...And Twins

Many people in the world can say that they have a brother or sister that they used to play with, but fewer of these people have brothers or sisters that look exactly like them. A person having an identical twin could lead to all kinds of shenanigans and confusion in life. For one thing, they never have to buy a mirror if their brother or sister wears the exact same clothes as they do. And if these twins both play the same sport, there are going to be plenty of two for one coupons to Sports Authority laying around their house. But although these two siblings may forever be confused for each other in the real world, the world of sports enables them to be seen by their fans as their own men or women.

Our first set of twins is Ronde and Tiki Barber of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and New York Giants respectively.

The brothers Barber may be the most recognizable pair of twins in the history of the NFL. Tiki Barber has been very good throughout his career. Tiki has a total of 10,449 rushing yards and is the only player in NFL history with 18,00 rushing yards and 500 receiving yards in one season. His brother Ronde has been just as good at his position. The Buccaneers corner back has 1165 tackles, 26 sacks, and 40 interceptions and counting. Ronde Barber is also the only NFL defensive back with 25 sacks and 40 interceptions. And although they both play different positions, Ronde Barber has had the better overall career. Ronde has been to more pro-bowls (5-3 appearances in favor of Ronde) has made more All Pro teams (Ronde's 5 to Tiki's 3), and has one more super bowl ring than Tiki does. But despite their different positions and teams, it is likely that both of the Barber brothers will make the NFL Hall of Fame.

Batting second for the Twins, Jose and Ozzie Canseco 

These two may be identical twins, but their playing careers could not have been more different. Ozzie Canseco had a .200 batting average with zero home runs and four runs batted in during the 1990 season. For most players, those numbers signify a bad ten game stretch, but for Ozzie Canseco those stats consisted of his entire 24 game career in the Major Leagues. Jose on the other hand played a lot longer than 24 games with far better numbers than his brother. From 1985-2001 Jose hit .266 with a total of 462 home runs and 1407 runs batted in. Jose Canseco was a six time all star, four time silver slugger, two time world series champion, 1986 rookie of the year, 1988 MVP, and 1994 comeback player of the year. Unfortunately, Jose had used performance enhancing substances throughout his entire career and now spends his days ratting out other players who used also steroids. These two are the most forgettable on this list, but not every twin can win.

But these two brothers do well on the tennis court. Bob and Mike Bryan, also known as doubles trouble

Now these brothers are twin tennis stars competing with the Barbers for best twins in sports. Bob and Mike have dominated the doubles tennis scene for quite some time. The brothers have won a total of 72 tour titles, which is the most all time by a doubles team in the history of the Pro tennis. The Ryans have a career slam for they won the doubles Australian Open five times, the French Open once, Wimbledon once, and the US Open  three times. Mike and Bob also won bronze medals during the 2008 Olympics and were named Tennis' team of the decade from 2000-2009. But the statistics aside, these twins are unique among similar company because of the chemistry needed to be successful at their sport. Doubles tennis requires a great deal of communication, skill and trust to be good at; and the Ryans have mastered all of these qualities. Another cool fact about the Ryan brothers is that Bob plays left handed while his brother Mike plays right handed. These twins are a lot of fun to watch.

Next up we hit the ice with Henrik and Daniel Sedin of the Vancouver Canucks.

It is one thing for two brothers to make it to the same league playing the same sport, it is a completely different story when you and your twin brother get drafted by the same team in the same draft. But for Henrik and Daniel Sedin, that is just the story of how they got into the NHL. The Sedins have enjoyed good careers for the Canucks since first lacing up in 1999. Daniel has been more of a scorer between the two brothers, because Daniel has career totals of 249 goals, 402 assists and 651 total points. Henrik on the other side is a much better passer, for he has total of 157 goals, 509 assists and 666 total points. Their regular season success has translated into playoff success for the most part. Daniel has totals of 23 goals, 39 assists and 62 points in his playoff career; while his brother Henrik has 20 goals, 46 assists and 66 points in playoff games. But alas, the two brothers quest for the cup came up short this year. The Sedins combined for three points in the series as the Canucks lost to the Boston Bruins in seven games. 

Finally we hit the NBA with the Lopez twins. Brook Lopez of the New Jersey Nets and Robin Lopez of the Pheonix Suns. 

These two NBA players follow similar paths that the Sedin twins did. They both played their college basketball at Stanford University and both were drafted in the first round in the 2008 NBA draft. But unlike the Sedins, the Lopez brothers were not drafted by the same team. Brook has been the far better player to this point in his NBA career, for he averages 17.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game for the Nets and continues to improve every year. Robin Lopez comes off the bench for the Suns and averages 5.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and .01 assists per game and is one of Phoenix's energy guys. However, Brook may be the better player, but Robin does have something that his brother does not: Playoff experience. In the 09-10 playoffs for the Suns, Robin Lopez notched up 47 points, 24 rebounds and one block in his six career playoff games. In an NBA that is running low on impact big men, the Lopez twins will be coveted when their contracts are up. 

Honorable mention: Heather and Heidi Burge

Essentially these sisters are the female equivalents of the Lopez Brothers. The Burges played at the University of Virginia and made three consecutive Final Fours from 1990-1992. The Burge sisters made it into the WNBA when it was formed in 1997, but both sisters had to retire early in their careers due to injuries. Despite their lackluster playing careers, the Burge sisters have something that the Lopez brothers do not: a movie made about them. Disney made a movie in 2002 called Double Teamed about Heather and Heidi's journey through college through the WNBA. 

While it is true that no two people are completely the same, identical twins carry extreme physical similarities between them. But in the world of sports, the name on the back of the jersey is only as important as the athletes' play on the field.