Great sports nicknames!
- Thread starter tarheelinfl
- Start date
A thread about nicknames and not one single boxer mentioned? Thats crazy.
Some of my favorites:
James “Lights Out” Toney
Juan “The Hispanic Causing Panic” Lazcano
Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns
Michael “Second To” Nunn
Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran
Some non boxing favorites:
“Mr. Big Shot” - Chauncey Billups
“The Minister of Defense” - Reggie White
“Charlie Hustle” - Pete Rose
Rafer “Skip to my Lou” Alston
Vince “Half Man, Half Amazing” Carter
Ted “The Splendid Splinter” Williams
“The Law Firm” - Benjarvus Green-Ellis
Some fictional characters worth mentioning:
“The Master of Disaster”, “The King of Sting”, “The Count of Monte Fisto” - Apollo Creed
Willie “Mays” Hayes
“Shooter” McGavin
“Big Ern” McCraken
Some of my favorites:
James “Lights Out” Toney
Juan “The Hispanic Causing Panic” Lazcano
Thomas “The Hitman” Hearns
Michael “Second To” Nunn
Roberto “Hands of Stone” Duran
Some non boxing favorites:
“Mr. Big Shot” - Chauncey Billups
“The Minister of Defense” - Reggie White
“Charlie Hustle” - Pete Rose
Rafer “Skip to my Lou” Alston
Vince “Half Man, Half Amazing” Carter
Ted “The Splendid Splinter” Williams
“The Law Firm” - Benjarvus Green-Ellis
Some fictional characters worth mentioning:
“The Master of Disaster”, “The King of Sting”, “The Count of Monte Fisto” - Apollo Creed
Willie “Mays” Hayes
“Shooter” McGavin
“Big Ern” McCraken
Another Boxer: Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini and Hector "Macho" Camacho
Wasn't Dudley Bradley the "Secretary of Defense?"
Woody Durham used to refer to Leon Johnson and Curtis Johnson collectively as "No More Tears" or at least say that after mentioning them collectively.
yes, Johnson & Johnson, I loved this...
One of my all-time fave nicknames was Dick "Night Train" Lane
good one, rasslin' is a gold mine of nicknames and made-up names...
Dick the Bruiser, Bobo Brazil, Leapin' Larry Shane, Killer Kowalski, Nature Boy Ric Flair.....
This is my personal favorite.
This is also incredible.
I think Magic is the answer. If more people call you by your nickname then your actual name and the nickname is based on you being awesome then it's tough to top that.
Can't believe I left Magic off! You hear it so often, I almost think of it as his real name!
"Macho Man", Randy Savage, Andre "The Giant" "Hulk" Hogan ( went by Incredible Hulk early in his career)
"The Junkyard Dog", Randy "The Ram" Robinson!😃😃 Curt "Mr. Perfect" Henning, Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat
Mike "The California Hippie" Boyette, "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan (I think Jack Reynolds of the Rams was Hacksaw also)
Boxing Walter "Kid Galahad" Gulick! 😃😃
“iran “the blade” barkley
james “bonecrusher” smith
“merciless” ray mercer (personally thought he was the only guy that could beat tyson back then)
darryl dawkins “chocolate thunder”
james “bonecrusher” smith
“merciless” ray mercer (personally thought he was the only guy that could beat tyson back then)
darryl dawkins “chocolate thunder”
yes, it was 'Hacksaw' Reynolds, supposedly because he cut a car in half with a hacksaw. Reason not known, at least not to me.
I grew up with a mostly different set of wrestlers than what I saw after moving down here, and by the time we moved I was over wrestling anyway, having realized it wasn't for reals. But it was cool seeing new nicknames.
And how in the world did we not come up right off the bat with 'Dr. J', Julius Erving?
And 'the Round Mound of Rebound', Charles Barkley.
Generalisimo Francisco Franco. Actual name, not a nickname; but it sounds cool enough that it was a running gag on SNL's Weekend Update back when.
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I can't believe this one has not been mentioned.
Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice
Charlie "Choo Choo" Justice
Bugsy Segal
Scarface Al Capone
Jimmy Two Times. Jimmy Two Times.
---football teams/units
The Purple Gang
Monsters of the Midway
The Steel Curtain
The Cowgirls
The Fearsome Foursome
the Ain'ts
When the rams were in St Louis “The greatest show on turf”
The Lakers were known as “Showtime” in the eighties
High top football cleats were called “Johnny U boots” back in the day
If we're doing whole teams, you gotta have the "Purple People Eaters" Vikings D-line.
bit of controversy here, which I've dealt with before with some drinking buddies. That's what I was referring to with 'the Purple Gang'.
Vikings purple nickname
"Known as the Purple People Eaters to many but referring to themselves as the Purple Gang, the defense was up to its snuff, limiting 11 of 14 opponents in the regular season to 16 or fewer points."
I just always feel that a nickname developed from within a team is more valid than one that comes from the fans. YMMV.
if not already mentioned, Deion Sanders 'Primetime', and now Coach Prime.
good one, and one I should have thought of because he played for my Lions, way back when.
Self given nicknames should be a crime.
We had a kid in HS that kept trying to get people to call him Batman for some reason. We thought that was lame so we called him Catwoman. It stuck for years.
as far as individuals are concerned, nicknames given by teammates who know much better who they are dealing with on a personal basis are much better sources for meaningful nicknames than are fans who usually come up with the obvious, and often cornball, choices.
So far as teams or units within a team, the same sort of thing applies but perhaps less so...they know their circumstances. In the case at hand, the real Purple Gang was a regionally significant bunch of bad guys. Perfectly appropriate name for the Vikings defensive front and behind them as well. On the other hand, I'm not getting quite the same connection with a silly song about aliens eating purple people. Maybe it's just me.
Bottom line, Purple Gang was a better nickname IMO.
ETA..but you're right, giving yourself a nickname is lame, and is exactly like something the mia @Heels Noir would do.
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and the "Fearsome Foursome" (Rams) Doomsday defense (Cowboys) Steel Curtain (do I need to say it?)
Killer Bees (Dolphins) I think. Orange Crush (Broncos)
There was an interesting story about him in Paper Lion by George Plimpton.
Tried to keep the list to around 10, but after I posted it I couldn't believe I left off Dr. and Magic
also Hondo for John Havlichek!
this might be the best offering yet and I hate that I didn't think of it because Payton was to me the best RB ever and maybe the best pro football player. If I had to build a team and got to pick and choose from the entire league all time, 'Sweetness' would be my starting RB.
Great nickname and an example of what I was saying in another post...nicknames that come from within an organization, particularly from teammates, are far better than anything the fans will come up with.
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