Where Are They Now? The "You Da Man!" Guy

by DCScrap, Our Book of Scrap

Remember back in the 1990's when after every single tee shot of every single player on the PGA Tour, someone would inevitably shout, "You da man!" regardless of whether the drive hit the fairway or some blue-hair five rows deep in the gallery? What ever happened to that exclamation of pure joy? Did the people who hollered it just give up? Was there a decree handed down from the PGA telling the fans to cease using the phrase? These are the kinds of things that keep me up at night, so I decided to do a little digging.

First off, let's take a look at the phrase itself.

Wikipedia says...

Calling someone "the man" can also be a form of praise. This may refer to the recipient's status as the leader or authority within a particular context, or it might be assumed to be a shortened form of a phrase like "He is the man (that is in charge)." In more modern usage, it can be a superlative compliment indicating that the subject is currently standing out amongst his peers even though they have no special designation or rank, such as a basketball player who is performing better than the other players on the court. It can also be used as a genuine compliment with an implied, slightly exaggerated or sarcastic tone, usually indicating that the person has indeed impressed the speaker but by doing something relatively trivial.

However, in the same piece Wikipedia states that shouting "You da man!" is "considered poor spectator etiquette as it could be distracting to the player and irritating to the general public." Well, who are they do judge? They can't even get all their facts straight half the time. And how can it be both a compliment and a distraction? This is getting interesting. Let's dig further.

As recently as February of 2000, no less than TIME Magazine used the phrase when discussing potential candidates for President of the United States. So it was still considered a decent enough phrase into the 00's.

Maybe this was cause for the phrase to go out of style ... back in 2005, Outsports Magazine used the phrase as a headline for one of its articles. Is it possible that the phrase was stigmatized and labeled as a homosexual slogan? It's possible.

Since we're not getting very far doing research on the Internet let's go straight to the source: The man who invented "You da man!", Irving Keister of Grapevine, Texas.

DCScrap: Irving, what is the origin of this once-popular phrase?

Irving: Back in, I believe, 1992 or 3, I was watching my buddy Carl play a game of horseshoes and he needed a ringer to win his beer bet against our drinkin' buddy, Hank. Well, Carl reared back, tossed that shoe and wouldn't you know, he nailed that sumbitch! I was so excited I shouted, "Carl, you da man!" and everybody there ate it up. So that gave me an idea. When the PGA came to Houston for the Shell Houston Open that year, I decided to head on down there and cheer on some of the fellas. Golfin' is real hard you know and them boys are amazing. Anyhow, the phrase just kind of stuck from then on. I started seeing people yelling it on TV every weekend for years.

DCScrap: So do you have any idea why it went out of style?

Irving: No, I really couldn't say for certain. I did hear that Fuzzy Zoeller complained once that I threw off his biorythms or something. All I know is that once I lost my job at the hardware store, I didn't have enough money to go to Houston to keep the phrase alive. I mean, I could see on the TV that less people were shoutin' it, but I just didn't have the dough to travel anymore.

DCScrap: So it just faded away, in other words?

Irving: Welp, there was one other story I heard ...

DCScrap: Please tell us. That's why we're here, Irving.

Irving: Right around the turn of the century, someone wrote me a letter all the way from Washington D.C. Heck, I thought it was from the IRS and wanted to pitch it, but my wife Dolores made me open it, and inside was this letter from this guy who said that some coloreds on a basketball team from those parts had taken my phrase and put it in a song.

DCScrap: You must have been flattered.

Irving: Well, the thing is ... I guess the song was really bad. It's my thinking that those boys done ruined the phrase for everyone once people heard that song. Least that's what the guy in the letter led me to believe.

DCScrap: Interesting ... Thank you for your time, Irving.

Irving: You want to come down to the local links? I still go there and set at the first tee and shout it out for the boys every now and then.

And with that, we left Irving to look into this song he claims may have ruined his phrase.

After a little digging, and a trip to an obscure Web site called THE WIZZNUTZZ, we think we may have uncovered the very thing that brought an end to the joy that once was, "You the man!" Take a look ...



There you have it, folks. Now we know what killed the once-popular phrase. The Washington Bullets are to blame. Rumor has it that the franchise was so embarrassed and felt such shame in turning a once popular cultural catchphrase into a mockery that they decided to change the name of the team shortly thereafter. Is this true? We're not 100% sure, but the next time you go to a PGA Tour event, maybe you could sidle up next to Tiger Woods on the first tee, and just for old-time's sake, and for Irving, holler out a hardy "You da man!" after Tiger nails one down the middle of the fairway. It'll make us all feel just a little bit better. I know it will me (and Irving).