Of course “back in the day,” meaning when I was young, not too many of us wore “eye black.”  No one had packaged it yet, or put some sort of logo on it while making it reusable.  It’s not that we were not good athletes back then, but it just wasn’t something we needed to make ourselves look tough enough, whereas athletes today have all sorts of things, such as eye black, at their disposal.

Today’s athletes however use it for much more than its intended use.  They use it more like Indian war paint.  For them, it is meant to intimidate and create fear, and is really part of gaining that mental advantage over one’s opponents.  In truth, we never thought of such things.  Our jerseys and basic equipment was enough.  We were not the benefactors of modern convenience, and as we understood it everything on the field (or ice as I knew it) could be taken care of by hard work and effort, and everything else could be fixed with athletic tape.  But sports were evolving, even then.  Face guards in hockey for instance came out and became a requirement when I was playing.  Of course we complained about them and did our best to modify them to please ourselves, but safety was changing the game.

All of this is one of the reasons that was a taskmaster about safety and safety gear as a coach, since I wasn’t concerned as a player as I was invincible.  I sport some pretty impressive porcelain teeth that were posted into my jawbone as a young man as I thought mouth guards were useless.  I have since come to understand that I was right, except now I would add “if you do not wear them.”  Eye black, which became popular back then too was to help you see better by stopping the reflection of light from the sun, yet the sun didn’t seem like too much an issue inside ice arenas. But guys in the outdoor sports did begin wearing it, regardless of whether they were playing or riding the bench waiting for their time (in the sun here is implied).  

The bottom line was that it DID make them look a lot cooler and intimidating than they were without it, and it seems to have been part of teams I have been a part of ever since.  I will say that I do not recall it at all when I was under 10 because if it were what it is today at all we all would have had it in Little League where we were barely strong enough to lift our bats.  But it did come, and it is prevalent in sports today.  And regardless of who wears it, it does up the intimidation factor quite a bit.

And you will notice that I did not say 100%, and that is because Ben got some put on this past Saturday at Steph’s game.  And as a old guy I still know that regardless of who you are, or how good or bad you are at a sport, the very last thing you want to do is to put on eye black and hear the words “cute” or “adorable.”  Yet as you can see from the picture, this Tirman has a long way to go.

Of course, at Ben’s age Steph was a math nerd (okay, she kind of still is) and Scotty was, well just Scotty.  Neither showed any indication of what they would become, and for that I know not to rush to judgement with Ben.  Steph tried to pastorally address this with me over the weekend by mentioning a few sports (okay not really sports to ME, but I will refrain from mentioning them as to not offend anyone) that Ben might try.  It was her way of presenting a course of action for the seemingly black sheep of an athletic family, after all it is hard to envision Ben being an MVP in any sport, as she and Scotty both were in multiple years, when he acts like Spongebob (not Scotty, Ben).

But I gave up having my kids live into my expectations about sports long ago, not for them, but for me.  It was then that I could enjoy it, and even had they not done so well I would still have.  Steph still plays, and is a senior on the number 14th ranked D2 team in the country.  Scotty could have played, but went into the Marines instead.  He is now, on his off time, the head coach of a men’s high school team just off base and had his first games this weekend.

And Ben will continue to wear eye black (poorly) and run like a dork, and be cute, as well as adorable. I am proud of him just as much.  I know to not work to control it, but to let it happen. (Ask Scotty how well it worked when he tried to play ice hockey)  Ben however, will be fine.  And whatever sport he plays (right now he is in Taekwondo) he will be what he is supposed to be.  I just don’t want him to feel the pressure.

After all he has big shoes to fill.  Steph may be a top tier lacrosse player and Scotty a Marine, and both may be hot shot high school MVPs, but I have porcelain teeth bolted into my jaw, and what could ever be cooler than that?

Goodnight my friends and God Bless!

Tommy+