My doppelganger is professional golfer Rory McIlroy.
A couple years ago, I did a post about doppelgangers and how I was having trouble participating in Facebook’s “Celebrity Look-A-Like” Week, because I was completely lost with the celebrity that would receive the burden of representing me for a week. However, it was a drunk fan at a Twins game that helped me realize who I could easily impersonate.
I was working at a game in 2012 when a heavily intoxicated male approached me, circa late 20s in age. Though he was slurring his words, he wasn’t bothering anyone and the two of us were having a good conversation. Then a friend of his arrived and all of a sudden, the first guy got a big smile on his face.
“Hey, you ever heard of the golfer Rory McIlroy?” he asked.
I’m familiar with most golfers, so I nodded and questioned why it mattered.
“You know, if you spoke with an Irish accent and carried around a golf club to bars, you could totally pretend to be him!”
I laughed with the guys, but politely told them I couldn’t do it. For one, I was certain I didn’t look like him, and if that wasn’t enough of a dealbreaker, I’m also awful with accents. That didn’t stop them, however, and their parting words were for me to give it a shot sometime in the future.
I went home that night and instantly went online to give McIlroy a look, when…
Oh my. Perhaps in a poetic addition to this story, I also learned that McIlroy is less than a month younger than me. Perfect! However, I also learned that he’s only 5’9″ and 160 lbs., whereas I’m 6’2″ and 195. No!
Fast forward to the past school year. I was teaching at Minnesota Transitions, a charter school near downtown Minneapolis. The student population was tough at times, considering it was mainly a group that couldn’t cut it in the public school system, whether because of grades, behavior, or they just simply didn’t feel comfortable. In a school where the student body was roughly 90% minority, it was often tough for me to remember names as unfortunately, many students looked alike.
However, it went both ways in this school. My students, mainly growing up in poverty and being surrounded by minorities, were convinced that I looked like every famous white male.
Adam Morrison
Ray Romano
Ashton Kutcher
Justin Bieber (what!??!?)
Andrei Kirilenko (double what?!?!?)
Kyle Korver
Zach Braff
Phineas and/or Ferb (not even a joke, the students compared me and a fellow teacher to these guys)
It went on and on, but through it all, I tried to remind the students that there was only one person I could ever impersonate: Rory McIlroy.
And maybe Payne Stewart.
Things I've Learned... 