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Kevin Blackistone

'Human Eraser': Era of Sweet Nicknames

Posted Apr 08, 2009 10:00PM By Kevin Blackistone (RSS feed)

Filed Under: NBA

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Marvin WebsterKing James. Big Papi. Ocho Cinco, a jersey number.

And those are our best sports' nicknames.

If that's not unimaginative and stale enough, try first initial plus first syllable of last name or first letter, like C-Webb and K-Dub.

Then there are the two-seconds-of-thought nicknames. They use the first and last initials, as in A.I. and T.O. I'll wake you when I'm done.

That is how boring our sports nicknames have become.

I was sadly reminded of that Wednesday evening upon the announcement that Marvin Webster, the 7-foot-1 center who anchored the Supersonics to the 1978 NBA Finals, was found dead in a Tulsa hotel bathtub at just 56 years old. Webster that season averaged just fewer than two blocked shots a game. His nickname: The Human Eraser. How cool was that?

Webster was not alone in pro basketball, particularly during the ABA and post-ABA era, when it came to having a memorable and original nom de guerre. George Gervin was The Iceman. Darryl Dawkins was Chocolate Thunder, which -- in his honor and my hometown's, Washington, D.C., aka Chocolate City -- I now call my brown Mini Cooper. Pete Maravich was Pistol Pete.

Football had a few. Walter Payton was Sweetness. William Perry was The Refrigerator. Kenny Stabler was The Snake. Christian Okoye was The Nigerian Nightmare.

Baseball had Pete Rose as Charlie Hustle. Dennis Boyd was, my favorite, Oil Can. The Big Unit (Randy Johnson) and The Big Hurt (Frank Thomas) are, fortunately, barely still around.

Those of us in the media who once conferred such names -- like an old mentor of mine, Luis Overby, who first tagged Earl Monroe as Black Jesus -- have lost our creativity, or given in to the corporatization of athletes by consumer product marketing. Sports haven't been the same since. As a result, our games have lost any whimsy.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn and the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. A former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, he currently lives in Silver Spring, Md.

Deaths in Sports

    Marvin Webster, April 6: "The Human Eraser" played nine seasons in the NBA. He was 56 years old. Click through the gallery to see other recent deaths in the sports world.

    Rogers Photo Archive/Getty Images

    Jobie Dajka, April 7: The former world champion was found dead in his home.

    Michael Kienzler, APF / Getty Images

    Lou Saban, March 29: The 87-year-old Saban coached the Patriots, Bills and Broncos in his NFL career. He also coached at Miami, Army, Northwestern and Maryland.

    NFL / Getty Images

    Gus Cifelli, March 26: The former offensive lineman, here in a handout photo from Notre Dame, helped win three national titles for the Irish. He died of natural causes.

    Courtesy Notre Dame

    Shane McConkey, March 26: The legendary big mountain skier and BASE jumper, pictured here in October 2007, died Thursday in a ski-BASE accident in the Italian Dolomites.

    Alfredo Martinez, Red Bull Photo Files

    Alysheba, March 27: The winner of the 1987 Kentucky Derby, seen here being ridden by jockey Chris McCarron, was euthanized following a fall in his stall.

    Bob Daugherty, AP

    George Kell, March 24: The Hall of Fame third baseman played 14 years in the AL with Philadelphia, Detroit, Boston, Chicago and Baltimore. He was a Detroit Tigers broadcaster from 1959 to 1996.

    AP

    Walt Poddubny, March 21: Drafted 90th overall by Edmonton in 1980, Poddubny played 11 NHL seasons for the Oilers, Toronto, the New York Rangers, Quebec and New Jersey.

    Clement Allard, The Canadian Press / AP

    Whitey Lockman, March 17: Lockman, who doubled ahead of Bobby Thompson's "Shot Heard Round The World" that clinched the 1951 NL pennant, passed away after a fight with pulmonary fibrosis.

    Diamond Images / Getty Images

    Alex Simonka, March 14: The U.S. Coast Guard women's basketball coach died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

    United States Coast Guard

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Kevin Blackistone

Kevin BlackistoneKevin B. Blackistone is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse.com. He is a regular panelist on ESPN's sports-debate show, "Around The Horn,'' seen Monday through Friday at 5 p.m. ET. Blackistone currently serves as the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. A former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, he currently lives in Silver Spring, Md.