G.C.-hold-the-tomato:
The topic of pool nicknames goes back to the "mandatory-ness" that the pool-playing public foists upon the pro or iconic players, whether they (the players) want it or not, or whether the nickname even fits or not.
For example:
Niels "The Terminator" Feijen -- who was the dipstick that coined this one? Niels bears no resemblance to Ahhhhhhnold Schwarzenegger at all. Not at all. Niels bears a much closer resemblance to Dolph Lundgren (the "I must break you" guy from one of the Rocky movies). But, dumb pool-playing public sees spikey hair, can't even make the proper distinction as to which actor with spikey hair Niels most closely resembles, and comes up with a "mandatory" nickname, blissfully unaware of how "dumb American" it appears to the rest of the world.
Dennis "Robocop" Orcullo -- what the h*ll does the movie Robocop (or its main character) have to do with Dennis or his style of play? Can you imagine Dennis upon hearing he was "tagged" with this nickname? I can just picture it, in his best broken English... "Robocop? What is Robocop? Is fishing lure?"
Mike "The Iceman" Immonen -- don't get me started with this one. First, Mika should be one of the last people you think of when hearing the term, "iceman." The man wears his emotions on his sleeve! But let me guess -- culturally-neutered American hears that Mika is from Finland, thinks of a very cold place, and coins the term, "iceman" -- completely oblivious to the term's real meaning. (I imagine in Beevis and Butthead fashion, "heh-heh, heh-heh, yeah, Iceman, heh-heh, heh-heh.") Ralf Souquet is a much, *much* better example of an "iceman" than Mika -- in spades. But that leads us to our next example...
Ralf "The Kaiser" Souquet -- ah yes, culturally-neutered American thinking continues. "Gee, we need (key-operative word 'need', remember) to give Ralf a nickname. Gosh, he *has* to have one. What to call him? Let's see, he's German, so it has to be 'something German' -- anything German. 'Ralf Sausage Souquet'? No, that sounds weird. 'Ralf Sauerkraut Souquet'? Nah, that doesn't work. 'Ralf The Kaiser Souquet' Aha! The Kaiser is German, Ralf is German, so there you have it! heh-heh, heh-heh, Kaiser, heh-heh, heh-heh."
Another example of ridiculousness? How about "Corey 'The Prince of Pool' Deuel"? (Or even the older, "Corey 'Cash-money' Deuel")
The list goes on and on. Yes, there *are* some good nicknames out there, like Bata, Pots & Pans, Ginky, etc -- these have a story behind them, and the player earned them. But the others?
Like I said, foist nicknames like we seem compulsive on doing, and the gheyness prevails...
-Sean
