There are few rules that apply throughout the sporting world. One of these rules has which survived for centuries is that players cannot pick their own nicknames, they must be bestowed upon them by the fans or media, unless the nickname emerges from an exceptionally enjoyable quote. (See Kobe Bryant - Black Mamba)
Homer McFanboy has written a great piece on how Devin Thomas is not only trying to give himself the nickname of "Predator," but is actively attempting to steal it from teammate Chris Horton. Thomas claims that Horton only has the nickname because of his dreads, and hasn't even immersed himself in the entire Predator oeuvre:
“You shouldn’t have given him that nickname,” Thomas said. “The man never watches the movies. I have ‘The Predator’ on my ribs. The ribs!?! Who gets ‘The Predator’ tattooed on their ribs unless they’re really about ‘The Predator?’
So Thomas is claiming that the fans made a mistake in bestowing the Predator nickname upon Horton, which is rather a poor way to build support for your campaign of nickname thievery. It should be noted that Thomas had in the past given himself the moniker of "Primetime," of which the fans had taken no notice.
Horton, however, will not be giving way to Thomas so easily:
“You know, this guy called himself ‘Showtime’ when he first came in,” Horton said. “Now that my name is really hot around here – everybody’s yelling out ‘The Predator’ and nobody is yelling out ‘Showtime’ – he wants to try and steal it. I mean, what’s a tattoo? He’s a cartoon guy. The man has King Tut tattooed on him, ‘The Predator,’ Winnie The Pooh. I mean, he’s got everything like that. But there’s only one Predator. I got the hair. I got the killer instinct. That’s ‘Showtime.’ He’s the flashy guy.”
Greedy, maybe. Flashy? Not so much. Thomas repeated decision to buck traditional sports law is bad enough, but add to it his sin of attempting to steal a teammates nickname and you have a man who refuses to honor the tradition of sports.Thus, I have a new nickname for Devin Thomas. He will be henceforth known as the "Magpie," as he likes to steal the bright and shiny possessions of other people.
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