
Sir Charles, obviously. The Round Mound of Rebound. These we know. But according to a 1984 Plainsman story on his turning pro by Jon Johnson (that Jon Johnson0, The Sir Mound had a slew of other (and apparently forgotten) nicknames during his Auburn playing days… hilarious, awesome, poetic nicknames:
Last week Charles Barkley shocked absolutely no one when he announced he had decided to turn professional, thus bypassing his final year of collegiate eligibility.
The man known by such nicknames as “Round Mound of Rebound,” “Bread Truck,” “Food World,” “The Incredible Bulk,” “Sir Loin,” “Winn Dixie Beef Boy” and most recently “Boy Gorge” has jolted up and down the floors of Memorial Coliseum for the last time in an Auburn uniform.”
Your first thought is that dang, you know even less about Charles Barkley and Auburn basketball and stuff than you thought you did. Then you’re like, oh, John is making them up, trying to be funny (and succeeding). But I don’t think he was. Because a quick Google of “Charles Barkley” + “Bread Truck” returned a Sports Illustrated story (“The Leaning Tower of Pizza: When Auburn center Charles Barkley uses body language, people listen”) that includes a paragraph devoted to even more amazing A.K.A.s:
The preferred epithet in Baton Rouge is Fat Boy. But you could construct a thesaurus entry of the nicknames Barkley has inspired in his travels: Bread Truck, the Love Boat, Food World, the Crisco Kid, the Wide Load from Leeds, Ton of Fun, the Leaning Tower of Pizza, the Goodtime Blimp and the prevailing Round Mound of Rebound are just a few. “He’s my favorite player in college basketball,” says Oklahoma’s Wayman Tisdale, who played with Barkley at the Sports Festival. “I call him the Eighth Wonder of the World.”
For a pun man, Sir Loin and Boy Gorge (double-pop-culture-word score) are hard to top, and freakin’ Winn Dixie Beef Boy packs a ridiculous, regional punch. But it’s hard to pick a favorite.
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I personally remember “Bread Truck” and “Food World”. I was thinking of those two before I got beyond your header.
I think he was also called “Goo Goo Cluster” after his love of the candy.
The best description of Barkley during his AU days came from Curry Kirkpatrick of Sports Illustrated: “Porky Pig gone berserk on a trampoline.”
The pizza appears to be from Godfather’s but the cup gives it away: Domino’s