Wednesday, September 1, 2010
I really enjoy when professional athletes express themselves through unique hairstyles or by reaching out to their fans in clever and funny ways. That is why I always find it disheartening whenever I hear of a team asking its newest member to trim his signature hairstyle.
The most recent example of this is the Chicago White Sox having Manny Ramirez cut down his dreadlocks. For as long as I can remember watching him, Manny’s dreads have been a symbol of his happy-go-lucky lifestyle.
Manny is not the first example of this happening. For most of his career Randy Johnson looked like he had just stepped out of some kind of time machine, with a mullet and mustache combo that would make Hulk Hogan burst with pride. In 2005 he joined the New York Yankees and was told to clean up, and the mullet was no more. The next year the Evil Empire struck again. This time Johnny Damon, known to Red Sox fans as Jesus or Captain Caveman because of his long brown hair and beard, showed up in a Yankees uniform looking like a typical Manhattan metrosexual.
I see no point in management telling players what they can and can’t do. These athletes are, at their most basic levels, entertainers. When I watch a sporting event I do it because I enjoy it. It is entertaining. I don’t want owners driving up ticket prices on me and simultaneously taking the fun out of it.
This is why I love what Chad Ochocinco represents. He may be considered a distraction by purists, but he does what he does for his fans. At the end of last season, Ochocinco started to talk about how he wanted to change his name again. This time to Chad Hachi Go (85 in Japanese) to honor his Japanese fans.
Then there are athletes like Troy Polamalu, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ safety. Polamalu grows out his hair to honor his Samoan heritage. But he also has fun with it. Last year he starred in commercials for Head & Shoulders Shampoo. In the commercial, he was being interviewed about the game but would always answer attributing his success to the shampoo products. Recently he insured his hair for one million dollars in case anything should happen to it.
When athletes go out of their way to entertain us it reminds us that they are not robots but people, too. Honestly, doesn't everyone (except Giants fans) like Peyton Manning more than his little brother Eli because Peyton puts out funny commercials and hosts SNL while Eli always comes off as awkward in interviews? I take comfort in knowing the superstar I am watching on TV has at least some semblance of a personality, even if it’s just for show.
— Edited by David Cawthon
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