In my Sunday morning basketball game, we have had a bunch of good nicknames. A former FBI guy turned attorney was “Thunder Dan”. A tall white guy became “Mosgov”. One season, the local lawyer’s league decided to name a most valuable player for every single game — and one our players who “won” that odd designation became “MVP John”. ”Tall Dan” is, well, tall.
But the best nickname was bestowed on the athletic 23 year-old son of another player (nicknamed the “Stopper” for his self-proclaimed defensive prowess). The 23 year-old would seemingly change shape in mid-air to steal a long pass, come from nowhere to block a shot, or contort his body to finish a drive.