A great athlete with a great name dies
The sports world is by no means deprived of great names. There was Stubby Clapp, who enjoyed a cup of coffee with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001. There was also Razor Shines, a Montreal Expo in the 1980s.
Unfortunately, Wonderful Terrific Monds III, who played in the Braves organization in the ’90s, didn’t quite live up to his name on the diamond.
Closer to home, Bronx-born Majestic Mapp played basketball for the University of Virginia in 2003-04.
And the better-known Coco Crisp of the Boston Red Sox and Milton Bradley of the Texas Rangers still make me laugh when I'm watching "SportsCenter."
(There are plenty of other better ones, too, but I’m trying to keep this blog relatively clean, if you catch my drift.)
But sadly, the sports world’s Great Name Club lost a member Saturday: former Baltimore Colts center Buzz Nutter.
Nutter died of heart failure at age 77. Although he played before my time, the 12-year pro was obviously more than a great name; he was a great athlete who snapped the ball to Johnny Unitas on the Colts’ 1958 and 1959 NFL championship teams.
His death is enough to make skiing great Picabo Street and former Miami Heat guard Bimbo Coles cry.
(Photo by Associated Press)
