Yes Scott. It's a well-known fact that Orcs sweat, Men perspire, and Elves glow!
As for Hobbits: since they didn't wear shoes, they were spared the embarrassment of chronic foot odor.
As for your original question, Da Evenstar - Yes, since Tolkien styled M-E as a kind of pre-history, then the Men of Arda were supposedly our ancestors. It's interesting that Tolkien portrayed the Numenoreans as being a race of giants, since some "alternative" archaeologists today argue that such a race of giants did exist. In fact,
they lived in Ohio! [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]
Gee, it's nice to know that Tolkien's race of Men turned out to be a bunch of Buckeyes.