Sporting Equivalency: Tyrese

He turns 30 today, and meets his sporting contemporaries.

by Chris Sprow

What is "The Sporting Equivalency?"

We do the Sports Equivalency on Tuesdays, and for this version we decided to pull out Tyrese Gibson, who turns 30 today. Tyrese is the quintessential "What am I?" celebrity of his generation but not quite in a Will Smith kind of way, with a resume' that reads "singer, songwriter, rapper, actor, former fashion model and MTV VJ." Give him a chance to say "Set it and forget it!" on an infomercial and the dude can call it a career. But he has his sporting contemporaries. Here they are.

Baseball Equivalent: Andruw Jones

Tyrese was platinum at 20 in 1998, a Sexiest Man of the Year nominee by People two years later, and soon was getting cast for parts in Hollywood. Like Jones, however, recently it's been a little slow, even though he's just 30 now. Jones hit two World Series homers at 19, was a surefire Hall of Famer in his mid-twenties while getting Griffey comparisons, but has just 29 home runs in his last 229 games, and hit .158 in 75 games last year. He could get a change of scene and head to the Mets. Tyrese is going to be in another Transformers movie. Yeah, it was cooler than you thought it would be, but still.

X Games Equivalent: Shaun White

There are a lot of people who know what Shaun White does, theoretically, but may never have even seen him perform in that role because his face is seemingly everywhere else. You almost forgot what made him famous in the first place. Was it talent, looks, or just marketable charisma? We know Tyrese has acting and singing talents, but are those even the most prominent parts of the guy anymore? Also, did you know Tyrese is deathly afraid of owls? He literally will trip out if he sees one or even if you start talking about them too much. We could see an owl attacking White. We're not hoping for it, we could just see it.

NBA Equivalent: Lamar Odom

We tend to think that when Lamar Odom got to the NBA, he was so impossibly "can't miss" that he had to miss, at least in the category of surefire star. The guy could do so many things that he gets distracted from doing just one. He's a Swiss Army knife with ADHD. Sort of like a Rasheed Wallace minus the mouth. Tyrese seemingly has a lot of talents, but meanwhile he's locked into a film series about toys that were cool in 1984 and he doesn't have a label, maybe because he started his own company, one that produces for artists like Life Nine. Maybe. Life Nine? We say, pick a hobby and stick to it.

PGA Equivalent: Ryan Moore

You don't know a lot about Ryan Moore. He's a 26 year-old PGA Tour regular who has had some wrist problems and a number of second place finishes. He's pretty good, really. But back in 2004, the dude had an amateur season Tiger Woods could envy. Seriously. During the summer before his senior year of college, Moore had maybe the best "NEXT" season ever. He won the U.S. Amateur, the Western Amateur, the U.S. Amateur Public Links (also won in 2002) and the NCAA individual championship. Then he was 13th in The Masters, still as an amateur. He is a monster talent but has been playing barely half the schedule due to health. Tyrese already broke through, but he needs to prove he still belongs. Maybe he can caddy for Ryan?

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