Why do they call Bill Hubauer "Wild Thing"?

In July 2006, ApologetiX keyboardist Bill Hubauer had lamented the fact that he didn't have a cool nickname like ApologetiX drummers Jimmy "Vegas" Tanner and Bill "Moose" Rieger.

Apparently, he didn't think the oft-used "Hubie" was catchy enough. After much thought, we settled on one that captures his essence ... "Wild Thing."

Consider the following five facts:

1. Bill had also mentioned that he wished he had a nickname like a wild animal like "tiger." With all of the talents he brings to the table (keyboard, guitar, violin, tambourine, vocals), how can we limit him to a single species? Just as Bill can play any instrument, any animal can be a wild thing.

2. "Wild Thing" was the quintessential garage-rock song of the 1960's. A #1 hit for the Troggs in 1966, it was famously redone by rock's quintessential electric guitarist Jimi Hendrix while he set his guitar on fire in 1967 at the Monterey Pop Festival. And that doesn't even take into account the 1990 Sam Kinison cover version or Tone-Loc's rap hit by the same name in 1989 ... and it shouldn't.

3. Although Bill claims to know next-to-nothing about sports, he has been to professional baseball games in more ballparks than any other ApologetiX member, including J. and Keith, the band's big sports fans. In addition to seeing the Pittsburgh Pirates play at PNC Park, Bill has seen the Boston Red Sox at legendary Fenway Park. Not only that, he's the only ApologetiX member to see a minor-league baseball game. That was last year, when he went to Falconi Field to watch ... you guessed it ... the Washington Wild Things.

4. Of course, baseball has a rich tradition with the nickname "Wild Thing." Who could forget Charlie Sheen's character, Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn, in the classic 1989 film "Major League" (Trivia note: J.'s wife, Lisa, plays a minor role in that movie; she's one of the 50,000-plus Cleveland fans in the stadium) and the not-so-classic 1994 sequel, "Major League II"? And no Philadelphia Phillies fan, Toronto Blue Jays fan, or baseball fan who watched the 1993 World Series will ever forget relief pitcher Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams, although Mitch probably wishes they would.

5. Bill is a product of the 1960's and likes books, science fiction/fantasy, and kids (he has four of his own to prove it). That brings to mind the classic 1960's science-fiction/fantasy book for kids "Where the Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak , which won the Caldecott Medal as most distinguished picture book of 1963 and opens with the classic line: "The night Max wore his wolf suit and made mischief of one kind and another his mother called him "WILD THING!" and Max said "I'LL EAT YOU UP!" so he was sent to bed without eating anything."

As you can see, we really were left with no other choice.