Exploring Awkwardness

Do you know what is awkwardness? Sitting on the bench with my mates, but as an injured player, wearing the clothes of the street. (Just seeing a basketball in the hands of someone dressed for other pursuits disturbs me!)

Also awkward for some are the years between early childhood and the teenage wasteland. In Spanish education, we call this time Educación Primaria; it is the six years of schooling from ages 6 to 12. I do not speak from experience. I was an exalted athlete in Europe before I was allowed to drive! (But perhaps Greg Oden [above] knows of this.)

Finally, it must be difficult to be saddled with a moniker one finds unbecoming. In this way, I was pleased at the current poll results for my nicknaming. The outcome will be superior to the awkward nicknames earned by Ron “Crazy Pills” Artest, Eric “Hobbit” Gordon, Nenad “Krispy Nads” Krstic, and Fabricio “O’Beardo” Oberto.

As to the NBA’s least awkward nickname, it goes to a Spaniard, naturalamente! Marc Gasol is El Guerrero— “The Warrior.” (The most perplexing nickname is Mike D’Antoni’s “Pringles.” I am told he looks like the “man on the can.” Very well; the can of what?)