So... Alright - Nicknames and Such

Episode Date: November 5, 2024

Geoff explores nicknames and their history this week, as well as a few sports things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices...

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 It's hockey season, and you can get anything you need delivered with Uber Eats. Well, almost, almost anything. So no, you can't get an ice rink on Uber Eats. But iced tea, ice cream, or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goaltenders, no. But chicken tenders, yes. Because those are groceries, and we deliver those too.
Starting point is 00:00:19 Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region. See app for details. So I got to, by the way, I I was about to I was about to launch into today's episode. But just earlier, like about an hour ago, I they put the new Mac minis on sale and I've been waiting to upgrade my computer for a very long time. I have this iMac from I think it's like 2018 or maybe 2018 2019 so but it's the 27 inch and it's got a really beautiful 4k monitor and The computer has gotten very old and when I when I load up Photoshop
Starting point is 00:01:17 It's uh, no matter what I do. I can't optimize this thing any more than I have like now When I get up this morning, in the morning, I'll like load up Photoshop and then I'll double click on the master thumbnail file for regulation. Like for instance, and then I'll go downstairs and I'll pour coffee and I'll come back up and it'll just be about coming up by the time I come back up the stairs with my coffee.
Starting point is 00:01:41 And then God forbid if I forget to reboot, you gotta reboot this computer every day. Otherwise, if you don't reboot it for two days, everything just slows to a crawl. And then you make a mistake, like thinking like, oh, I'm just gonna move this image over here or something on Photoshop, or maybe I'll cut this thing on Audition.
Starting point is 00:02:00 And then you'll start to do it. And then you'll look up and then you'll realize, oh no, I had it in reboot today. And the computer's like, gotcha. And then everything stops and then st'll start to do it and then you'll look up and then you'll realize, oh no, I had it in reboot today. And the computer's like, gotcha. And then everything stops and then stutters and then goes for a while and then stops and stutters. And then you think, okay, it's finally done. I can start to get back to it.
Starting point is 00:02:16 And then you move the keyboard or the mouse and realize nothing happens. And you're like, oh fuck, it wasn't done. And now, now you're in deep. You're in the spiral. The best thing you can do at that point is just walk away for like 10 minutes. Try not to lose your fucking mind and then come back and then reboot the thing, hopefully. Anyway, what I'm getting at here is that my computer has I'm feeling its age.
Starting point is 00:02:40 And so I've been excited to buy a new computer for a while. I knew the new Mac minis were coming out this this fall. I've just been waiting for them to be announced. Finally, Apple announced them today. So I immediately went to buy one and realized what I realized in 2019 when I bought this one. I don't know what the fuck computers are anymore. I don't know what means anything. I look I got to get it. Do I need the M4 chipset or do I need the M4 Pro?
Starting point is 00:03:05 Now I gotta become a goddamn detective to understand the difference between the M4 and then the M4 Pro. And then I go ask my friend Gavin for help. I'm like, is this enough? And he's like, yeah, totally, it's enough. And then so I go and I buy the fucking computer and then 10 minutes later he goes,
Starting point is 00:03:17 actually, now that I think about it, and it's like, no, I already bought the computer. Anyway, every time you go to buy a computer or a television, I feel like you need to go through a whole auto didacty in process where you teach yourself the technology all over again, because it changes so rapidly, that if you're not on top of it, if you're not like an enthusiast or a hobbyist, you get left behind within the span of about three months.
Starting point is 00:03:49 And so it's so fucking frustrating for me at least. That's not fair. That's not frustrating. It's just confusing. It's just confusing and it makes me feel dumb and it makes me feel old and I am old and I've always prided myself on being dumb. So I guess I shouldn't even be complaining right now because it's just making me feel like me.
Starting point is 00:04:08 But I just don't want to have to do a book report. I don't want to go down to the local library to the encyclopedias and do a goddamn book report on what the difference between Thunderbolt 3 and Thunderbolt 4 is and how that factors in to daisy chaining fucking monitors that I'm never gonna daisy chain anyway What the fuck am I gonna daisy chain in my life? But now for some reason I'm convinced I need access to three 6k monitors at once Even though I don't even know what a 6k monitor would do anyway, I uh, I
Starting point is 00:04:40 Bought a new computer and I bought a new monitor. It took me a while. I Got there Gavin was a lot of help and then he was no help for a little bit I bought a new computer and I bought a new monitor. It took me a while. I got there. Gavin was a lot of help and then he was no help for a little bit, but then he was help again. And is it just me? Am I the only one that gets stressed out buying specifically computers
Starting point is 00:04:56 and specifically televisions? Motherfucker. I actually, I bought a monitor. The monitor I bought today, I gave up. At some point after like, for real, like maybe 25, everybody says like 30 minutes, and I don't really mean 30 minutes, I mean like eight, you know, but for probably 23, 24 minutes,
Starting point is 00:05:15 I was reading and researching fucking 27 inch, 4K Thunderbolt 4 monitors or Thunderbolt 3 monitors maybe or maybe I do. No, I don't. I just wanted to get the Thunderbolt. Don't try to convince me to get a different kind of fucking monitor. However, I gave up. I just fucking gave up and I pointed my cursor in the middle of the price range and I said, I'll just get that one.
Starting point is 00:05:43 I don't care. I've got I don't care. I'm just going to get that one. It's four point six stars. That one's four point seven. That one's four point five. Fuck it. Let's just go here. And I just picked middle of the road from a brand I recognize.
Starting point is 00:05:58 And who knows if I got a fucking lemon of a monitor or a decent monitor? Because I am not a scientist. I'm just, I'm not, I'm not a goddamn scientist. I don't have a fucking PhD in trying to understand the ins and outs of monitors in 2024. So I was thinking about nicknames. Like nicknames I've had in my life, nicknames I've given other people, nicknames I've heard that make me laugh.
Starting point is 00:06:27 You know, I'm pretty big into sports and nicknames are a big part of sports. And so I started doing a little digging around and I started doing a little research and on nicknames, etymology, that kind of thing. But. I thought first, let's take a second and look back over our lives, look back over your life. Have you ever had a nickname? I assume you probably have at some point in your life had a nickname, probably multiple,
Starting point is 00:06:55 probably some that you have forgotten about until I ask you this question right now and now you're like, oh shit, that's right, they did call me Quarter Pounder back then or whatever. I wrote down a list of all the nicknames that I've had in my life that I can remember. And there's maybe one or two more
Starting point is 00:07:14 that just aren't coming to mind. But when I was a toddler, my aunt called me Taz because she said I was like the Tasmanian devil. I feel like that's common. That's a common one for toddlers, you know, because most of them are little dickheads. When I was in grade school, my friends called me Jeffro, which I didn't hate at the time, but now I kind of do.
Starting point is 00:07:37 Jeffro, which I guess is a take on Jeffro. In the army, I had a boss who I did not like for about two years and he called me Jazz and I don't know where he got it from. I don't know why he called me Jazz but that is all he ever called me and because he called me Jazz all my co-workers called me Jazz and when they realized I hated it they started calling me Jazz with enthusiasm and so for a couple of years, I was Jazz. And I still to this day don't know why. When I worked at the call center
Starting point is 00:08:11 where I met Gus and Bernie and we started Rooster Teeth, they called me G-Funk there. And that was just based off an email address I had. Everybody had their like first initial last name. And as the email address, and I just thought G-F funk was funny at 25 years old or 24 however old I was 24 and so instead of G Fink at the time my last name was Fink and I hated it with a passion so I said G funk and then that
Starting point is 00:08:37 somehow became my nickname for many years then of course you know these days around these internet parts people refer to me as t-bone Some people call me a little Jeffy Usually in trucks That's about it though. That's a lot of nicknames. What is that one two three four five six? Maybe that's average the average amount of nicknames for you know person in their damn near 50 Get a nickname every few years you get different Yeah, you got a college you get a nickname there get a new job get a nickname there 50. Get a nickname every few years. You get different, you know, you go to college, you get a nickname there, get a new job, get a nickname there, intern somewhere,
Starting point is 00:09:07 get a nickname there. On a sports team, get a nickname. Maybe get a nickname from your D&D crew, et cetera, et cetera. My dog's name is Albert, but he has two nicknames. Jesus Christ, I sounded fucking, I sounded extra dumb there. My my dogs got two nicknames What is it about animals though you give them a name and then you almost immediately give them more names But Albert we call him a booger and that's only because of Booger McFarlane
Starting point is 00:09:42 sports commentator Sometimes when you're watching Sports Center or like First Take or something, he's on there. They'll go, now, Booger, what do you think about the O-line? And that makes Emily laugh every fucking time she hears somebody refer to Booger McFarlane like that. Now, Booger, what's your take on that? And so Albert became Booger, and we call him Beef,
Starting point is 00:10:03 because he's just a big fucking slab of bacon. He's like a sausage with the ends cut off and he weighs about eight. He's like fucking, he's dense. He's just like the densest slab of beef you've ever seen. So we call him beef or big beef. Anyway, so I started looking around at who's got the most nicknames and according to the internet,
Starting point is 00:10:22 and this is I guess the AI assisted search in Google, which is just the way it works now forever. It just always from here on out, AI is just gonna tell me the answer to stuff and I'm just gonna be like, yeah, I believe that. I mean, I don't know why I would believe it any more or less than just the words that came back from the faceless Google entity that was pre-AI.
Starting point is 00:10:45 How do I think I have some ability to vet what is and isn't true anyway, based on what Google returns to me? I'm just, I'm trusting it all. We're all just trusting shit. Anyway, according to Google, Shaquille O'Neal has the most nicknames of any athlete with 25. So I wanted to go through all of Shaq's nicknames. So here's the list that I've been able to locate. Obviously Shaq, right? Just first nickname.
Starting point is 00:11:15 Big Shamrock, that's what they called him, I think when he played for the Celtics briefly. Diesel and Shaq Diesel, Dr. Shaq. He called himself Hobo Master for a while. I don't quite remember why. LCL, I don't know what that one stands for. And it's not telling me. MDE, I feel like I used to know what that one stood for,
Starting point is 00:11:40 but now I don't. MDE, and the internet's not helping me either. Manny Shaqiao. But now I don't MDE and the internet's not helping me either Many Shaki ow I've never heard that one before mayor McShack Osama bin Shaq that seriously Google that can't be real Well, see that's what I'm talking about. I don't know if I buy that. I don't know if I buy that's a real nickname. Shaq, Shaq Daddy, Shaq Fu, of course.
Starting point is 00:12:11 Shaqovitch, Superman. That was one of his first nicknames, Superman. The Big Agave, remember that. The Big Aristotle, that was one of my favorites of his. The Big Banana. This is another one of his great nicknames. The Big Baryshnikov, the big cactus. I remember that the big conductor, the big cordially,
Starting point is 00:12:31 the big daddy, the big felon. Really? They call him the big felon. Yes. The big field general, the big galactus, the big IPO, the big leprechaun, the big Marovitch, the big shamrock. Did I already say that? Yeah, I did.
Starting point is 00:12:48 The big Shaktus. What else, what else? I feel like, oh yeah, Wilt Chamberneasy. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha Easy and they called him witness protection for a while. I remember that too. Oh man Chacalier I remember that the ring bearer The big journeyman and I don't even know if they stop at 25 I'm I think that's more than 25 already and I'm not I have another list I can go through Now I'm not really seeing any new ones It's more the same
Starting point is 00:13:22 What are some other great nicknames? Here's a list. Paul Pierce, obviously played number 34 for the Boston Celtics. Paul Pierce nicknamed the truth. It's one of the coolest, coldest nicknames. I love that about him. Dwayne Wade was the Flash. Shaq actually gave him that nickname. Tim Duncan was called the big fundamental. That's such an appropriate nickname for that dude.
Starting point is 00:13:44 Kawhi Leonard was called Sugar K. Leonard. I'd never heard that before. Who else had a lot of nicknames? Babe Ruth had 24 nicknames. Let's see some of his list of Babe Ruth's nick. The babe, the big bambino, The Big Bambino. The Big Fellow. The Big Bam. The Behemoth of Bust. The Sultan of Swat. The Caliph of Clout.
Starting point is 00:14:11 Yeah, those are pretty cool. Sultan of Swat. You know, a lot of fuckin' alliteration nicknames. Charles Barkley had 22 nicknames. What were his? He has some of the best Charles Before I look at the list when I was growing up He was referred to as Sir Charles and then eventually he was referred to as the round mound of rebound
Starting point is 00:14:36 Because he got a little heavier The second half of his career What are some of his many nicknames? The Bread Truck, I hadn't heard that one before. The Chuckster, that's right, Chuck Wagon, the Prince of Pizza, the Incredible Bulk, the Leaning Tower of Pizza, Boy Gorge. I think a lot of these might have come after he retired.
Starting point is 00:15:02 Love Boat, Food food world the Crisco kid God damn. Oh man Athletes are ridiculous It's hockey season and you can get anything you need delivered with uber eats Well almost almost anything so no you can't get a nice rank on uber eats But iced tea ice cream or just plain old ice? Yes, we deliver those. Goal tenders, no.
Starting point is 00:15:27 But chicken tenders, yes. Because those are groceries, and we deliver those too. Along with your favorite restaurant food, alcohol, and other everyday essentials. Order Uber Eats now. For alcohol, you must be legal drinking age. Please enjoy responsibly. Product availability varies by region.
Starting point is 00:15:41 See app for details. Help turn off hesitation. Turn off doubt. turn off fears. With your support, the YMCA of Greater Toronto helps people turn off whatever's holding them back so they can let their potential shine. Help turn on confidence and connections and possibilities. From youth shelters to job training,
Starting point is 00:16:01 mental health counseling and beyond, the YMCA offers hundreds of programs that empower people to shine their brightest. See our charity's impact at YMCAGTA.org charity. What about the very first nickname was? Let's let's look into this nickname, a nickname or Nick, also known as a soberket, is a substitute for the proper name of a person, place or thing. Well, duh, it is commonly used to express affection.
Starting point is 00:16:27 Oh my God, there's a fly in my room that just showed up. Yesterday he was here for about 20 minutes and drove me insane. And then when I went to get my fly swatter, he was gone and now he's back. But he does it, only does it when I'm recording. I was in the middle of a fucking podcast yesterday or whatever it was we recorded, maybe a gameplay. And then today I'm now recording this and I'm having like I'm gonna lose my mind like Walter White here pretty fucking soon. Oh sorry. Keeps buzzing in front of my face. I'm fine. I'm totally fine. I'm not
Starting point is 00:16:59 stressed out. I'm cool. Things are fine. Things are good. Anyway. Also known as a sober ket, it's a substitute for the proper name of a person, place or thing. Yeah, it is commonly used to express affection, amusement, a character trait or defamation of character. Yeah, I mean, those are the best nicknames. It is distinct from a pseudonym, stage name or title, although the concepts can overlap. Well, yeah, I would imagine it's distinct from a pseudonym, stage name or title, although the concepts can overlap. Well, yeah, I would imagine it's distinct from a pseudonym, stage name or title, because those are, well, I guess a title is awarded to you.
Starting point is 00:17:32 But you probably choose your own pseudonym or stage name, whereas in, at least in current popular culture, a nickname is something that's awarded to somebody they typically don't pick. Like I was awarded T-Bone. Everybody remembers that. I didn't choose to call myself T-Bone out of the blue one day as a bit for the show. It was a long standing thing that we all remember that's been, I've been called in the background
Starting point is 00:17:55 forever, maybe. The etymology is interesting. The compound word economic, this fucking fly. The compound word ekiname, literally meaning additional name, was attested as early as 1303. No shit. This word was derived from the old English word. I guess maybe EAC meaning also related to the occasion meaning to increase, which I guess is EACIA in a reading that is occasion meaning to increase. So by the 15th century, the misdivision of the syllables of the phrase anekiname led
Starting point is 00:18:48 to the rephrasing as anekiname. So whereas before it was an space E-K-E-N-A-M-E, an ekename, or ekename, or ekename, eventually it just got rephrased as a nekename space n e k e n a m e nickname. The spelling has changed, the meaning of the word has remained relatively stable ever since. So since the 1500s, we've been you I mean, I guess that's not the first nickname, but it's the the etymology of the word nickname, that's really fucking cool. There's nothing else really cool on the Wikipedia for nickname, though, unfortunately.
Starting point is 00:19:33 What do you think is the most common nickname? Once again, I gotta listen to this fucking AI. Some of the most common nicknames include babe, honey and baby. These are the most popular affectionate nicknames include babe, honey and baby. These are the most popular, affectionate nicknames in English. That makes sense. 20th century. These are the nicknames for the popular 20th century names, Barbara, Patricia,
Starting point is 00:19:54 Michael and David, Barb, Patty, Mike and Dave. Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Here we go. Here's a global survey. Most popular. This is where fucking Google gets its AI Answers from all right, so there was a study done global survey We surveyed 14 different languages to discover the most popular affectionate nicknames around the world babe love and baby
Starting point is 00:20:20 Top the list according to 79% of people using an affectionate nickname strengthens a relationship Okay Oh in each language, so let's see in why can't let's do I mean, that's not gonna make me sound insensitive Australia babe, honey, baby loves, sweetie sounding sensitive. Australia, babe, honey, baby, love, sweetie. English overall, babe, honey, baby, sweetie, love. Yeah, it seems pretty consistent. I could do UK English French baby.
Starting point is 00:20:52 Sherry Monomour, one sewer. I guess that's my heart. I say that right. And Chaton Chaton Kitten. I don't know how to say that. Huh? Yeah, but I was looking for cool nicknames. Like, actually, before I look up cool nicknames, what name has the most nicknames? Elizabeth. Holy shit. These are nicknames.
Starting point is 00:21:18 These are all nicknames for Elizabeth. Alyssa, Alyssa, spelled differently, Bess, Bessie, Beth, Betsy, Bet, Betty, Betty, different spellings, Buffy, Eliza, Ella, Elle, Ellie, Ellie, different spellings, Elsie, Elise, Libby, Libby, different spellings, Liddy, Lillian, Lilibet, Lilibeth, Lillian, different spelling, Lily, Lisa, Lisa, different spellings Liz Liza Liza Beth Liz Beth whatever that is Liz Beth Lizette Lizzie Lizzie different spellings and Teddy Jesus Christ Alexandra has Alex Alexa Ali Lexi, Lexi, Exandra, Sandra, Sasha, Sandy, and Andy.
Starting point is 00:22:08 Margaret has May or May, Maggie, Mags, Meg, Megan, Peg, Peggy, Marge, Margo, Madge, Midge, Maisie, Greta, Gretel, Rita, and Daisy. Huh. That's pretty cool. Speaking of cool though, what are the coolest nicknames? It's always athletes. Like if you look, like I look, coolest celebrity.
Starting point is 00:22:30 Let's see that. Uh, none of these nicknames are cool. Anne Hathaway's nickname is Annie. Mila Kunis' nickname is Goldfish. Cardi B's nickname is Bacardi. Oh, come on. Kevin Hart's nickname is goldfish. Cardi B's nickname is Bacardi, oh come on. Kevin Hart's nickname is Flip. I wore sneakers that were too big
Starting point is 00:22:51 because the girls would see them and think, oh my God, you know what that means. They were flipping off all over the place. Oh, wow. Okay. Emma Stone's nickname is M. Leah Michelle's nickname is grandma My friends call me grandma Bella thorns nickname is pickle she can't remember why
Starting point is 00:23:19 Dev Patel's nickname is pedal. Well Hugh Jackman's nickname is sticks Matthew Perry's nickname was Matty. Okay. Olivia Coleman's nickname is Collie. Collie, maybe? Oh, oh, oh, Timothy Chalamet's nickname is Timmy. Wow, that is a cool celebrity nickname. What the fucking Google search is that?
Starting point is 00:23:41 Man, how about this? How about what are the best nicknames for fandoms? Because those are fucking funny. Let me see. He's a fucking link dude. Parrot heads for Jimmy Buffett. That's a good one. What do we got?
Starting point is 00:23:58 Ed Sheeran fans are called Shereos. Ellie Gould's fans are called Gould Diggers. Justin Bieber fans are Beliebers. Yeah, Lady Gaga's got the little monsters. Louis Capaldi has big fat sexy jungle cats. I hadn't heard that. Rihanna's fans are the Navy. Didn't know that.
Starting point is 00:24:20 Weird Iankovic's fandom is called Close Personal Friends of Al. What else do we got? Chris Pine fans are called pine nuts. Good lord Katy Perry fans are called katy cats bruce springsteen's Fans are called bruce tramps
Starting point is 00:24:39 What the fuck is that? vampires for fans of twilight Oh, yeah, yeah, that's pretty funny, I guess. What about the best fucking athlete nicknames? Those are the best. Look up this list off Bleacher Report. I'm not gonna read all these, but we'll go through a few. Jared Lorenzen was called the Hefty Lefty.
Starting point is 00:25:02 He was a Super Bowl champion New York giant the hefty lefty he was a Super Bowl champion New York giant whose nicknames were also the Pillsbury throwboy j-load and the round mound of touchdown in reference to Charles Barkley. I guess he was a heftier left-handed quarterback. Gotta admit I'm not familiar with him. What else is a good one? Oh yeah, here's one. Sean White's called the Flying Tomato. That's a pretty funny one. Chipper Jones's nickname is Chipper. His real name's Larry Jones.
Starting point is 00:25:33 I didn't know that. I thought Chipper was his birth name. Now this is a good one. Anthony Hardaway's nickname is Penny. Penny Hardaway, that was always, I thought that was always a really cool nickname. Hector Macho Camacho, that's a cool nickname. That's a name that enhances you and makes you sound fucking awesome Gordie how was mr. Hockey. That's another good one
Starting point is 00:25:53 Cleveland Indian Al Rosen was called the Hebrew hammer Already said Babe Ruth, of course Bertolo cologne is big sexy. Yeah yeah that's a great one for him Bill Dickey who played for the New York Yankees in the 1940s so actually the 20s into the 40s was known as the man nobody knows huh because of his aloofness interesting Darrell Griffith was called dr. Duncan Stein. I'd forgotten about that. Oh, that's a good one. Dennis Robbins, the worm. I think everybody knows that one. Doug Martin, who was a running back for the Buccaneers from 2012 to 2018 was nicknamed the muscle
Starting point is 00:26:38 hamster for his short yet muscular physique muscle hamster. When your celebration of life is prepaid in advance, it becomes a gift from you to your family later, because no one should have to plan for a loss while they're experiencing one. Paying in advance protects your loved ones and gives you the peace of mind you deserve. Let us help you plan every detail with professionalism and compassion. We are your local Dignity Memorial provider. Find us at DignityMemorial.ca. Oh, here's a good one.
Starting point is 00:27:16 Fred McGriff, who played for the Devil Rays and the Braves and was just a fucking awesome, awesome baseball player. I was a big fan when I was growing up. He was named the Crime Dog and he actually got his nickname Obviously, it's a McGruff reference, but he actually got it from Chris Berman who was a ESPN Sports Center announcer who? Just coined it in in doing highlights one night and then that's stuck and he became the crime dog after that Larry Byrd was called the hick from French lick Pretty accurate from everything I've read
Starting point is 00:27:48 Randy Johnson was called the big unit people said that because he was like 610 But supposedly it was really just cuz they had like a huge wing Steve Traxel was called the human rain delay Pitcher Steve Traxel was dubbed the human rain delay for the time he took between pitches when tracks will pitch the games could be up to An hour longer than the standard contest his deliberate approach didn't seem to make a difference in his performance His lifetime record was 143 and 159 and his e ra was 439 pretty middle of the road there See it's guys like that that are the reason we have a pitchers clock now. And I think we're all happier for it. Vince Carter was called Vinsanity, which reminds me of Lynn sanity
Starting point is 00:28:31 as well. Jeremy Lynn. William the refrigerator Perry is another awesome nickname. Man, I could go on forever. There's a million nicknames, both cool and funny. Walter Payton, running back for the Chicago Bears, was called Sweetness. That's one of the cooler nicknames I've ever seen. Gary Payton, who's a phenomenal defender and had these giant hands. He was called the Glove.
Starting point is 00:28:55 His son plays in the NBA right now, actually. Ricky Henderson was called the Man of Steel, but S-T-E-A-L because he was one of the best base stealers. But the best base stealer of all time. What do you mean one best base stealer, but the best base stealer of all time. What do you mean one of? Ricky Henderson is easily the best base stealer of all time. If you're not aware, go look at that dude's stats. Holy shit.
Starting point is 00:29:12 Ricky Henderson is a dude we should actually do an episode on someday, because he is an interesting motherfucker and wildly entertaining, a great all-time sports character. Speaking of which, Fernando Valenzuela just died. I don't know if I mentioned that in last episode or not. Hall of Fame, all-time great Los Angeles Dodger pitcher. Right before the World Series started, he died. And I grew up watching him play.
Starting point is 00:29:40 That was another nickname that when he became huge, it created what was called Fernando mania. And that dude, there was a year he threw nine shutouts, complete game shutouts in one season. That's insane by today's standard. Just insane. Anyway, he's another great sports legend and character that we could probably dive into at some point in the future. Speaking of the World Series, as of today, holy shit, the Dodgers are up three-oh. Tonight is game four in New York.
Starting point is 00:30:13 If the Dodgers sweep this thing, I mean, it's an incredibly difficult thing to do to sweep. Incredibly difficult. And if the Dodgers lose tonight, then of course they have the benefit of potentially winning it at home in LA. But then a team like the Yankees,
Starting point is 00:30:28 you don't wanna give up, right? You get your fucking boot on their neck right now, you cannot give them an inch because you, all it takes, all it takes is one ray of hope in professional sports like this, you know? That's all it takes. And then suddenly the tide turns, sports is such a momentum based profession.
Starting point is 00:30:46 You really, the Dodgers, if they can at all manage it, they need to shut these dudes out tonight and into this World Series. And if Freddie Freeman has anything to say about it, they will, Jesus Christ, man. I go in and I talk about how important Max Muncie and Mookie Betts are gonna be to win in this thing. And of course, both of them are important.
Starting point is 00:31:05 And Shohei's been a little all over the map. And he got hurt. And now he's like running around with his fucking arm in a sling. That's crazy. But it doesn't matter because Freddie Freeman has been unreal. And then on the Yankee side, Wanzato has been pretty impressive, too. I got to give him credit. The the Celtics are off to a hot start.
Starting point is 00:31:27 They are four and oh, as of today. And in that four and oh, they've beaten two bottom tier teams, the Detroit Pistons and the Washington Wizards. Those are all but guaranteed for a team as good as the Boston Celtics, but they also easily handled the New York Knicks on opening night. And then last night, the Milwaukee Bucks, who looked competitive till about halfway through the third quarter.
Starting point is 00:31:50 And then Boston really just kind of turned it on. And they are now sitting pretty clearly an echelon above anybody else they've played. We haven't played the 76ers yet, but then nobody's seen a healthy 76ers because Joel Embiid and Paul George don't play basketball anymore So who knows what they'll even look like I think the Sixers are like one and two or one and three right now Maybe don't quote me on that. I haven't looked it up. It's just going off memory, but they're not they're not doing great and I don't know who else
Starting point is 00:32:18 Orlando Magic I said I think in my preview that I thought the Orlando Magic had a really high ceiling this year And if they could figure it out, they'd be pretty competitive. I think they're figuring it out. They're looking really good Paolo is looking really good. He just dropped 50 last night. I think insane I feel like Paolo still somehow under rated underrepresented I keep waiting for the fucking like the world to key into like The fact that we've got a John Moran and we've got an Anthony Edwards and we have a Zion and we have a Jason Tatum and we have all the we have an SGA and all these young stars, obviously a Victor women, Yama and a Chet Holmgren.
Starting point is 00:32:52 But we have a Paulo here, too, who is right in the mix with all those dudes. And I think this is the year maybe that I think the league has taken notice, but maybe the fans take notice anyway. Loving the season so far. Love loving having basketball back in my life loving watching the fucking Emergence of Peyton Pritchard as a sixth man of the year candidate for the Boston Celtics. What an insane Start he has had can't think of anybody else who deserves it more than that dude Hell of a work ethic was very very patient in the early days of his career when there were reports that he wanted out and Brad Stevens was like you just got to stick with me for a while we got
Starting point is 00:33:31 a logjam at guard you know that but we're gonna find a place for you and they did and he showed up in a big way in the playoffs and obviously in the NBA Finals last year at that all all time huge three, and it started 2024 off exactly where he left off in the NBA Finals. I can't believe I'm saying it, but we're not even fully healthy. We don't have poor Zingus yet. We're not gonna have poor Zingus,
Starting point is 00:33:56 our probably third best player, for another two months maybe? Like probably they say December, but December always means January. If anytime somebody says December, it means January. December is a dead month, not just for sports injury recovery, but for all things in your business, in anything.
Starting point is 00:34:18 If somebody says, yeah, we'll look that over again in December or we'll tackle that in December or we'll address that again in December, Let's put a pin in that till December. That means January because nobody does shit in December. So I don't expect to see Porzingis back in December, but he will be back hopefully in January and then we'll finally be fully fucking healthy. Fingers crossed no other injuries happen. Look out rest of the league. The Celtics aren't even fully charged yet. Well, I should probably put a pin in this and call it a day. You guys need a song of the day,
Starting point is 00:34:50 song of the episode rather. Let's go with, I don't think I've ever picked this one, but I've got a point now where I have so many rattling around in my head that I mean to, that it's entirely possible I'm retreading over old territory. But I'm gonna pick Piazza New York Catcher by Belle and Sebastian, which is a really sweet, beautiful love song, a very positive love song.
Starting point is 00:35:10 I feel like I've talked about it before, maybe in reference to another song or something I have, maybe not on its own. But it's a it's like poetry. It's a really good, sweet, feel good song. It's a you want to like feel in love or you're like happy about your partner. It's kind of a, kind of a positive lovey kind of song to listen to. And it's, it's got some really good, beautiful lines. It's also about Mike Piazza and baseball players.
Starting point is 00:35:34 I'm not sure which picture they're talking about, but there's some really interesting lyrics in here where he says that the pitcher puts religion first and rests on holidays. He goes into cathedrals and lies prostrate on the floor. He knows the drink affects his speed. He's praying for a doorway back into the life he wants and the confession of the bench. Life outside the diamond is a wrench. That is such a cool line.
Starting point is 00:35:56 Life outside the diamond is a wrench. And I have been like, I maybe it's just cause I've dealt with addiction, but I've been that dude in that moment when I was deepest in my addiction, and even when I wasn't super into my addiction, there have been many times in my life where the only time I feel comfortable or at ease
Starting point is 00:36:17 is in production, is when I'm in front of a microphone like this, when I was making a video for Achievement Hunter, or when I was doing a live stream or an event or making Red versus Blue or like whatever I was doing, a lot of times the only time I ever felt like myself was in those moments. And like, I'll use the RT podcast or Off Topic
Starting point is 00:36:41 as an example, there were many days, many eras when I was performing where I felt like utter shit Just in general not like physically mentally emotionally just wasn't in a good place and the only time I felt okay Was when they yelled action and I got to come alive and play with like three friends And have a conversation or play a video game or do whatever it was we were doing. And then I felt good and pure and like myself and real and it felt appropriate and like I was getting to be me, you know? And then the second it's over, it's over.
Starting point is 00:37:21 And then the real world creeps back in. And much like, I'm just describing my own feelings and emotions to this song, but much like the picture and the song, I have found many different periods of my life that life outside the diamond is a wrench. In his case, it's a baseball diamond. In my case, it was probably a production company. But thank God life's not a wrench right now. and I hope life isn't a wrench for you as well
Starting point is 00:37:49 I hope you've had a wonderful little traipse through nicknames and Whatever the fuck else we talked about today, and I hope I'll see you right here next week for another episode of so alright Thank you very much. And if you ever need a cameo Check me out on Jeff L. Ramsey. Don't forget to go to Regulatrion.com if you're at all interested in the regulation podcast and what we've all been up to since Rooster Teeth shut down. And either way.
Starting point is 00:38:18 I love you and I'll talk to you next week. Fingers crossed. All right. This is the end of the show. Well, I don't know what. next week. Fingers crossed. Alright.

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