OT: - College & Professional Athletes Nicknames | Page 7 | The Boneyard

OT: College & Professional Athletes Nicknames

MilfordHusky said:
Stretch McCovey

Marvin Tire Iron Barnes

I think everyone missed Magic Johnson—too easy. What’s his first name?

Coach K

Boog Powell

George Iceman Gervin

Pat Riles Riley
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Milford, anyone over 50 that does not know ALL of these needs to turn in their sports fan card, and go back to watching daytime soap operas. These are easy ones.
 
Viet Vet said:
As no one has replied to my submission of "RoMoLoKat", here we go........

Growing up in Branford, CT, a New Haven suburb, I was a NY Giant fan. Their 1963 defensive front four consisted of Andy RObustelli, Dick MOdzelewski, John LOvetere, and Jim KATcavage, hence RoMoLoKat.

Lovetere had joined the Giants earlier that summer, having been traded by the Rams to the Giants for Rosey Grier. Nice trade.........NY.

I was 15 years old then, a diehard Giant fan (because my Dad was....................surprise!) Not anymore. By 1972 I had embraced the Patriots while at UConn, and then in 1974 while a graduate student in Boston...................case closed!
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Wow! I was a hiuge Giant fan as well, but had forgotten about the moniker RoMoLoKat. HOFer Andy Robustelli was from Stamford originally. He and a partner named Ed Somethingorother owned a sporting goods store in Stamford for years surprisingly named Ed and Andy's.

Robustelli played at Arnold College in Bridgeport which became the Education school at the University of Bridgeport sometime in the 50s I believe. Andy was drafted by the Rams and later traded to the Giants in the mid 50s. Andy's son (or maybe his nephew, never remember which) Rick was the starting QB at UCONN in the 70s.

I don't recall Katcavage being traded for Rosey Grier because I thought they played together on the same DL in the late 50s. I thought I remembered Grier being traded for Del Shoftner, Y.A. Title's favorite target.

In high school and summers while in college I worked at a sporting goods store in Norwalk. One summer day shortly after he was acquired by the Giants, Lovetere came into the store to look at hand guns. What a huge guy when your standing 2-3 feet away from him. I wondered how he ever fit through the door. Of course those guys all pale in comparison to the size of today's defensive linemen.
 
The Bus
Prime time or just prime
Andre Bad Moon Rison
TO
The Juice
Boom and TJ
 
Catfish = James Augustus Hunter
Big Country = Brian Reeves
Chocolate Thunder = Darryl Dawkins
The Big Unit = Randy Johnson.
 
DriveLH said:
Harry "The Hat" Breechen (not sure last spelled correctly).
How about "Doctor Strangeglove"
or "The Whip" ?
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Doctor Strangeglove has got to be an all time classic nickname!!
 
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Carnac said:
Milford, anyone over 50 that does not know ALL of these needs to turn in their sports fan card, and go back to watching daytime soap operas. These are easy ones.
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I didn't say they are tough. ;) I wasn't sure how well known Tire Iron was. It's not a complimentary name.
 
tkaes said:
Wow! I was a hiuge Giant fan as well, but had forgotten about the moniker RoMoLoKat. HOFer Andy Robustelli was from Stamford originally. He and a partner named Ed Somethingorother owned a sporting goods store in Stamford for years surprisingly named Ed and Andy's.

Robustelli played at Arnold College in Bridgeport which became the Education school at the University of Bridgeport sometime in the 50s I believe. Andy was drafted by the Rams and later traded to the Giants in the mid 50s. Andy's son (or maybe his nephew, never remember which) Rick was the starting QB at UCONN in the 70s.

I don't recall Katcavage being traded for Rosey Grier because I thought they played together on the same DL in the late 50s. I thought I remembered Grier being traded for Del Shoftner, Y.A. Title's favorite target.

In high school and summers while in college I worked at a sporting goods store in Norwalk. One summer day shortly after he was acquired by the Giants, Lovetere came into the store to look at hand guns. What a huge guy when your standing 2-3 feet away from him. I wondered how he ever fit through the door. Of course those guys all pale in comparison to the size of today's defensive linemen.
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My high school football coach (also a Yale Freshman coach for basketball and football at various times) was Vito DeVito. Vito went to college with Robustelli and was a lifetime friend. Vito was a victim of Covid. RIP, Coach!

www.legacy.com

Vito DeVito Obituary (1925 - 2020) - Orange, CT - New Haven Register

View Vito J. DeVito's obituary, send flowers and sign the guestbook.
www.legacy.com
 
Someone asked Magic Johnson's first name - Earvin.

A number of my coworkers met him during the time he started up Magic Johnson theatres, in partnership with the company I worked for. I audited the ones in Atlanta, DC area, Cleveland and Harlem. Great effort on his part, although not terribly successful. Other than branding and the locations (serving a disadvantaged area) they operated like any other of my company's locations. This was in the '90's.
 
The Worm
 
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tkaes said:
Wow! I was a hiuge Giant fan as well, but had forgotten about the moniker RoMoLoKat. HOFer Andy Robustelli was from Stamford originally. He and a partner named Ed Somethingorother owned a sporting goods store in Stamford for years surprisingly named Ed and Andy's.

Robustelli played at Arnold College in Bridgeport which became the Education school at the University of Bridgeport sometime in the 50s I believe. Andy was drafted by the Rams and later traded to the Giants in the mid 50s. Andy's son (or maybe his nephew, never remember which) Rick was the starting QB at UCONN in the 70s.

I don't recall Katcavage being traded for Rosey Grier because I thought they played together on the same DL in the late 50s. I thought I remembered Grier being traded for Del Shoftner, Y.A. Title's favorite target.

In high school and summers while in college I worked at a sporting goods store in Norwalk. One summer day shortly after he was acquired by the Giants, Lovetere came into the store to look at hand guns. What a huge guy when your standing 2-3 feet away from him. I wondered how he ever fit through the door. Of course those guys all pale in comparison to the size of today's defensive linemen.
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It was Lovetere who was traded for Grier.
 
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Viet Vet said:
It was Lovetere who was traded for Grier.
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Thanks. I realized after I posted that I had misread your post. I thought you wrote that Katcavage was traded for Grier but clearly that is not what you wrote.
 
Famous football players for Huxley University:

Chico
Harpo
 
Tire-iron Marvin's botched robbery (he wore a jacket with his name on it) is one of my favorite stupid criminal stories. If you told that as a "Florida man" story it would be totally appropriate.
 
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Carnac said:
All right guys, chew on these..........

The horse __________________

Was is "Bad moon" ?

Who was "The BIG Dipper?
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Carnac said:
Ah, Wilt, the Big Dipper! I saw him at Randall's Island in NYC in 1964, where the Olympic track and field trials were going on. He got up out of his seat, it seemed like he just kept getting up and up! He was so big. He is considered by some to be one of the great all - around athletes, so fast,so strong.He was a track& field standout at Overbrook HS and at Kansas. And is in the Volleyball Hall of Fame.And,of course, also known as Wilt the Stilt.
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The "BIG Dipper" was in fact one of Wilt Chamberlain's monikers. Laker radio announcer Chick Hern use to refer to him as "The Dipper" all the time during his calls of Wilt's Laker games. I was standing at the entrance to the Laker locker room during a game at the Forum in 1972. As the Lakers went back to the locker room, Wilt passed by me at a distance of no more than 5-6 feet. The man was H-U-G-E!!! He was tall and wide. Looking at him on TV or from the stands, you couldn't really get a true perspective of how BIG he was. :eek:

I ran into the Lakers Michael Cooper as he was coming out of a McDonalds one morning in Inglewood California. Cooper is 6'6". As I walked by him (he was coming out as I was going in), he looked every bit of 6-6. When you see him on TV next to other taller players on the floor, he didn't look that tall. :cool:
 
Mdoggie said:
Doctor Strangeglove has got to be an all time classic nickname!!
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Agreed, Mdoggie, but well deserved... it was Dick Stuart, a slugging first baseman during the '60s. He was given that moniker during the years after Kubrick's legendary movie, Dr. Strangelove, came out. He played pretty awful defense with the Pirates and Red Sox, all the while hitting lots of homers. His season best in homers was 42 in '63 for the Red Sox, the same season he had 29 errors!

I'm a bit surprised no one remembers Stuart and his nickname. A well-known quote (and I apologize for not remembering who said it) was attributed to some fellow player after Stuart had surprisingly scooped up a hard ground ball and made the play unassisted at first base. As he ran by Stuart, the guy said: 'You're slowing down, Dick. You used to be able to get out of the way of those.'

Stuart was about 6'4", maybe 230 pounds and fortunately an affable guy. I played golf with him a fair number of times in the years right after his baseball retirement. He would show up at the course I played in Connecticut so he could play big-money Nassaus against one of our wealthier members. I was just out of high school and had little money but Dick enjoyed playing me for $5 just for the competition. My most distinct memory of his golf was that he didn't use a driver, rather just dropped the ball on the tee and would hit long, high fades with a three wood. Sadly for him, his putting stroke was about as effective as his glovework.

Anyway, the one and only Dr. Strangelove... RIP, Dick.
 
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This thread seems to be winding down so I thought I'd throw out this trivia question. It's an oldie but a goodie from the "betcha a beer you can't name..." from down at your favorite watering hole.

Years ago the MVPs in the major professional leagues (NBA, NFL, AFL, and each league in MLB) all wore the same number.

1. What year?
2. What number?
3. What are their names?

Ancillary question: In the NBA player's junior year of college, 4 of the 5 starters were all drafted by and played in the NBA; 2 of which are NBA all-time greats. The 5th starter went on to become a hall of fame coach. Name the college and each of the 5 players.

This bit of trivia is sort of related to the topic of this thread in that 4 of the 5 MVPs were known by their nicknames although 3 were common or logical nicknames of their given names. The nickname of the 4th was in no way related to his given name except that both began with the same letter. Only the NBA MVP was known by his given name.
 
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