Randy Smith
Last Friday, we welcomed our fifth grandchild into the world. Mattingly Elizabeth Smith was born to Davey and Alison Smith at 11:15 or so Friday morning. She weighed in at six pounds and ten ounces, twenty inches long, though she was born about three weeks early. Did I mention that she is very beautiful? I have already answered the question of, "Why Mattingly?" several times. She was named after former New York Yankees star Don Mattingly, currently the manager of the Florida Marlins. Mattingly or "Donnie Baseball" as he is known was Davey's favorite player as a child.
Now, my wife Shelia and I named our two children after family members from both sides.
I struck out years ago wanting to name my son after Johnny Unitas, my all-time favorite sports hero. My wife convinced me that "John Smith" was a little too plain and simple. So I relented. I then decided to name our next dog after Johnny U. and call him, "Unitas." At that time, our next dog was a beautiful female collie and Unitas didn't fit. Thus ended my attempts to name anything after my sports hero.
Obviously, my son Davey already had "Mattingly" picked out years ago for his first born female child. The only problem became that his first two children were little boys. Coleman Oscar and Boone Morrison Smith. He had perhaps one final try to have a child named "Mattingly" and third time was charm.
Some of Davey's friends had already named their children after sports figures. One particular family named their kids, Gehrig(a boy) and Maris(a girl) after two of the greatest New York Yankees ever. After Peyton Manning made his mark on the Tennessee Volunteers, the name Peyton became the most popular name for a while in the entire state. Others have named their children, Majors and Neyland after Vols legends.
Naming children after sports heroes, is apparently a bit more popular than naming them after rock stars, though I know a few kids named "Presley." I have also known a few named "Elvis" as well. Naming children after TV and movie stars is also quite popular. Several names from the hit show, "Grey's Anatomy " have recently moved up the lists. Names such as "Izzie" and "Lexie" became popular quickly as did "Gabrielle" and "Bree" from the show, "Desperate Housewives". Old school shows have fallen off the popularity charts however. Names such as "Barney", "Hoss", "Ward", "June", "Jed" and "Jethro" seem to have disappeared.
I've always been a big fan of old timey family names. My daughter Christi and her husband Chris hit the jackpot with "DellaMae Louise" and "CoraLee Jewell" Perry. If they have a third child and it's a boy, it will be interesting to see if Christi allows Chris, who is a huge Clemson fan, to name him "Dabo."
I should have known that my attempts to name a child after a sports hero would not be successful. You see, if my father had his way, I would have been named "Theodore Yogi", after his two favorite ball players, Ted Williams and Yogi Berra. Thanks Mom!
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Randy Smith has been covering sports on radio, television and print for the past 45 years. After leaving WRCB-TV in 2009, he has written two books, and has continued to free-lance as a play-by-play announcer.
His career has included a 17-year stretch as host of the Kickoff Call In Show on the University of Tennessee’s prestigious Vol Network. He has been a member of the Vol Network staff for thirty years.
He has done play-by-play on ESPN, ESPN II, CSS, and Fox SportSouth, totaling more than 500 games, and served as a well-known sports anchor on Chattanooga Television for more than a quarter-century.
In 2003, he became the first television broadcaster to be inducted into the Greater Chattanooga Area Sports Hall of Fame. Randy and his wife Shelia reside in Hixson. They have two married children, (Christi and Chris Perry; Davey and Alison Smith.) They have five grandchildren, Coleman, Boone, Mattingly, DellaMae, and CoraLee.