In honor of the recent Birmingham Brother Rice- Novi Detroit CC football classic on Sunday afternoon - a colossal upset by the Warriors -, I thought I would breakdown my all-time favorite athletes from both schools.  Alright, let's take a look:

 

Burney's All-Time Fav Brother Rice Athletes

1 Mike Lodish – Could be the most successful former prep football player to ever come out of the state of Michigan, going to an NFL-record SIX Super Bowls and winning a pair of rings as a longtime stalwart on the offensive line for the Bills and Broncos

2 B.J. Armstrong – All-American point guard in Big Ten at Iowa before going on to have a very good pro career in the NBA, winning three titles with the Chicago Bulls in the early-1990s. As a high school senior in 1985, Armstrong guided the Warriors hoop squad to the Class A final four (losing to Detroit Southwestern in the semi-finals)

3 Brian Brennan – The prototypical "possession receiver" in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns who was also an all-state hoopster playing for the Warriors in high school as a point guard

4 Bob Kula – the definition of a "Mad Dog" defensive lineman who played in the NFL with the Seahawks and was a starter on the 1987 MSU Spartans that won a Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl

5 Kevonte Martin-Manley – one of the best two-sport studs in the illustrious athletic history of the school, killing opponents as a prolific wide out on the gridiron and as a superior high-scoring hardwood assasin

Burney's All-Time Favorite CC Athletes

1 Frank Tanana – takes top spot on the list for the sole reason that he pitched a gem of a shutout in 1987, clinching his hometown Detroit Tigers an MLB Central Division crown on the final game of the season. Tanana had a career in the Majors that spanned three decades and was an all-state basketball player for the Shamrocks in his days as a prepster as well. Gets added points for being able to stay in the Show for 20 years after losing his fastball midway through his career and re-inventing himself as a crafty and reliable "junkball" hurler

2 Mark Messner – Super-talented defensive lineman for the 'Rocks, UofM Wolverines and in his career in the NFL and one of the most heavily-recruited football players to ever come out of CC

3 Chris Sabo – Outstanding hitter and fielder as an MLB third baseman, winning a National League Rookie of the Year Award and helping lead the Cincinnati Reds to a World Series championship in 1990

4 John McIntyre – Expert 3-point marksman for the Shamrocks on the high school hardwood who then continued his long distance bombing at the college level for the high-flying and highly-touted Missouri Tigers of the late-1980s

5 Niko Palazeti – A Larry Csonka-clone at running back for the CC'ers, rumbling, bumbling and stumbling his way to a thunderous senior campaign in '09 and a Shamrocks state title

 

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