Who knew a nickname would upset so many people.
It's been one year since Lou Merloni coined the "Average Al" moniker for Celtics forward Al Horford. Since then, he's been reviled by hoop heads across the city, ranging from WEEI host Patrick Gilroy to the Globe's Chad Finn. On Thursday, Bill Simmons, the man who wrote the Book of Basketball, decided to chime in.
"Boston sports media update: one radio host nicknamed Al Horford "Average Al" in an aggressive attempt to own the "Al Horford isn't good" corner. (Also known as the "I know nothing about basketball" corner," Simmons tweeted in obvious reference to Merloni. "It's been a running gimmick for months. People either stupidly agree with him or get mad about it because it's so indefensibly stupid. Either way there's a reaction. Welcome to the 'vomitorium' of local sports radio."
Merloni, after catching wind of Simmons' cross-country salvo, fired back on OMF.
"Bill, don't freaking mention my name. If you're going to tweet about me, I don't want you to mention my name," Merloni said. "You can tweet all you want. I don't even want to see. Don't even talk about my opinion if you don't know what it is.
