Tackling the Tough Issues: Neckbeards
By Prescott Carlson in News on Sep 6, 2008 3:55PM
Why cover rampant city and county corruption, two wars, or a historical presidential election when you can write about a several year old fashion trend in a story that seems lifted out of The Mash? A reporter at the Trib just noticed Kyle Orton's aversion to razors, and thinks the Bears' starting QB just might be onto something big:
Neckbeards, in general, spark interest because they don't conform to normal grooming trends and haven't been in the public eye since Henry David Thoreau penned "Civil Disobedience," says Louis Giersch, a non-neckbearded man who runs a Web site dedicated to them. Giersch ranks the neckbeard's re-emergence as the most important advancement in facial hair since General Ambrose Burnside wore friendly mutton chops on the Civil War battlefield..."That's why Kyle's so important," Giersch says. "He can really get this off the ground and make the neckbeard what the goatee was 10 years ago."
Gee, let's hope so, since the goatee was already on its way out by the late 90s. Next weekend, the Trib will run a three-part series profiling various world leaders' take on skinny jeans. [Trib]