right should have qualified the first name of the writer! Black Mass, ha!
Original title:
Black Mass: The True Story of an Unholy Alliance Between the FBI and the Irish Mob
Current title, re-issued last yr
Black Mass: Whitey Bulger, The FBI, and a Devil’s Deal
>>New Shaq Nickname: Blackie Bulger? By KC Downey in CELTICS, FEATURED, NOW! ⋅ October 18, 2010 at 11:45pm ⋅
According to the Boston Herald, Shaquille O’Neal has recently started calling himself “Blackie Bulger: The Godfather of Sudbury” after hearing about notorious mobster Whitey Bulger, who is allegedly still on the run across the world. He has since decided against continuing to go by Blackie Bulger, out of respect for Whitey’s victims’ families.
>>“I’m not sure how those families would look at that,’’ he said. “That’s why I’m not going to call myself that anymore. I don’t want them to think the wrong thing.’’ Shaq remains interested in Boston culture, and like it or not, Bulger and organized crime are all apart of the history of the Hub. He has maintained an interest in organized crime, and recently purchased “Street Soldier: My life as an Enforcer for Whitey Bulger and the Irish Mob’’ by former Bulger thug Edward MacKenzie Jr.
A good friend of Jack Nicholson, Shaq saw one of Jack’s best films, “The Departed,” and since that time, he has been interested in learning more.
>>Analysis Sure, Shaq dropped the nickname out of respect for victims’ families, but I think more out of respect for anyone that may be offended by the nickname: whether it be racially sensitive people, African Americans, people with good taste, etc. Shaq is a smart man, and knows better than to mess up his good standing with the Boston people before he takes the court for a regular season game.