Where have all the nicknames gone? 

Have you noticed that there aren’t very many in hockey?  Have we used up all the good ones?

There used to be Rocket Richard, Gump Worsley, The Great One, Super Mario, and the Flower among others.  But now we don’t seem to have as many catchy nicknames and I think we need to get some back.  Now all we have seem to be variations on their last names.  But the players have a lot on their minds.  They have to worry about the opposition, learn their own plays, work on the power play – they are just too busy to come up with their own nicknames, so that leaves it up to us.

Sidney Crosby is in dire need of a nickname.  Sid the Kid was okay – until he turned 20.  Although still a “kid” at that tender age, in hockey years he’s about 57!  He said some junior teammates called him Darryl, for awhile, after Darryl Sittler.  That doesn’t work either.  One of the Penguin announcers calls him the Wizard of Cros – doesn’t work for me.  I do like Mike Lange’s call, “Slap my silly, Sidney” that he sometimes uses when Crosby scores.  But other than those, no one seems to have a nickname that will stick and be a perfect fit.  “Sid” just seems like such an old name for such a young guy.

Let’s think about his attributes.  He is more determined that most, he is fiercely competitive, he’s possessed during a game.  He works out like a fiend, he’s very smart and likeable.  He’s now the Captain of the team and wants the Cup more than anything else in life.  He has that move where he goes on to one knee to shoot and he likes the spin-o-rama move. He plays a physical game too. But none of that inspires me to come up with a nickname. 

What do you think?  Can you come up with a nickname for Sid? 

If you have a suggestion, email me at texasjan@hotmail.com and we can talk about the submissions in another column.

In the meantime, let’s all just continue to watch and enjoy Crosby’s career unfold.