Well there are about 73 days and change till the hockey season starts….and I think my hockey withdrawal has gotten the best of me. The picture on my blogger profile and myspace profile is clean shaven me. In the last two weeks I have slowly and I do mean slowly grown a beard.
I will not shave till the season starts…I may do a trim hear and there when I go to chew and I get hair instead but for the most part…I will let it grow and grow it shall. Most will think I am cuckoo for cocoa puffs but in the dog days of summer. I also understand that I will never get to the level of beard that our Playoff Beard Winner Crittersbuggin can get to….but at the same time I want to take it as far as it will go.
There are some good points of the beard. Seriously, I do look older for once. A 32 year old should never get carded at a bar and that has happened too many times. Also, when I went to play a quick pickup hockey game yesterday…a lot of the guys thought it was a bold move to say the least. Not many people would grow a beard in the dead of summer but not that many are a diehard hockey fan like I am. Most importantly, the wife seems to like said facial hair…she never really did till now. So I am guessing the beard is softening some.
Sadly there are a few drawbacks. For one, running is a pain…the sweat pours down and well….stops! That can get quite irritating and requires more showers. The itchy phase is also longer in the summer than the colder months because of the dry, hot weather. Finally, swimming in chlorinated water seems to tingle the living daylights out of the bottom of the beard and tangle the hairs a bit. Eventually I guess that gets better but I am going to find out.
Other than that, all is good with it. As a crazed hockey fan, I wanted to do something different….people have done playoff beards…why not do one in the offseason waiting for the season to get started. It is a novel concept that’s time has come.
