If you earned millions of dollars this year and had a career where people took your picture all the time -- would you hire a stylist to figure out which haircuts looked best on you? Obviously, this idea has not occurred to every athlete over the past months. In particular, there have been many disappointments (and comebacks) concerning well-known baseball and football players.
Yu, orange is not your color
For months, one photo after another had Yu Darvish looking like a polished celebrity. However, in a recent ESPN article that says Darvish will earn $56 million in the next six years, there was a horrific picture of this star player. The headline said, "Is this the Yu Darvish we'll see all year?" Naturally, the idea of every photo looking as bad as that one is unbearable. Sadly, Darvish's over-processed, orange-colored, split-ends hairdo is not the only haircut in athletics that is awaiting a comeback.
Luck has childish haircut
This spring, well-coiffed photos of Andrew Luck appeared as he was touted as, "#1 NFL Draft Pick overall." In a strange turn of events, Luck went from several attractive haircuts during his Stanford career to looking like a little boy trapped in a man's body. Now that he is playing for the Indianapolis Colts, one bloggers suggests that he can afford a decent haircut and get a hairstyle that does not involve bangs.
Tweeted bad hair comeback
A case study on the impact of getting the wrong haircut is evidenced in the recent bad hair day experienced by Jimmy Clausen. This Carolina Panthers quarterback tweeted his mishaps and they were recorded by CBS as saying, "Never going to @supercuts again! #awful."
After a few back and forth Twitter responses making fun of the NFL players bad luck, the situation was resolved with Clausen posting, "Props to @Supercuts for reaching out and taking care of me... I appreciate the love with the gift cards, and will be back for a cut soon!"
Despite the SuperCuts debacle, it is likely that Clausen has never had a decent haircut in his entire life.
Good hair failure attitude improves game
Baseball players are a superstitious bunch; but will a haircut make the difference? The Star-Telegraph posted Derek Holland's victories at the Toronto Blue Jays game -- and included many references from his Texas Rangers teammates about how his hair was affecting his game. Earlier in the year, his shock of locks was so off the wall that several bloggers referred to him as novelist Kurt Vonnegut's doppelganger.
In many cases, athletes with bad haircuts appear to be in denial, but Holland listens to his fans. About his new haircut Holland says, "I felt it was necessary to do. The hair wasn't getting many wins, so let's try something different."
Horror hair home run
Over the past year, Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals has had a series of hair and pencil-line beard failures. His early season hairstyle appeared to be a faux-hawk that looked like it might evolve into a scary iguana haircut . Thankfully, he was sporting a more fetching style in mid-May, 2012 when he, "became the youngest major leaguer to homer since 1998."
Looking dorky for a reason
As a sports manager dealing with the team's public image, it might be difficult to find a stylist that can create the right look every time for each player. Alternatively, the Boston Bruins seem to have a solution that fits most. In late March, the team got together to raise money for the fifth annual "Cuts for a Cause."
Although military issue haircuts look terrible on most people, if you are going to look unattractive in the sports world -- at least do it to save lives.
More from this Contributor:
Odd Olympics Addition: Fashion Designers
Summer 2012: Sports' New Haircuts, Fan's View
The not-so-manly weird sport of body hair growing
Italian Sports Apparel; Unique Fashion Trend: Fan's View
Weird Men's Kentucky Derby and Horse Racing Hats: Fan's View
