By Mark La Monica and Joe Fernandez
Summer is here and we feel like having some fun. And since we know every year that baseball's All-Star break creates three days of next to nothing to do in July, we're ready to launch into some amusement now that will carry us through that little hiccup in the sports calendar.
The Keyboard Quarterbacks proudly -- very proudly -- present Mustache Madness, your chance to celebrate, commemorate and choose the greatest mustaches in New York sports history.
Athletes have been placed in one of four brackets and will face each other in a single-elimination playoff bracket, similar to the NCAA's March Madness basketball tournament.
And, of course, we've named the divisions. In keeping with KBQB style, they are named after sports movie characters -- Lou Brown, Ray Finkle, Apollo Creed and Jack "Mr. Baseball" Elliot.
The mustache tournament, perhaps the world's first, begins now and lasts through July 11. The voting schedule is as follows:
First Round: Vote from 8:30 p.m. June 27 to 11:59 p.m. June 29.
Sweet Sixteen: Vote from 12:30 a.m. June 30 to 11:59 p.m. July 2
Elite Eight: Vote from 12:30 a.m. July 3 to 11:59 p.m. July 5.
Final Four: Vote from 12:30 a.m. July 6 to 11:59 p.m. July 8
Championship: Vote from 12:30 a.m. July 9 to 1 p.m. July 11.
The winner will be announced at 2 p.m. July 11.
Mustaches were seeded based on originality, size, staying power in New York, success of the athlete while he had the mustache, longevity, celebrity of the mustache, how his teammates reacted to it, class and symmetry.
Or decide on your own judging system: Either way, have fun. Follow these three steps:
1) Cut a hole in a box.
Oops, wrong steps. Sorry. OK, follow THESE three steps
1) See the Mustache Madness photos
2) View the Mustache Madness brackets
3) Start voting in the first round of Mustache Madness.
The Lou Brown Bracket
(1) Goose Gossage vs. (8) Tom Gordon
(4) Patrick Ewing vs. (5) John Starks
(2) Tony Pena vs. (7) Herman Edwards
(3) Thurman Munson vs. (6) Gary Sheffield
The Ray Finkle Bracket
(1) Keith Hernandez vs. (8) Wally Backman
(4) Davey Johnson vs. (5) Mike Keenan
(2) Sparky Lyle vs. (7) Derek Harper
(3) David Wells vs. (6) Jeff Kent
The Apollo Creed Bracket
(1) Bobby Nystrom vs. (8) Bryan Trottier
(4) Catfish Hunter vs. (5) Harry Carson
(2) Don Mattingly vs. (7) Jose Valentin
(3) Derek Bell vs. (6) Willie Randolph
The Jack "Mr. Baseball" Elliot Bracket
(1) Walt Frazier vs. (8) Carlos Baerga
(4) Reggie Jackson vs. (5) Billy Martin
(3) Joe Namath vs. (6) Bobby Valentine
(2) Sal Fasano vs. (7) Jason Giambi
Comments (22)
Goose Gossage all the way! Thurman and Sparky are right behind. Go Goose!
Nothing beats Bobby V's infamous "eye black" mustache after he got thrown out of a game and tried to disguise himself. That is true Mustache Madness.
Keith Hernandez's mustache is legendary... there are commercials JUST about his mustache...
How could you possibly put Jose Valentin as a 7-seed?
He easily could have been a top seed as he sports the best mustache in baseball. His nickname is the Pink Panther for a reason.
Donny Baseball has nothing on the Pink Panther
The closest battle (and most unfair pairing if I may disagree with the selection committee) may be the 3-6 matchup in the Jack Elliot Bracket. Namath's fu-man-chu deserves an easier first-round opponent than Bobby V.'s Halloween costume. Both deserve to see the second round, but sadly only one will.
what about keith hernandez?
Is there something wrong with me that I knew the 4 guys above just by their stache?
How can you have Shea short-timers Carlos Baerga and Derek Bell on this list but leave off Piazza? Booooo!!!
Glad to see Mustache Madness is catching on.
The Jack "Mr. Baseball" Elliot bracket is indeed loaded. But whoever comes out of that bracket will be battle-tested for the Final Four.
As for Baerga and Bell, have you seen those pics? Amazing mustaches. Piazza's mustache was a bit too Rembrandt Smurf to make the final 32.
And "Bored," there's nothing wrong with knowing people's mustaches so well. Heck, Joey and I put these thing together, so who do you think has the bigger problem?
It's simple: Bobby V. has to move on.
SAL FASANO when he was a yankee
Sparky. Period.
Rolly Fingers! It's a no brainer.
This is news? Newsday is a sham. Well at least your not busting on cops, firemen Christians and Jews.
Martina Navratilova, hands down.
keith dominates, i didnt throw to his glove, i threw to his mustache.
Homage:
http://www.imkeithhernandez.com
Of course it's not news, Real Reporter. It's just these blog guys having some fun on a friday in the summer.
However, if you wish to be a hammer, feel free.
By the way, do real reporters write "your" when they mean "you're"?
Sal Fasano
It's nice
iViva la mustache!
how can you have a mustache madness without either Phi garner or sparky lyle
IRON FLAG