I think they're a little jealous because they wish they were educated like I was. But we're young and can't really say anything about it."

Helm agreed, saying, "I think they're just trying to pawn their own image on somebody else, because I clearly think that story was written about those two."

---Helene St. James
Detroit Free Press
http://www.freep.com/article/20100109/SPORTS05/1090362/?imw=Y

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The DSPs First Detroit Lions Mock Draft

With another disappointing season of Detroit football coming to an end, it's time to look ahead to the NFL draft. The Lions have locked up the number 2 pick. Without taking trades, free agency, and the combine into consideration, here is our first Mock Draft.....

Round 1 Pick 2

Eric Berry S Tennessee 

If the Rams decided to take Suh over a franchise quarterback, then Berry or Gerald McCoy should be the pick. If the Rams do take a Quarterback then Suh is the obvious choice for the Lions. Some may argue that the Lions should take Russell Okung the OT from Oklahoma State, but it appears as though the Lions are committed to Jeff Backus and Gosder Cherilus, even though Backus is terrible. Although we desperately need D-Line help, the thought of Berry and Delmas at the safety spots for years to come is kind of exciting.

Round 2 Pick 2

Patrick Robinson CB Florida State

If the Lions take Berry, they will still need D-Line help but I think Robinson has better value then any of the D-Lineman available at this point in the draft. This will be an especially good pick if the Lions end up taking Suh or McCoy. The Lions have a pretty good LB core but this might not be a bad spot to trade down and grab LB Brandon Spikes or DE/OLB Sergio Kindle and then CB Javier Arenas.

Round 3 Pick 2

Mike Neal DT Purdue

Here is where the Lions can grab their big DT. Another good choice here could be DE George Selvie from USF, DE O'Brien Schofield from Wisconsin, or DT Lamarr Houston from Texas.

Round 4 Pick 2

Dexter McCluster RB/WR Ole Miss

McCluster is a quick versatile back who can catch the ball. With Kevin Smith blowing up his knee this season, this might be a good time to pick up another back. Other possibilities here include Alterraun Verner CB UCLA, OG John Jerry from Ole Miss, and WR Erick Decker from Minnesota.

Round 5 Pick 2

Will Barker OT Virgina 

Other options here: Sean Canfield QB Oregon State, Freddie Barnes WR Bowling Green and QB Tim Hiller Western Michigan.

Round 5 Pick 24

John Fletcher DT Wyoming

Round 6 Pick 2

Zac Robinson QB Oklahoma State

Round 7 Pick 2

Blair White WR Michigan State

If Blair falls to the late rounds and the Lions are unable to get somebody like Decker or Barnes, this would be a great pickup. A local guy who works his tail off and runs great routes. Reminds me of Wes Welker.

Undrafted Signing

Brett Swenson K Michigan State

Jason Hanson is getting old and he struggled this season. Swenson is one of the one or two kickers who may get drafted, but if he doesn't the Lions should give him a shot.