Through my life I have sported a few, some I liked and some were just so-so. When I was a little fellar the T.V. show "Good Times" was very popular, and most of my aunts and uncles referred to me as Jay-Jay. I even had a shirt that had Jimmy Walker on the front with the caption "Dyn-O-Mite". I'm thankful that one didn't stick. I was also known as Jay-bird for a short time due to my propensity to run around naked. Also glad that one didn't take, and thankful, as I am sure everyone else was, that I grew out of that habit.
Let's take a second and reflect on some of the greatest nicknames that have ever been given. Mind you these are some of my favorites and I'm certain that there are others that will escape my memory, but here we go, in no particular order...
Lenny "Nails" Dykstra, that's just Gritty!
Jerome "The Bus" Bettis, carrying the rock.
Earl "The Pearl" Monroe, loved the way it rolls off the tongue.
Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, not a Yankees fan but a classic non the less.
"Broadway Joe" Namath, talked the talk and walked the walk.
Jack "The Assassin" Tatum, strikes fear in me today.
Walter "Sweetness" Payton, still the number two NFL rusher of all time.
"Pistol Pete" Maravich, NCAA all time scoring leader.
James "Cool Papa" Bell, fastest cat to play the game.
Darryl "Chocolate Thunder" Dawkins, he had another aka that I loved even more "Dr. Dunkenstein"
Roberto "Manos de Piedra" Duran, for my non Spanish speaking folks that means "Hands of Stone".
Wayne "The Great One" Gretzky , the name says it all.
Reggie " Mr. October " Jackson , once said he was the "Straw" that stirred the drink! The epitome of clutch.
And last but by no means least...
George Herman (Babe) Ruth aka "The Bambino". How great is that! Of course he had a plethora of other names but for me "The Bambino" reigned supreme.
These are just a few of the nicknames that have stuck in my head for most of my life. There all timeless in there own way, but I would like to add one more to the list.
I'm sure that none of you have ever heard of this dude but I tell you he had the best nickname that could ever be given. I have no idea how he garnered such an awesome name but till this day I have yet to hear one that I like more...
South Arkansas around 1996 I was working for the local Cable television company when I had received a service call to a residence on the outside edge of our service area. When I arrived there was a little old lady sitting on the porch watching three or four little kids running around the swept dirt yard playing. I climbed onto the porch with her and sat down. As we began to talk I asked her what kinda of trouble she was having and she began to explain to me what I thought was a remote control problem. I asked her if she had the remote handy and that was when I met him. She called to the little guy to fetch the remote for me to look at and when he brought her the remote that's when I heard it. She patted him on the head and looked me in the eyes and said. " That's little Spot-a-Moofus, he's such a sweet boy". I have absolutely no idea how one would come up with a nickname like "Spot-A-Moofus" but I swear there will never be another nickname that will ever be as memorable to me as that one. Game over that kid won!! As much as I would love to have a catchy nickname I guess "Big J" will have to do until I can think up something better than. "Spot-A-Moofus"
