I know it is a little strange, odd, and peculiar, however, this page disclosures the explanation of the elements of the blog name: Cager on Wheels. Let's begin by saying its origin is based upon a thirty-five year old seldom used nickname. Wiki says: A nickname is a name different in origin and pronunciation from the original name. It is not interchangeable with a term called "short-for". It can also be the familiar or truncated form of the proper name, which may sometimes be used simply for convenience.Holy COW! Here are the spectrum of options for my nickname:
- Shortest Option: KJ
- Actual Initials: KLJ
- What My Girlfriend Always Called Me: Ken (thanks Barbie!)
- What my mother called me on good days: Kenny
- What my mother called me on bad days: Kenneth
- What my mother always called my dad: Kenneth (always bad days?)
- How I sign my name: Kenneth L. Johnson (like a doctor...you can't read it)
- What I thought my full name was: Kenneth Louis Johnson (my twin sister was Karen Louise Johnson - since I was a pour speller in scool, I always looked at her middle name and dropped the "e")
- The official full name that my high school diploma revealed: Kenneth Lewis Johnson (SHOCKER!!! "Lewis" as in my Grandpa Johnson's first name!!! I'm not a junior...dad was Kenneth Warren Johnson. This is embarrassing not to know ones middle name!)
- Nickname prior to college: None (closest reference...Tuba Player...listed under high school year book senior picture. Nerd might have been listed there too!)
- The evolution of what my college roommate Jeff Walker called me: Kay Jay, KJer, Cage...then CAGER!
- What I called my best friend Jeff Walker: Jeffer or Walker (need to work more on my naming creativity!)
- According to the White Page web site, there are 7,456 people (click the link to check out your name!) with the name "Kenneth Johnson" in the United States. Therefore, that is why I combined my "initials" with my one and only "nickname" to create my online user name kljcager...in case you were wondering.
Jeff was a journalist major, editor of our college newspaper, and a solid player on the college's tennis team. To save travel costs, the tennis team sometimes traveled with our soccer team, but we never had many occasions to watch each other practice or play.
It must have been a really rainy day when the Jeff cemented my nickname...we always practiced/played in bad weather. I dreaded our rare indoor practices because of the "rapid fire" exercise one of my assistant coaches cooked up. I was a goalie and my job was to protect the ball from going in the "Cage". Coach Sicko would place a wrestling mat at the base of the front wall in a racket ball court. On his whistle, ten selected players randomly "fired away", each having their own soccer ball, for five minutes of "HE-double-hockey-sticks" but what felt more like eternal hell.
I much preferred normal outdoor practices when I could pick daises and look at the fluffy white clouds. Fortunately, we had the leading scorer in the nation, Antonio Crescitelli, for my two seasons as a starter so the ball was on the offensive side of the pitch a majority of the time. I often prayed, on a regular basis, that it would stay on that the side of the field.
My parents are both deceased, but one of the treasures my mom left me was a scrap book from my college playing days. Thought I would share the front cover and the back cover of the scarp book. My goal after my January 21, 2009 heart attack was to lose 100 pounds to get to my college playing weight of 185 (BMI below 125). My new passion for cycling helped me get there and I hope it keeps me there.
Thanks for being amused with this name page (I hope).
Front Cover:
Back Cover:
