WEATHERFORD —
Don’t you just love the trendy habit of sports media persons perpetuating the ever-increasing trait of abbreviating athletes names?
Yeah, I’m with you. Me, neither.
Perhaps it is a natural aversion to the habit. The first shortened moniker I can remember, that really stuck, is “A-Rod,” back when Alex Rodriguez was in Texas.
I know a lot of the nicknames start in the locker room, within the team, and invariably get over-exposed from there, especially after an “I’m your best-est bud” reporter gets wind of it.
Oh, it’s not a major annoyance mind you, but one wonders if the habit will go away, or just proliferate. I suspect the latter, since it is driven in part by the obsession our society has with the texting thing... heaven forbid if you ever had the temerity to actually spell out “Laughing Out Loud” (especially if you are already approaching the max-character count for one screen).
We abbreviate some other celebrities, as well, aside from just sports figures, and there just appears to be no end.
I will try not to be surprised the day I hear a newscast referring to the leader of the free world as President B-Ob, which will prompt a natural segue to just plain Bob... highly disrespectful, I think. It would have to at least be “The Bob.”
The syndrome has pervaded my mind recently because of the incessant rumor mill about whether the Dallas Mavericks would be able to sign one of the NBA super stars out on the market. D-Will (or Deron Williams to us trendy-challenged types) decided Dallas was not where he wanted to be, and it is looking more each day like all the other free agents of note feel the same way, including J-Kid, who spurned the Mavs by signing with the Knicks.
OV! (Oy vey).
So, we are left with D-No (as in, “No, Dirk cannot win by himself”), who by now must be wondering where he will have to go to get another ring.
Apologies for all of the parenthetical asides in this piece. But I truly aspire, while going the extra mile, to help ensure that at least a few readers are left LOL.
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