Once upon a time, there was a baseball player named "The Mick". Everybody knows who that was. Same with "The Babe", or "The Georgia Peach", or "The Yankee Clipper". The list is long.
There was a boxer a while back that called himself "The Truth". He found out exactly that when a left hook connected to the side of his head, courtesy of a guy that was nicknamed "Iron Mike".
There were the "Golden Bear" and "The Shark" in golf. Another guy even had an "army". In basketball, a guy called himself "The Answer", though it appears he currently doesn't have one as to what happened to his career. Maybe he should get together with "The Truth" and have a long talk. Even an ancient Greek philosopher found his way onto the court. How else to explain "The Big Aristotle"?
Not to be confused with my ex, but tennis once even featured "The Ice Queen". They both won a lot of money, but only one has a room full of trophies -- I think.
Like Plato, Socrates, and Confucious, some modern day athletes only need one name to be instantly recognized. How about Kobe, Lebron, and Eldri..... ahem, Tiger? I doubt there's very many of those running around in the average neighborhood, at least for now. No telling how many of their fans have named their kids after them.
Regardless, I dare say Americans will always come up with nicknames for their sports heroes. At that, as the politically correct mind-warp propaganda continues to change our language, perhaps we will have to become more sensitive in the future regarding such things. "The Hit Man" probably wouldn't go over too well these days. And "The Bronx Bombers"? After 9/11 -- definitely not cool.
We have to be careful about that, but there's hope. A new hero has emerged, complete with nickname. Gerry Lester Watson. He just won a golf tournament called the Masters.
Ya gotta love a guy named Bubba.
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