PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - The Best Nickname in Arizona Sports History

Episode Date: October 27, 2021

Makayla Perkins is joined by an All-Star panel of PHNX beat reporters to discuss a variety of sports topics in the Valley of the SunSteve Peters, Greg Esposito and Derek Montilla will join the podcast to hash out which Arizona athlete has the BEST nickname of ALL TIME! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome into the Phoenix Sports Podcast, presented by Dracking Sportsbook, America's top-rated sportsbook app. I'm your host, Michaela Perkins, and joining me today is Derek Montia, Steve Peters, and Greg Esposito, otherwise known as Espos. How is everybody doing? Fantastic. Honestly, Mac, I'm just struggling to get the retweets and tweets out that we're supposed to get up before the show just to get them out before the camera's going. This is a hard. It's a lot of pressure. It's a lot of pressure.

It's a hard job, Pedy. Amateurs. I know. I need another lesson. I think I retweeted like eight times by the time you got your one out. And then I tweeted and not retweeted or quote tweeted. I'm trying. It's okay.

For those of you that don't know, Steve Peters did not have a Twitter up until this three months ago. He made him do this. We forced him to get Twitter. That was true. He still argue Steve Peters doesn't really have it. He does. He's doing his best. He's doing his best.

Literally arguable that it doesn't exist. Peter, do you want to plug your Twitter account while we're sitting As Peter's hockey. As Peter's hockey, go follow our guy. He's growing his account. As a social media professional, I think you're doing a great job. I really am trying. As a leap and bounds.

I love you, Petey. I know. I am trying. I'm trying. There's new and fun things coming. Well, before we get into our main topic of the day, let's do our Valley Sports Temperature Check, courtesy of that awesome graphic, courtesy of our. great art director Arnold.

I think it's pretty cool. It also, he kind of was a little shady with it. I'll just say he strategically placed the teams. I see that. On the temperature gauge. Yeah. Right.

I still feel like the coyotes should be a little bit higher than the debacks. Really? Yeah. I don't. I'm just, come on. You guys still have a season ahead of these. Derek,

the coyotes have not won a single game so far yet this season. Okay. Well, that's valid. Once we win, they can move it up. At least the Diamondbacks won some games to start the season. What is happening right now? The temperature is extremely cold with that team.

Unfortunately, they're at the start of a very long road trip. They've got back-to-backs against Tampa and Washington. Two of the best teams in the league this weekend, followed up by a Halloween contest against Philadelphia. I literally don't like their chances in any of those three games. I'm looking at the calendar trying to find a win, and it's not in the near future. They just lost one of their best defensemen in Connor Timmy's.

They lost Hutton, Connor Timmons. Timmons, Dzingle, they lost, Schmaltzy went down this morning after the morning skate, so he's out. So injuries are hitting the team hard, and it was a team that was already struggling to create offense. So I don't know what's going to happen. So when do you think is the soonest we could see this Coyote's team win a game? I've got the weekend of the 5th and 6th of November. It's back-to-back-Aheim, Seattle, although Seattle is starting to play better. That's Seattle at home.

If not for that, you're looking at probably November 20th against Detroit. God. Wow. And that'll be six weeks, six weeks into the season. How many games do you have them winning this season? The over under we picked was 18 and I think I've got the under. If they shoot 100% in the first period, those. Which they did. And it still doesn't help. It's, you know what? And we can sit there and make light of it. Literally, this is the plan. And that's the hardest part. Yeah. As a fan, as someone watching the games, this is what they're trying to do. Yeah. Ownership management committed to this plan. And buddy, they're sticking to it and it's working. It seems like if your plan is no goalie in the NHL, it's a pretty solid one.

Yeah, and that's the easiest way to lose games, right? But what's more realistic? An organization setting that expectation and saying that they're going to lose that many games just right out of the gate or kind of what the debacks did, which was spent, you know, $40 million less than the league average and then still be like, yeah, we're trying to be competitive wink. Rather be honest with you. And I think the fan base here has accepted that. And they're looking down the road and they're honestly okay with it.

As long as the draft pick comes in and the plan goes to fruition four or five years from now, then I think they can live with what they're going through. Yeah. And I think the Sons helped make that argument for other teams in town. Yes. You can go, well, they did it and they were in the finals last year. Yeah. Now it was a rough road to get there and it was not pretty in any way,

but that at least is a beacon of hope for a lot of these teams in town. The problem is, though, is they just look at that 19-win season, and not, you know, the 10 years surrounding it when they were also bad. So it's like it's not just that. It takes those building blocks that they got young players that they could build around. And then eventually bringing in the Chris Pauls and the J. Crowders. Yeah, they forget the Andy Dufrain years where you get to crawl through 500 yards of shit to get to the other side, basically. Well, speaking of the Suns, they are also off to a bit of a rough start, not as bad as the coyotes.

Espo is this a little bit of like a finals hangover? what's going on? I plead the fifth. Okay. I feel like that's just, we're going to hear that a lot. But look, I think right now the Sons are victims of a schedule that was not favorable to start. Three games and four nights, all against playoff teams,

opening night is against a team that they knocked out of the playoffs that had an axe to grind with them. So Denver comes out strong. Portland on a back-to-back is never. at easy city to play in. So you're sitting at one and two. At least the one came against the Lakers, and it was pretty handily. So I'm not hitting a panic button.

I'm not freaked out. But we record this on Wednesday. If they lose to the Kings, post game's going to be me with my hair on fire, probably, depending on how it happens. Because anytime you lose to Sacramento and anything, you probably need to take a good, hard look at yourself. I kind of want to watch them lose now,

just so I can see your hair on fire. I'm tuning in. Why does everybody like the idea of me? Punishing you. They do. They do. A slap shot for your show. Michaela wants to see me with my hair on fire.

If it sells tickets, Espo. It's all that matters. Well, one team in the valley that's not struggling is the Arizona Cardinals. They are still undefeated. Ever since we started this podcast, they've been undefeated. So I'll take the credit for that. I'm just kidding. Pop the breaks.

I hosted the first two episodes of this. That's true. I'll take a little of it. They're 7 and 0 right now, the only undefeated team in the NFL. They have a chance to go 8 and 0 tomorrow, Thursday night football, something that they've never done in the history of their franchise. However, in order to do that, they have to get through the Packers first. And the Packers are the first place team in their division. They're sitting at 6 and 1.

So that's going to be a tough battle. What are you expecting from that match up, Derek? I, you know, I'm not, I don't doubt the Cardinals anymore, right? And I think that I concentrate a lot on the losses of personnel that the Cardinals. Cardinals have experience where the Packers are going through the same thing. They've lost some key personnel as well. Cardinals are getting Chandler Jones back. And I think after his time off, he's going to be an absolute monster out there.

You know, I don't. I think he's probably taking a look at his success in that first game and what teams were doing against him. He had plenty of time off to, you know, kind of analyze what was going on. So I expect him to have a huge game. I'm concerned. And I think that the Packers are a good team. I wouldn't be too upset about the Cardinals, you know, losing to a team like the Packers versus, you know, if they dropped like last week's game to the Texans or something like that. Right. Right. So I just, I don't, I don't doubt them any longer. And they seem at times to be getting stronger as the season goes on. Right. I, they had some games that they should have won by bigger margins earlier on. They got really lucky with that Vikings win. But when it comes down to it, they're undefeated. And I, right now, I can't pick a.

against them. I wouldn't, I don't know if I'd bet on him, but I can't pick against them. Are you guys picking against the Cardinals tomorrow? I haven't seen the spread, but it's hard to bet against Aaron Rogers in anything. Last time I checked, the Cardinals was six and a half point favorite. He's a guy that always can find a way to get his team at least in it towards the end. So Aaron Rogers is the X factor for me. The Cardinals defense has been outstanding. If they can get their pass rush onto Aaron Rogers, it hurries, his throw is early. Maybe that makes a difference. It's a team that's come together. And they're playing as a great. And we've talked in all of the different shows and all of the different podcasts, how if you get that unity and you find that little sweet spot where everybody's doing everything for everybody, that's when you have something special and that's how you create winners and championships.

The Cardinals are doing that. So it is exciting to watch. And I have them over Green Bay, but it's going to be tight. It's counterintuitive, but you're going to stopping the runs imperative Thursday night for the Cardinals. Because with Devante Adams and I'm blanking on the. No, Zard. Thank you. Zard out.

That passing game's going to take a hit. I don't care of Aaron Rogers, how great Aaron Rogers is. If you're throwing to your third and fourth receivers against a secondary that's proven to be surprisingly good for the Cardinals, that's going to take a hit. So if you can stop the run, you're going to force the Packers into a situation where they're relying on guys that they don't usually have to. And that's what I want to see Thursday night from the defense into your Chandler Jones. point Derek. I think he'll benefit from JJ Watt getting even more focused on

by offensive lines after the way he's performed since Chandler's been out. So there's a lot of opportunity here for the defense to prove that they're one of the best in the NFL and then the offense just needs to take care of business the way it has been all season long. Yeah, and you mentioned too,

the Packers are missing wide receiver 1 and 2 and they're also missing their defensive coordinator, which is not a great time to be missing your defensive coordinator going up against an offense like the Arizona Cardinals. So I know it's going to be a good game. I also have the Cardinals winning. So speaking of sports betting and the Cardinals,

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I get all excited to talk about murder. If you guys need some contacts, go check out last night's Diamondbacks podcast. We talked about murder. We had a great time talking about murder. I don't want to get too into it because I feel like if I keep talking about how much I like it, people are going to be like, this girl's insane. They're calling you the murder queen already on Twitter, so I mean, I don't know what to tell you. Between these two guys and between us, they've seen their teams get murdered more than

that's true. That's true. Absolutely. You guys should be very comfortable with murder. All of the D-backs did not lose this week. No, they did not. Yay. Go check out some Arizona Fall League, by the way.

It's absolutely beautiful. But wait, why the hell don't they play on Sundays? The Arizona Folley? Yeah, I want to go see a game. Don't play Sunday. Does that make sense? Would you not play on Sunday? No, there's a lot of things that don't make sense.

I was told I promote the Arizona Fall League better than the Arizona Fall League promotes it. And I think that's only because I think they have their audience, kind of like spring training. They don't need to like scream and shout about it because people are going to come out. I just think it's a lot of fun and I think people easily forget about it, especially with the World Series and playoffs going on and such. So like, yeah, you know, talk about a little bit more.

Make it a little bit more available. I think Sundays would be great. Derek Jeter played for the Chandler Dimebacks. Whoa, Espo dropping some knowledge. I remember seeing that back in the day when they used to play it. Her compadre stadium down. Yes. Wow.

Throwback. A really nerdy throwback for you. Listen, all I'm saying is go watch baseball. baseball while you can because live baseball it's going to be gone for like a week and a half right away I disagree but that's another podcast or another day before we get into our topic of the day Aaron do we have a comment I can't see it no I still can't see it it says short short week spooks me should be a good game though and in regards to the cardinals and I agree I think that doesn't but at least the packers are also on a short week right so it's like they they are even as far as you know everything goes and they're at home.

They get this Thursday game at home after playing a home game. So it's kind of the best condition for playing a home, you know, besides having a buy week before. Yeah, absolutely. All right. Let's get into our topic of the day. Hit it Aaron, which is the best nickname in Arizona sports history.

I know I say this every week, but this week I actually mean it. This is a fun topic. She's lied to you every other time. Every other week. This time she means. This is fun. I'm looking forward to this.

I had to do some research. I'm not going to lie into some of the best nicknames in the Valley. So I have my list, but I'm interested to see how my list stacks up against each of yours. Feel free to talk about however many you want, but I definitely want you guys to nominate your top nickname from your sport by the end of this. Espo, do you want to kick us off? Espo's the best. You can just stop. We're good.

We're done. Yes, Espo himself does have a great nickname. Look, how many? I have a long list, but how many do we actually want to? go through. Like, should I rattled through a bunch of my favorite tier? Well, I mean, the sons have a lot. I do have, most of mine are sons.

So many sons off the top of my head. Yeah, I mean, hit it. Okay, so the Oklahoma kid, which was Alvin Adams, tsunami poppy, obviously, uh, is a great one. Big sauce, which was Alan Williams. Oh, big sauce. The dragon, which was Gorn Druggitch. Yes. The Hawk,

which is Connie Hawkins, which is a little cheating. A short name, but if you watched him play, he moved like gracefully like a bird soaring through the air so I like it Polish hammer Marching Gortat is a great one Wow you found more than I found

No the list is incredible This is insane The round amount of rebound is a Berkeley one Not my favorite but it's up there Sox Thunder Dan Thunder Dan Because people don't realize Before he became a three point specialist

He dunked on people He dunked on fools In the late 80s early 90s And that's why you got the nickname Thunder. The Brazilian blur for Leandro Barbosa is great. A non-sons one, but a basketball one, which is this nickname's kind of gone through the mud. But Stephen Headache Smith from ASU, who was part of the point shaving scandal, but I like the nickname. The Greyhound, which was Alvin Adams, which is spectacular.

He also had the nickname the man with the velvet touch. Ooh. That is, that's a, like, in, you got to think this is late 70s, early 80s. So that's like, it fits the vibe of that time, the man with the velvet touch. Yeah. I, you know, I liked those. A couple of Cardinals ones I had was Jake the Snake Plummer, which I'm sure all of us have on the list. Absolutely.

Honey Badger and Dick Knight Train Lane, which wasn't an Arizona Cardinal, but still a great nickname. But for me, it comes down to two. Okay. from my sport. Sir Charles. Okay. Because he was royalty here and the Matrix. And when you hear Sir Charles, you know it's who you're talking about.

Yeah, there's no doubt. And the Matrix, Sean Marion. I struggle. Everything in me wants to give it to the Matrix. But I feel so 90s cliche at this point that it's difficult. He was drafted in 99 right when that movie came out. You know, there's a whole reason how his game fit into it, but I can't go there just because it feels very 90s cliche.

I'm going to go to Sir Charles as my overall pick. I think that'll be a popular pick. Obviously, Charles Barkley is notorious here in the valley. So you can't go wrong with Sir Charles. And it is fitting. Obviously, he was royalty. Aaron, what do our comments say? Anything related to?

Yeah, the big cactus. The big cactus. Oh. Oh. Okay, here's something. If you gave yourself the nickname, you probably don't deserve to have the nickname. And Shaq gave himself about 400 freaking nicknames over his career. It's wherever he went.

He had a new one. Oh, and multiple even when he was in one place. I mean, I struggle with that. And like the big, the big shack is just like, it's like, hey. Oh my God, that's incredible. You know, it's like, hey, I'm doing my own marketing here. How about the big Shattis? And then you go sell some used cars using that nickname.

Like, it's not my favorite. By the way, hello, Mrs. Oh, my gosh. Can we please go. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, geez.

Okay. Stat was another one of mine that I enjoyed from the sons. Another guy that gave himself the nickname, standing tall and talented. Yeah, see, like, for the longest time, I just thought it was because he filled up the stat sheet. And I was like, oh, that's incredible. And then, like, yeah, like you said,

he had to explain it. Danden, tall, and talented. Yeah, and then he wanted to be called Sun Zoo at one point, too. Takes baths in red wine. Somebody else has to give you the nickname. I feel like for it to actually tell him. And no Steve Nash? What?

They had the Nash Rambler and MV Steve. But nothing that clicked. Like the Nash Rambler, like, if I were born in the 30s, would be like a great nickname. Sure. But I wasn't. So, yeah, it didn't really connect. And MV Steve just seemed lazy. Yeah.

Are there any players now that have cool nicknames? Like, D-Book, I guess, is okay. De-book dominating, but he kind of gave himself that one and doesn't live up to it. CP3 is two initials and the number you wear. I mean, it sounds like somebody's trying really hard to make a password but only has three characters. Like, that doesn't do much for me. I got like Star Wars vibes from that, like R-2D2. Yeah, I felt.

CP3. Nerds. I actually have never seen Star Wars before, so I don't know why I got the vibes from her. I've never seen it. Yeah, oh, man, I just really upset it people sitting in these chairs. You know? I know, I'm sorry.

I'm busy watching murder documents. I'm a Trekkie, and my mom is about to freak out that I'm going to claim that. My mom is a Trekkie, and she passed along the Trekkie lineage to me, so we were both Trekkies. Boss Man is a good nickname that's on the Sons right now, which is Jay Crowder. And I kind of like that one. That's a fun one. Abdel Nader is duly.

It's okay. Not the best. So we don't have a whole lot of great nicknames right now. That's okay. I like your nomination for Sir Charles is the best from the sun. So we're going to stick with that. Petey. I know this topic was difficult for you because in hockey,

most everybody's nickname is just their last name, shortened and added with an EI, an EY or an R. Have you shown her? So, have you seen my sheet? This is absurd. That's my prep on today's show. So, holy. I went to, I won't read them all, but I have 52 names.

I won't read them all. Oh my God, please don't. But they all fall into one of six categories. Okay. And you just hit number one, the laziest sport for nicknames, hockey, out of suffix. Y, I, E, we've got. Like PD. Verby, Schmitty, Odie, Schmalti, Verme, Berkey, Bali, Bally, Galley.

Doner. Doner. Like the best player we've ever had, donor. PD, the best coach we've ever had. So lazy. So that's ER, donor, stromer. So then you shorten your name. So you have a long name.

Chickren. Chick, oaky, fish, bris, hands, cast, chip, lanks. Again. This is incredible. Way too easy. Then the really, really lazy is the initials. OEL. CB3.

DB was Danny Breyer. You got Z. When you go with just one letter, either you're really good or your name's hard to pronounce. Zbenic. Colick, Z. Connor Garland, G. The best of the initials,

J.R. Why is Carter Garland difficult to They just went, Garland's tough. Let's go with G. And the best of those is JR, and he might make my top five we'll have to see.

Different player's same name. Keith Kachuk was Big Walt. Why? Because there was a player named Walt Kachuk played for New York Rangers in the 70s. And Robert Ash, I talked to the equipment manager of the coyotes in prep today.

Robert Ash went by the nickname Chico because on his sticks when they got printed it said R. Esch, which said Resh. And there was a goalie named Chico Resh that played for the New York Islanders in the 70s. It stuck just because his sticks got printed as R.S. So he was Chico Resch. And Chico Resh got his nickname because he looked like Chico from Chico and the man from the TV show in the 70s. But may I digress? You're not getting any reference out of me. A takeoff on your own name? Here's the best. When you take off on your name like Brendan Shinnaman, who didn't play much, was cinnamon toast crunch

Oh, I love that David Schlemcoe Slemdog Millionaire Yeah Okay That was good Paul Bisonette We know is Biz Nasty

Chris Colano Special K Lori K Lori K You have great nicknames Over here on the list Joevo cop Steve Ryan Pactor's

Rhino But then we get to The unique ones That have a story Okay And I'm going to tell one more story And then I'll give you My top five

Everybody get a cup of coffee I know I'm sorry I'm drinking out the coyote Seventh has the worst nickname Comfortable So when this team first came to the valley, they would do what was called Coyotes Caravans to all these small towns. People didn't know the players, didn't know the guys.

They were in Yuma. There was a defenseman named Norm McIver. Okay. College kid out of the University of Minnesota, Duluth. Norm McIver goes to Yuma on the coyotes caravan. The guy announcing the names has no idea who Norm McIver is. And he said, welcome to the stage, defenseman, Herb McIntyre. What?

And everybody there, the players clearly loved it. So went from Norm McIver to Herb McIntyre. And it's stuck. Herb stuck for the rest of his coyote's career. They just called him Herb. So that's good. And then we'll go, Ray Whitney's the Wizard. Boba Sends.

Wait, this is your top five? Nope. Oh, okay. Golly Bob. I'm just filling the guys that fill out. Another good one is in my top five. Here they are. You ready?

Yep. So Herb McIntyre gets an honorable mention. Ray Whitney, the Wizard, honorable mention. Coming in at five is the two pillars of the franchise in the old days. Big Walt and JR. I know they're corny, but they're there. Kujo, take the first two letters of your first and last name. Curtis Joseph, Kujo, represented how he played, and his mask.

Jelly. Keith Yandel, initials are K-Y, and he's smooth and creamy on the ice. Oh, no. And they called him jelly. Be it a skate jelly. The repo manseeky. The repo man. Tepo Newman was the repo man because he'd go in the corner and steal the puck,

the repo man, and my number one, because it followed this player through the end of his career. He wore it on his goalie masks. And do you want a Stanley Cup with the wall on his mask? I have the Boolyn Wall for Nikolai. That was a good one. That was good. I forgot Curtis Joseph played here. Yeah, Kujo.

He was great. Yeah, I forgot he was here. I love that. That Pini was very extensive and well done. Thank you. Just bad names. We're not going to win. Just like, just like, we're going to try really hard.

We're going to throw a lot of shit at the wall, and we're still not going to win. But happy boolin was just a fun name to say even by itself. Yeah, right. That was a great name. But the Boolen wall, that was just. It went to his Eastern European heritage, the division of Berlin at the time. It solidified his goaltending with a wall. Like there's so many things about that nickname that's great.

And I remember back at AWA, they'd show the bricks building up. Yeah. That's pretty cool. So it just suited the player very well. And I think too, when you're a goalie and you can have a nickname that references a wall, like that's pretty sweet. Exactly. What else do you need? That just encompasses your entire being as a goalie.

All right, cool. So to recap so far, Espos nominated Sir Charles. We have the Bullen Wall from Steve Peters. Derek. I'm not going to waste a lot of your time. I feel like there's a pretty obvious answer for the Diamondback. There absolutely is. It is obvious. And the reason why is because it's not just the best nickname on the Arizona Diamondbacks. It's the best nickname in Arizona sports history. I am going to agree with everything PD said. I, you know, there's been a lot of Diamondbacks players that their last name was essentially their nickname. You had Goldie of Gonzo, right? Yeah. My personal favorite was during Players weekend, the Arizona Diamondbacks were all allowed to choose their own nicknames. And again, I'm not a big fan, again, of, of chosen nicknames where you pick it yourself, right?

It's something that someone should give you. So, like, I did enjoy the fact that Alex Avila looks so much like Parkman from the major league movies that that's what he had on the back of his jersey. Can we not talk about Alex Avila ever again? I'm sorry. It triggers me so bad. It triggers a lot of debacks fans. I also really love that when Zach Granky was given an option, he chose Granky as his nickname.

Yeah, that was a classic. That actually goes up there as my number five nickname. Number four is TATman Ryan Roberts. Again, giant tattoo on his neck, descriptive. Got a Batman, Tatman thing there going on. And I just loved the way he played here. I don't think he got that nickname here. I believe he got it when he was with the raise.

But again, Tappman, great name. Another great nickname, Beef Wellington Castillo. Again, just because his first name is Wellington, but I don't care. It was so overdone. He was a thick meaty, dude. No pun intended. I got beef mode going on, so I'm a big fan. of him. I have my own personal memories, but just to have your nickname be beef, you know. But for me,

it really came down to two nicknames for the Arizona Diamondbacks. One current Diamondback in the freight train, David Peralta. Obviously, a nickname that was given to him by his teammates based on the way that he ran the bases. He looked like a reckless, like he ran with reckless abandonment, like a freight train that, you know, is going to be on the tracks, but looks like it's going to go crazy and fall off at any time. But none of those nicknames matter. Because the best nickname in all of sports for Arizona is the big unit, Randy Johnson. And for three simple reasons. One, obviously, it's descriptive of his size.

He was a large man. It's not even a funny thing where you're calling a short guy. Why you're saying he was a large man? He is a large man. Oh, yeah, he is a large man. Right. He may have shrank a little bit. I don't know.

I haven't seen him lately. He's kind of a recluse. I will also say that it was an intimidating nickname, right? Going up against somebody on the mound called the big unit. I wouldn't want to go up against someone named the big unit. But the best part, obviously, is the sexual innuendo, right? I'm just saying the mask keep reading here is every two. I'm so excited.

You got the big unit too. Wow. I mean, what better way to have a nickname given to you than the part to also be like a wink and a nod? You know what I always loved about that too is they have those giant air conditioner outside the outside the ballpark. And when he was playing there, they nicknamed those the big units too. And that was a whole ad thing. But the intimidation factor, I think, is so huge in this nickname because not only is he 6-11, right?

Then he stands on the mound, and that adds additional height. Seven plus. Yeah, going against him was an intimidating feat. Like, I heard all you could see was a tiny red dot and you could hear the ball whizz past you. That was all you could see with Randy Johnson. and I love that nickname because it fits who he was on the mound. And he looks like an old-time movie villain, right? I mean, like, he couldn't look more scary, you know.

It's funny because for a lot of guys to have that nickname, I think it would be kind of like laugh-laffable, right? Not a lot of people made jokes about his nickname being the big unit back then because of that intimidating factor, right? Plus, you know, like your mom and your grandma had to call him the big unit, and that's just hilarious to me. All right. Well, before we get into our Cardinals' nicknames, we talked about the big unit. We talked about jelly. Petey. I was just starting to re-type my whole thing. Just like the big unit mowing down hitters.

Oh, you can mow down your big unit's field. I was starting to go there and you could name it Sir Charles. Oh, God. Are you ready? Do you one more time? No, I got it. You know, Jake the snake fits in there too? I believe so. So I could, I should. Now I'm remiss for not making a name. nickname themed read. Maybe we should just make this entire thing presented by. I could be, but I'm going to go back. And I know it's kind of like you see the same commercial over again on TV. This is a different audience.

Please bless us with your landscape. A classic is a classic. I'm going back to my classic field of dreams in honor of the Diamondbacks and the baseball nicknames. Support for the PHNX sports show is brought to you by our friends at Manscape. The leaders in male grooming join the 2 million men worldwide who trust Manscape and the 2 million partners who are glad they did. By going to Manscape.com and get 20% off

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I can never watch that movie again now. Thank you, P.D., for ruining that for me. I know we're not, we shouldn't promote other podcasts, but I'm listening to a podcast called The Rumor that's about Kevin Costner supposedly sleeping with Cal Ripkin's wife, that they got in a fist fight, and that the Orioles actually canceled a game to keep the streak alive because he had hurt his hand when he punched Costner right before the game.

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Petey has the Boolein Wall for the coyotes. Espo went with Sir Charles for the Sons. I have some names that I pulled for the Cardinals, but I feel like this could be a group effort. So whatever name you guys come up with, we can discuss and nominate which one we think we like best. A group effort. A group effort, yes.

I think obviously the best, I came up with four that I thought were the best for the Cardinals. Jake the Snake Plummer obviously got to be up there I love T-Sizzle for Trell Suggs obviously I think that's a great one This is kind of like CP3 CJ2K for Chris Johnson And then my all-time favorite

Which you all can feel free to debate me on Larry Legend He is a legend Larry Legend I suppose next I feel like When you hear Larry Legend

it feels lazy to me. Like you're just, it's a, I don't know, but there's not a lot sitting there for the Cardinals, right? There's not a huge amount. Like,

so maybe I lean Jake the snake, but I understand that's not originally either. Kenny Stabler was the snake and Jake played in a very similar manner to him, but you get a two-fold. Oh, you're not even going to bring up Jake the Snake Roberts and pro wrestling.

Really, really? What's pro wrestling? Oh, wow. What is pro wrestling? All right. You of all people know. Huh? What?

All right. So, God, that's one of my favorites. Actually, that's another good podcast, though. S-O-V. Derek. I'll tune in. Singlets? Nobody wants to see that. Nobody wants to see that.

How about Honey Badger? Honey Badger. How about Honey Badger? Yeah, Honey Badger's a good one. Well, I just didn't know if that one would receive a lot of votes. But it described the way he played. It's like it fits him, his personality. I've got that in my top three Cardinals, one, two.

Honey Badger. is why is football not have as many nicknames? I don't know. Too many guys? I don't know. That's a great question. I don't know. Like basketball dominates the nickname game. There are some pure numbers. I mean, there are some really great nicknames in, you know, in football. Like so far, you know, you have like Chad Johnson that literally made his last name Ocho Sinko.

But again, that's just his number. He just poorly translated his number into Spanish. It's not even correct. It's not even correct. 85. It's not even 85. Yeah, like, honestly, you start thinking about it. You look at Tom Brady's TV 12. Like, that's good. He's selling a brand.

Aaron Rogers, does he have one? I don't know. Arod. A is what they've called him. But again, you're shortening and somebody else more famous as it, you know. Well, let's, okay, let's talk about the greatest nickname of all time. Rod, he hate me smart. There you go.

In the old XFL days, they were allowed to put whatever nickname they wanted on the back of their jersey. And he put, he hate me. and when asked why, he said so that the defender that missed him and watched him run away would look at that as he ran past him and just think, I do hate him. That was good. You know, I did like Anquan Bolden getting the Kwan as a nickname because, sure, it's shortening of his name, but it also came from Jerry McGuire and Rod Tidwell talking about the Kwan and wanting respect. And then, ironically enough, An Kwan Bolden felt like he didn't get enough.

respect in Arizona. Like I, I like that one as well. But again, my all-time favorite football nickname is the franchise for Floyd Little and the Broncos because how cool is it

to be nicknamed the franchise because you were literally carrying this franchise into relevancy? I'm struggling now because I'm starting to go, I can't think of any. Current Cardinals? Does Kyler have?

K-1? Yeah. Again, Lane. Again, though, that's, you talk about lazy. I mean, I wonder if it, Jay J-J. Watt?

No, Marcus Golden is junkyard. Junkyard. Junkard dog. So you know that's... Junkard dog. It's not your name, it's not an initial. And it describes the way he plays. Right.

It's a tough... I like when they shorten it to junkyard. Like, junkyard dog, there's a lot of athletes... Or just junk. They call him junk. Junk, I feel awkward calling the guy. For multiple reasons. I just don't...

Junk just does not feel right. Junkyard, sure, junk. I'm like... I'm not going to stand for this attack on pro wrestling name. by the way because Junkyard Dog once again, wrestling legend. Derek, you were the only person on the podcast who cares about wrestling.

Don't make me put you through this table. The Iceman, the camperer. I'm just reading the comments. Yeah. Yeah. So the Iceman, like George Gervin,

it's a great nickname, but there's a lot of guys that have had the Iceman. Very true. You know, so that's another, I think if it's uniquely you, and there hasn't been a lot of people to have it. And like, to your point, and I'm making my own argument here,

but you said, Sir Charles, there's no doubt who you're talking about. That's, yeah, that's the big unit. There's no doubt who you're talking about. Everybody knows that's Larry Fitzgerald. Do they know it outside of the city, though? I think so. If I say Sir Charles anywhere in the world I'd gather, you're going to get Charles Barkley.

Big unit's probably very similar. But if I say Larry Legend, they're like Larry Bird. because other people have called Larry Bird Larry Legend as well. I don't know. Okay, I know there's at least two people in the comments right now who don't live in the state of Arizona. If somebody came up to you and said,

let's go watch Larry Legend play football, would you know who we're talking about? Let me know in the comments. They wouldn't because they'd be like, that guy doesn't play football. Why would Larry Bird be out on a football field? He's 70 years old. But did that come later?

But does always Fitz, right? Like, Fitz is his nickname. And Larry Legend came much later. Once he was actually had reached legendary status. Rookie year they weren't calling Malary Legend unless it was like a joke. I don't think anybody was referring to him as that, but it's definitely something over the years that's kind of matured. Okay, so then who would you go for for the Cardinals?

Who would be your pick? I think it would be Honey Badger. That, or if you count coaches, which, you know, mean Joe Green, who was a coach here, former Steeler. I always thought that was a pretty cool, cool nickname for a football player. Just mean. Like, sure, it's a descriptive, but it also was like, yeah, I'm not messing with that guy. When you looked at him, it made sense.

I just, I would always think of him as a Pittsburgh Steeler. Same here. Yeah, I agree. I can't. And that's for that reason. My nomination is going to be Jake the snake plumber for the Cardinals just because of, he's pulling his collegiate I mean that one that followed him all the through ASU

he's the hometown guy he's Jake the Snake Plummer for me he's the Cardinal that doesn't mean Honey Badger's not again this is all personal it's my guys Jake the Snake Plummer for the Cars I agree with you that

All right we're going to go with Jake the Snake Plummer for our Cardinals nomination here you have it any other nicknames worth mentioning that we didn't talk about from ASUUVA Mercury I had one I just like to look to my multiple another player no one knows Rob Clinkhammer.

Do you know what Rob Clinkhammer's nickname? Try to see if you would have a guy named Rob Clinkhammer. What would his nickname be? Hammer. And once I tell you the nickname, you have to tell me why. Its nickname was the Colonel. Colonel Clink. Colonel Clink.

Do you know many players on the team didn't know the reference of Colonel Clink? Well, I don't know that reference. They were calling them Colonel Chilger. TV show 70s. Colonel Clink, Clink. Because we grew up in the era where we didn't have on demand. Right. And Netflix.

H.S was just coming in. You watched whatever was on. It was on. Whatever the, whatever's on the UHF channel that you. Brady Bunch. Yeah, you saw everything your parents grew up. You would never watch it eight years old.

But you had nothing else on. The monsters, Adams family, get smart, like all these things. They were made in the six seasons. The list is endless. The Brady Bunch. Yeah, all these things.

So, yeah. That makes sense. That's another show right there with all us old guys. I like it. Angry old. zoning out because I have no idea what they're talking about. So do we vote now? Is that what we do? So I was just about to say. So

to recap quickly, I know I've just done it, but we'll do it again. Sir Charles for the Sun, courtesy of Espo, the Boolean Wall for the coyotes, courtesy of PD, the big unit for the Diamondbacks, courtesy of Derek, and then Jake the Snake Plummer for the Cardinals. We're going to put a poll up on our Twitter account.

So if you aren't following at PHNX underscore Sports, go follow us on there. You can vote on the poll. You can also put your own nomination in. If there's any that we forgot that you think need to be mentioned. We'd love to hear your suggestions for your favorite Arizona sport athlete nicknames. Before we go, draft kings, obviously, make sure you go to the draft king sport. Download the draft king sports book app. Make sure you place that $5 bet on any NFL team to win. If they do win, you'll get $200 in free bets.

Right now the Cardinals are six and a half point favorites. It's a little risky, but I mean, hey, you could put your $5 on the Cardinals winning. And if they do, not only do you get to celebrate them being 8 and 0, but you also get a pretty sweet $200 payout and free bets. Do you guys have any bets down this weekend, this week? I guess it's Wednesday. I bet on Kyler Murray's passing yards for this game. I think he's going to hit the mark. I think it was like 249 and a half or something like that.

All right. Again, the same game parlay is that's really what I'm into. And on a game like this where I can't really feel safe about predicting the score, there's still plenty of options on. on like anytime touchdown scores and things like that. So that's kind of what I tend to lean towards. I think I took AJ Green as an anytime touchdown score. So just because he's been just sneaky good for this team this season.

I think he's going to do it against the Packers. Love it. And Coyote's going into Tampa and Washington hammer the over. Just hammer it. You heard it from Petey. Hutton's out. Just hammer it. Stephen Stancoe got a betchkin on the power play.

Take the over. I didn't know what it's set out right now, but take it. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. The B and a half goals, go take 9 plus. The Calcutta Night Riders in cricket always run out with the other. You never feel it would be as me. I'm really excited about it.

I actually tried to buy a shirt because after I randomly bet on them once live on air, I'm like, they're my team. I'm rolling with them. So the Calcutta Night Riders, everybody. All right. Well, if you want to bet on cricket, you can absolutely do that on the drafting sportsbook app. Just make sure you use code PHNX at sign up to get in on all of those great deals. Thank you guys so much for listening.

to the Phoenix Sports podcast. We really appreciate you. If you're listening to this on a podcast platform, make sure you leave us a rating five stars. If you wouldn't mind, I would really appreciate it. And also you can check out this show live on YouTube if you want to see our beautiful faces, which I don't know why you want to do that. Make sure to go to go phnx.com. If you become an annual member, you'll get a free t-shirt. You'll also get access to all of our amazing written content. Our writers do such a phenomenal job of getting some great articles up there. And we will see you next week.