Giving an athlete a moniker or nickname carries a big responsibility. If you baptize a player a sobriquet or a nom de guerre that doesn?t suit him but sticks anyway, imagine he?ll live with the stigma the rest of his life. Nobody wants to be called the ?Benchwarmer? or ?Lacoste? (a not-so-abrasive alternative to ?swapang?) or the ?Hog? (as in ?ball-hog?).
Sometimes, an athlete earns a nickname because of his looks as in Marlou (The Skyscraper) Aquino and Gabe (Mr. President) Norwood who resembles President Obama or his playing style like Wynne (The Snatcher) Arboleda for his ability to swipe the ball under your nose or his patented shot as in Mac (Captain Hook) Cardona for his uncanny teardrop or his approach to the game like Jared (The Daredevil) Dillinger or his unique physical feature as in Arwind (The Spiderman) Santos because of his long arms.
Eric Menk dubbed himself ?Major Pain,? a witty offshoot from the character Major Payne. Asi Taulava has the label ?The Rock? for obvious reasons ? he?s an immovable force on the court. Rudy Hatfield is ?The H-Bomb? because he?s so explosive with his intense, high-energy style. Dennis (The Menace) Espino owes his moniker to the cartoon character. Gary David is referred to as Mr. Pure Energy because of his go-go game and his ?tokayo? Gary Valenciano. Sol Mercado is ?The Sol Train,? a take-off from the Motown soul scene. Ali (The Mountain) Peek is a play-on-words for mountain peak.
?Machine Gun? Kelly Williams brings back memories of the notorious gangster ?Machine Gun? Kelly who was on the FBI?s Most Wanted List during the prohibition era of the ?30s. Jason Castro is the ?Maestro? as Mark Caguioa is the ?Spark? as Sonny Thoss is the ?Boss? as Cyrus Baguio is ?Skyrus? because of the rhyme factor. Other nicknames are Josh (The Fireball) Urbiztondo, Peter June (Supersub) Simon, ?Dynamite? Danny Seigle and Paul (Kid Lightning) Artadi.
* * *
Louis Phillips and Burnham Holmes, in their book ?The Complete Book of Sports Nicknames,? said: ?The world of sports is clearly marked by the signposts of colorful monikers…but where do the nicknames come from? The process is complex; it can involve ancestry, family history, birthplace, initials, physical characteristics, what the individual does during competition or off the field, a favorite expression, sobriquets bestowed by sportswriters, free association or word play.?
