How much thought do we football fans actually put into the names of prominent players or coaches?  I would venture to guess very little.  However, as I was standing waiting to have my tickets scanned for an Indianapolis Colts football game, I began to think about the names of two coaches--Tony Dungy (the good), and Bill Belichick (the bad).

First, the bad.  Bill Belichick. Of course there are the common nicknames of Belicheat and Bellychick, but upon closer examination of the anatomy of his name we gain valuable insights about this coach of the lowly New England Patriots.  Let's break it down, shall we?  The first part of his name--Beli.  Beli is acutally a latin root meaning "war-like, relating to warfare."  You may notice it in words like rebellion, anti-bellum, belligerent, etc.

Fascinating!

If we continue, we come to the last part of his name--chick.  You can go one of two ways with this.  You can use chick either as a baby chicken, or as a slang term for a girl.  I prefer the latter in this instance. 

So let us then put this together.  Belichick when broken down really means "war-like girl."  Unbelievable!  It all makes sense doesn't it!

On the flip side, Dungy is acually a word in ancient gaelic which literally means "one who is a great leader."  The word was also used in a form in medieval latin to mean variously "integrity" and "winner."

Fascinating!

Common english usage also has "Dungy" as a synonym of "awesome" (Ex. That new movie was so dungy!) and Belichick as a rough synonym of "evil." (Ex. Those bad guys in the movie had a belichick view about human life.)  "The Belichick" is also used as the name for a handshake where one person blows off the other person with a dead-fish handshake and no eye contact.

So football fans, take it as you wish.  I just know when I buy my next football tickets from www.circlecitytickets.com, I want to be supporting the great leader, not the war-like girl.  Go Colts.  And go buy your football tickets from www.circlecitytickets.com before you go to the next football game to support the Colts!


"The Belichick" Handshake.  Take Notes.