He already has a great built in nickname in "Sully".
But if he has a big game on TNT we will probably get a good one from Shaq that will stick.
Sometimes people are rather sensitive to nicknames. Big Baby went along with his nickname, but eventually tired or it and wished to be called Glenn by the time he left Boston.
Reading a number of postings this past week it turns out 'Sully' is the nickname of choice for many in this CB Group. Part of it is because of the 'built-in' character of the nickname (as mentioned above) and perhaps partly due the Irish-Boston connection the name reflects.
I'm not privy to what they called him at Ohio State, but it doesn't appear to be 'Sully'. If someone knows otherwise, please fill us in.
My beef with the name 'Sully' stems in good measure from my own ethnicity. I identify with my own heritage. Many of my friends are of the same ethnicity. We share many of the same cultural rituals. I wouldn't mind if someone added an O' in front of my name as a one-time joke...like O'Lopez (not my real name.) But, to do it on a regular basis would surely tick me off. I feel by calling Sullinger, 'Sully' we imply an Irish association. FWIW: I love the 'Irish' and their culture. I've been to Ireland. St. Patrick's day is one of my favorite holidays… etc. On the other hand, I don’t identify myself as Irish.
Yes, the name ‘Sully’ is built-into his name. And, we even called Bob Cousy, the 'Cooz' which is a built-in nickname. The big difference is that Cooz doesn’t connote any particular ethnic background. And, if you look at many NBA nicknames they are not ethnically linked.
http://hoopedia.nba.com/index.php?title=Best_NicknamesA quick Internet search revealed that the name, Sullinger is not an Irish name, rather of German descent. I'm not implying Jared identifies himself with a German ethnicity. Rather, he might not relate or feel comfortable relinquishing his own cultural identity, whatever it may be, for an Irish one. And, by labeling/calling him 'Sully' I believe we do that. Until I know if he likes the name or not, I’m going hold off on using this name.
