Support for the ‘stache

Just try to top the "State Trooper Giambi" look, as sported by Mike Mussina a few years back.

It’s been well-documented that we at Ladies… have a love/hate/complicated relationship with the moustache (and why is it so often associated with the mullet?), but this is clearly a case in which we wholeheartedly support its existence. As you may be aware, we are halfway through Movember, a movement designed to bring awareness to men’s health and specifically prostate cancer.

Community support always makes our hearts melt, so we salute the numerous athletes who have taken up the moustachioed cause.

The moustache needs to return to Twitter, Collin.

Several MLB players are spending the offseason working on their mo’s, the most notable being Nats pitcher Collin Balester, he whose ‘stache once had its own Twitter account. Really. You can support the Captain of Bally’s Staches (ahoy!) here. Other notables include AJ Pierzynski and my boy Nick Swisher, who has managed to raise a little over $10,000 with his team The Art of Shaving (side note: I was disappointed to find that he hasn’t posted any updated pics of his work in progress. SWISH, MAKE WITH THE PICTURES!)

I prefer Scruffy George Parros on the right over George Parros as Burton Cummings on the left, but it's all for a good cause. Wait...he wears that 'stache all season?! (Source: NHL.com)

NHL players are channeling their inner Wendel Clark this month, including the Edmonton Oilers and the Anaheim Ducks. College and university teams are also stepping up to the challenge – the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers mens’ basketball team, for one.

The extra facial hair comes in handy when you play football in the chill of the Canadian prairies in November – just ask Saskatchewan Roughriders punter Eddie Johnson. As Andrew Bucholtz reports in this fine post, Eddie is also raising funds for the Movember movement. Keep your eye on Eddie’s lip Sunday when the Riders face the Calgary Stampeders in the CFL Western Final.

The fact that Movember is getting guys to talk openly about prostate cancer is a huge victory out of the gate. According to information from the Canadian Cancer Society via Prostate Cancer Canada, 24,600 men will be diagnosed with the disease in 2010 and 4,600 will die from prostate cancer. But broach the subject of screening with the man in your life – your dad, your partner, your best friend – and chances are he’ll be more than a little uncomfortable about the topic about prostate health.

So spread the word and support someone you know who has taken the Movember challenge. If you don’t know of any, support your favorite athlete.

And if you still need inspiration to grow your own mo?

Don’t trim those sideburns.