Gotta love names of people that seem to be destined for either super stardom or complete and udder ridicule. (These ones are the former)
I can imagine that if these people hadn’t become major big deals in their respective sports that things might have been different. Questions:
1) Does having a strange/wacky name make you better at your sport?
2) Does having a strange/wacky name secure you extra/extended playing time?
3) Does having a strange/wacky name give you a reasonable excuse to act outside the boundaries of social conformity?
Here are my fav names of individuals that may or may not fit into either one of these categories:
1) Stubby Clapp
- Baseball player, revered for his very American name and short stocky appearance. Literal Translation: “Short Stocky American who also plays Baseball”
2) Titi Camera
- Midfielder that played for Liverpool FC. I still remember the English fans trying to grasp this incredibly strange collaboration of first and last names. Sadly Titi didn’t last long. If your first name isn’t Terry, Nigel, or Harry chances are you won’t get a chant named after you in England. Literal Translation of Name: “Man with strange name”
3) Pops Mensa-Bonsu
- Power Forward, Toronto Raptors. This guy has the most incredible name so far. Firstly cause his name is POPS, and secondly the next part is MENSA - which basically means he is incredibly smart. BONSU I can only assume means “warrior” and/or “dragon slayer” in another language, other than my own. So literal translation of this name would be: “Fatherly Genius Who Slays Pre-historic Mammals”
Suddenly, “James Brown” doesn’t have quite the same ring to it…