Spice up your Halloween by dressing up like these athletes

By Mark Dent

Monday, October 27, 2008

Halloween is four days away. And for those who have trouble coming up with a scary or unusual idea, you can always be an athlete.

We all did that as kids. Growing up in Kansas City, Riddell Chiefs helmets and jerseys ruled the night as little Derrick Thomases and Neil Smiths trick-or-treated.

I was never a Chiefs player, but I was once Ken Griffey, Jr. My parents bought me a Mariners shirt and then took it to a T-shirt store to have Griffey’s name and number printed on the back. It wasn’t the exact Griffey uniform, but I couldn’t have been happier.

Griffey is getting a little old now, but here are three athletes worthy of dressing up as this Halloween.

— Roger Federer, tennis star: The king of cool. Who wouldn’t want to be like Federer? He’s won more Grand Slams than anyone not named Pete Sampras, yet he’s about as likely to brag about himself as he is to double fault on a match point. The other players say he is one of the nicest guys on tour. And my God, what a forehand.

Like Federer, this costume would be modest. Wear a polo shirt and a pair of athletic shorts — preferably white because that’s what he’d wear at Wimbledon — and tie a bandana around your forehead. Carry a tennis racket if you feel like it.

— David Price, rookie Rays pitcher: So your friends might call you a bandwagon fan if you support the Rays. Who cares? The Rays are too likeable and too good not to cheer for. And Price is the coolest.

He was a first round draft pick in 2007, and now he’s closing World Series games. For the costume, grab a Rays jersey if you can afford it, or otherwise find a shirt and hat and tell everyone you’re Price.

— Natalie Coughlin, Olympic swimmer: Girls can dress up as guy athletes easily, but in case they want to go for the real thing, here’s a good choice. Coughlin is a gold medallist and world-record holder. Although other Olympians got more headlines in Beijing, she became the first woman athlete to win six medals at one Olympic games.

But be careful with this costume. It would be cold and extremely awkward to wear a swimsuit to a party, so this is what I would recommend: Find a Speedo shirt and a pair of shorts and then wear goggles.

Something to like about Texas Tech

OK, KU fans probably don’t want to hear anything about the Red Raiders for a long time, so this is it.

About a month ago, a freshman at Texas Tech wrote in a question to coach Mike Leach’s TV show about dating. He wanted to know where to take a first date.

Leach’s response was more than a minute long. He suggested a casual restaurant for dinner, one where they serve little salad so the girl would have to order a real meal, followed by a movie and then coffee.

So what would Kansas coach Mark Mangino suggest? Here’s my guess.

Mangino isn’t as outgoing as Leach, so I doubt he’d take a first date out to dinner. He’d probably recommend they go to Signs of Life for a cup of coffee and maybe to study. That way if the girl seemed interested, the atmosphere would allow for a good conversation, and if she didn’t, they could always do more studying than talking.

— — Edited by Adam Mowder

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