Ryan, Zavada, Jones Lead Athlete Nominees For Goulet Award

The nominations are in — nearly 100 of them from all walks of life — and the austere certified mustacheologists of the American Mustache Institute has presented 18 finalists for the noble “Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached Ameican of the Year” honor.

Now it’s up to you, the mustache-loving public, to decide who will be the “Goulet” and be crowned at ‘Stache Bash 2009 featuring John Oates on Oct. 30 in St. Louis.

There’s the people you’d expect like U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, the first Mustached American AG in 50 years. There’s hero US Airways pilot Sully Sullenberger. There’s the long-forgotten mustache of John Oates – J-Stache. There’s a lovely lady — Whitney Matheson of USA Today’s Pop Candy blog. And there are of course some well-qualified regular Joes who are very, very deserving.

But for our JoeSportsFan purposes, let’s examine the three representatives from the world of sport:

Landry Jones –  created mustache mania on the Oklahoma University campus after replacing the injured Heisman Trophy winner Sam Bradford. OU student season ticket holders have dawned the finger stash, painted on stash, and “fear the stash” T-shirts. In addition to the mustache fever, Landry racked up a NCAA record for passing yards by a freshman and a team record six passing touchdowns. He has inspired a new generation of men and women to fall in love with the mustache.

Brendan Ryan -  entered the 2009 season as a utility infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals known for his scrappy defense. Then, along with many of his teammates, he grew a mustache. Since then, Ryan’s become the Cardinals’ primary shortstop, is batting over .300, and playing spectacular defense. On August 20, against the San Diego Padres, Ryan even used the power of the lip sweater to his first career grand slam, proving once again that there is no performance enhancer quite like a mustache.

Clay Zavada – left the family farm and returned to baseball to become the first since Rollie Fingers to bring cool back to the handle bar mustache in professional baseball. With adoring fans wearing “Respect da Stache” shirts, who has brought more respect to the mustache? Few, if any.

The choice, my friends, is now up to you. VOTE HERE and then please join John Oates and the American Mustache Institute at ‘Stache Bash 2009, presented by the good folks at Quicken, on Oct. 30 to see who is crowned Goulet.

Carry on.

---

Subscribe (for free!!) to our weekly sports podcast, deemed "incredible" by two out of three of our moms.

© JoeSportsFan.com, 2009. | Permalink | Tweet This