Explain One Name: tell the story behind your account name; plus open thread

Easing our way into the long All-Star Break

We haven’t had this long a break since the pandemic, so this is your chance to explain the story behind your account name.

My story is on the boring side. Apricot is not my real last name… (I am not sure if that is obvious?)

I lived with a pug for a few years whose fur coloring is officially termed “apricot”:

Not the actual pug I lived with

So for many many years, my online names have been variations of Apricot, including at AthleticsNation.com, where I posted a lot in the 2000’s. For better or worse, this was the flagship blog that was bred and cloned to become the mega-empire of varying employer goodness, SBNation.com.

I lurked at GSOM since its founding with only occasional posts until in the 2010s when I posted enough for Nate P to recruit me as an official site writer. I also wrote for BBallBreakdown.com for a while, and I believe they required a first and last name for authorship, so I went with Eric Apricot.

My current name of Eric Apricot looks enough like a name that most people don’t bug me about my identity, so I can remain the secret burner account of Steve Kerr. I’ve been reading what you all have been saying about my offense by the way, and I’m pretty salty about it.

Okay, your turn… tell any story you like about how you chose your account name.