DJ Gallo, one of the few good writers left at EPSN.com, had some fun compiling sports nicknames. Throw in your own faves and/or ones from the missing files …
James “Bonecrusher” Smith
James Smith is a mediocre boxer with a 44-17 career record. James “Bonecrusher” Smith is a mediocre boxer with a 44-17 career record … who scares the crap out of you.Larry Bird, “The Hick from French Lick”
Rhymes. Descriptive. Great nickname. Although it loses a few points for implying that there is only one hick from French Lick, Ind.Lester “The Molester” Hayes
The Raiders cornerback earned the nickname for his tight coverage. But he played in a different NFL era. Today his nickname would be something like Lester “12 Pass Interference Penalties Per Game” Hayes.Stan “The Man” Musial
Simple yet descriptive. Also evidence of what women looked like in the early 20th century. It was necessary to clarify that Musial was not a woman. Terrifying.Rudolph “Minnesota Fats” Wanderone
Minnesota Fats never won a major pool tournament. Yet he is one of the most famous billiards players of all time. “Minnesota Fats” : Rudolph Wanderone :: being attractive : Anna Kournikova.
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Lou “The Toe” Groza – Cleveland Browns kicker. Among the records he holds are most seasons played and most career points. He played in 107 consecutive games.
Bernie “Telephone Pole” Kosar … or am I the only one describe his lack of mobility with that? I think Drew Carey had something similar.
Heh! I remember Drew Carey doing a stand-up routine where he said “I’m Bernie Kosar” and he’d fall down.
Yeah, the teetering microphone stand.
I agree “The Toe” is a great nickname. Jim Brown’s was great too… “The Greatest Running Back — Ever.”
For the record, Minnesota Fats was not from Minnesota.
Darryl “Chocolate Thunder” Dawkins
Red “The Galloping Ghost” Grange
“Slingin’” Sammy Baugh
Red Grange,”The Galloping Ghost”
“The Big Hurt” Frank Thomas
Bobby “The Brain” Heenan, the smartest man in professional
wrestling (kinda like being the prettiest girl in professional roller derby or the fittest guy in professional bowling)
Sam “May Day” Malone
William “The Refrigerator” Perry
William “Mudslide” Perry (when he took off his jersey it looked like a mudslide)
Willie Mays “the Say Hey Kid”
Randy “the Big Unit” Johnson (prize for best nickname/porn star name)
I also like The Four Horsemen and Fordham’s Seven Blocks of Granite — with Vince Lombardi on the O-Line — which tells you why he liked the power sweep and how much the O-Line has changed since the 1930s.
Lawrence “Yogi” Berra
Mark “The Bird” Fidrych
Al “The Mad Hungarian” Hrabosky [Since the audio's disabled on this inning of Looking for Oscar, DIG THIS]
“The Wizard of Oz” Ozzie Smith
“The Wizard of Menlo Park” Mickey Rooney
Bill “Spaceman” Lee
Bill “Mad Dog” Madlock
Phil “Scrap Iron” Garner
Dick “Night Train” Lane
Yeah, I’d second “Night Train” – always thought that was pretty awesome.
Also, not sure if it ever caught on as a nickname, but I always liked Andre Rison’s shoulder tattoo, “Bad Moon.” Never would have pegged him for a CCR fan, but hey, still cool.
James “Bonecrusher” Smith was a very good boxer. He was smart. I watched him box frequently in 1983 on ESPN. I would see the same fights several times because nothing else was on worth watching. His fight with Tyson was judged for Tyson, but at best it was a tie. Tyson won the judges because he was the golden boy at the time, but Smith held his own..