Re: NELLIE or NELLY

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 7/11/05 4:56:09 PM, laurence.horn at YALE.EDU writes:


> At 4:33 PM -0400 7/11/05, Wilson Gray wrote:
> >
> >On the other hand, though, who doesn't know that "Nellie/Nelly" is a
> >girl's name? Remember the baseball player, Nelson Fox? I never was able
> >to understand his letting himself be referred to as "Nellie."
> >
> >-Wilson Gray
> More recently, there's Don Nelson, a reserve forward on the great old
> Bill Russell Celtics teams who later coached the Bucks, Knicks, and
> Mavericks in the NBA, now an exec with the Mavs.  He's always been
> "Nellie".  I imagine a lot of Nelsons are, even in pro sports, and
> regardless of whether Nelson is their first or last name.  (Is it
> relevant that Nellie Fox was not a home-run hitter?  Naaah.)
> 
> L
> 

I remember Don Nelson very well from his days as a University of Iowa b-ball 
player. I don't remember anyone referring to him as "Nellie" then--I called 
him "Don," as did our mutual acquaintace, Roberta Dinwiddee Sheets, my 
high-school drama coach who did volunteer tutoring with student athletes. He and I were 
acquaintances, though, not close enough to use diminutive nick-names with 
each other. It probably does not need to be said, but my memory is that he was no 
more girly than a speed bump.