Beards Win Championships

Whether in basketball, baseball, football or bearding... beards win championships. It has been a proven correlation by the great analysts of our time (e.g. Boomer, Madden, Olsen, etc.). The latest case to stare us in the face, is last night's sweep of the Detroit Tigers at the World Series by the San Francisco Giants, who now have 2 world championships in 3 years...

Even as a devout Red Sox fan, I can recognize greatness on the field... note the Yankees are clean-cut devils, and where are they? My beloved band of idiots was as strong as any team in the majors, until they shipped off their bearded brethren to other teams... shameful management, degrading unsportsmanlike conduct. 

Is anyone surprised that a team with such amazing beard game and devotion to hirsute is at the top of their sport? For all these reasons, and more (including the fact that the fairer half of Build-a-Beard founders is based in SF), we salute the Giants on their championship, we don't fear but profoundly respect the beard.

 Photo CreditL Getty Images/The Atlantic

Scott Hutchison Builds A Beard

Last night at Terminal 5 in New York City (the worst venue to trek to on a weekend), Frightened Rabbit took the stage and rocked out.  But the real thrill happened hours earlier on the tour bus...  Scott Hutchison graciously offered to meet, sketched us our very own "Tonight's Beard" (real fans will understand), and how he's going to keeping growing his 'stache dread-lock style (i.e. twisting it yourself and not using wax) when it gets to the appropriate length.

We also hit upon: How Ben Bridwell of Band of Horses should do a Q&A with us, the odor of the tour bus, Movember, and how San Francisco's "Fear the Beard" is wrong.  To quote Scott: "They shouldn't be fearing the beard - they should be building it."  

Operation Best Night Ever was a success.  (Oh and Scott, as fate would have it - we ended up running into the fan who got #TonightsBeard and snapped his photo).   

Exclusive: Jayson Werth's Beard

We've interviewed a lot of awesome beardos & stache enthusiasts, but getting the opportunity to speak with Jayson Werth's beard is by far the biggest thrill.  OK, perhaps Scott's interview tops it, but we were very excited to get this beard to respond to our emails for a Q&A.

It's been interviewed by The Philadelphia Inquirer to The Los Angeles Times, but now that The Phillies' season has tragically ended, the beard had time to speak with us.  So it let us know why Philadelphia rules, how being the "best beard in baseball" is exhausting, and why Phillies fans have exceptional taste.

 

BaB: How long has Jayson been growing you for?
Off and on since last winter.  He usually grows me in the offseason and then the razors come out in February, but this year I got to stick around.

From one beard to another, what do you have to say to Brian Wilson's beard?
I don't comment on fake beards.  However, I will say that Cody Ross' beard is a travesty.

Do the ladies love you?
Of course!  Well, maybe about 95% of them fell in love.  I think I grew on a lot of people (no pun intended).

How have you impacted the city of Philadelphia?
Hopefully I left a good mark on the city, especially if this is the end of our time here.  We had our ups and downs, but the love for the beard never seemed to wane.

Do you find the city receptive to beardos?
Very much so.  From Eric Bruntlett to many of the Flyers playoff beards, the city of Philadelphia has been graced with some of the greatest beards in sports over the last couple of years.  The fans definitely know a good beard when they see one.

Who do you think will win the World Series?  Do you even care?
At this point, I'm indifferent because we should still be playing.  On paper, the Rangers should win this, but who knows with this pesky Giants team. Throughout their run, they've found a way to keep getting big hits.

What's your best tip for growing a beard?
Be patient and just let it grow.  And no matter what people may say, there's absolutely no good reason to ever use "Just For Men."

Are you surprised by your # of Twitter followers?
Absolutely.  I never anticipated so many people to actually want to follow what I have to say.  I think what may have surprised me even more is the amount of fans from other teams following, which is pretty cool.

What's up next for you?

It's all up in the air right now, so I'm going to enjoy the offseason.  Being the best beard in baseball is pretty exhausting.

Anything else we should know?
Never put metal in the microwave. 
 

Fear the Beard (Even If It Makes You Cringe)

As the co-founder of BaB, it doesn't pain me to report on Brian Wilson's jet black beard that has earned him the coveted "Fear the Beard," but as a die-hard Phillies fan - as someone who attended college in the City of Brotherly Love - well, it borderline makes me nausea to report on this as we all know what happened in Game 6 of the NL championship series.

But I'll put that aside and focus on what is really important here - Wilson's Beard.  But, as our loyal readers know, we reported back in January that Jacob Pullen of Kansas State had fans sporting Fear the Beard t-shits in support of his Abe-Lincoln-esque facial hair styling.  

But enough about the slogan, Brian Wilson is 28 years old and became the Giants full-time closer three seasons ago (note: he rocked a clean-shaven face with short brown hair at this time).  According to SI.com, "In 2008 he recorded 41 saves and was named to the All-Star team. As his dominance increased, his appearance has changed. First came the tattoos. Then the Mohawk, which started changing colors. Then the bright orange cleats that he adapted to baseball rules with a black Sharpie.  And finally this year -- another All-Star season, when he led majors in saves with 48 -- came the beard, which took on a black-Sharpie look of its own. Wilson, however, shrugs off questions about how his beard is so amazingly black."

I am not going to openly cheer for San Fran in The World Series, but I hope the best bearded team wins (with the scales tipping in that city's favor).  Of course, in this gal's biased opinion, Jayson Werth's beard = completely more bad ass than Wilson's (and boasts more Twitter followers too... isn't San Fran known for tech savviness? Hmmm. Well, let's not split hairs about it).