One Close Shave Inspires Others

It may well have been the most famous head of hair in all of sport, at least in the Combed and Ozone-Safe Division, ruling out Andre Agassi and Jimmy Johnson.

It was red.

It was tall.

It was moussed on the sides and sheared on the top like a front-yard hedge.

“It was trademarked,” says Steve Timmons, who owned it until late Monday night.

And now it is gone, a fashion tragedy for our times, sacrificed during a hair-razing adventure inside the Olympic athletes village after a controversial loss by the United States men’s volleyball team.

The controversy: Bald Bob Samuelson, a reserve middle blocker for the United States, might or might not have received a second yellow card during the fourth set against Japan, which may or may not have meant the match-winning point for Japan. Twenty-three hours later, the International Volleyball Federation ruled against Samuelson and reversed a five-set victory that had initially gone to the Americans.

The response: As a sign of protest and solidarity, the U.S. men’s volleyball team decided to be like Bob and handed Samuelson an electric razor, instructing him to buzz away.

“I went home last night, and I was thinking, we had to make some kind of statement, some kind of protest,” Timmons said. “The ruling was a joke, and we wanted to show our support for Sammy.

“I carry an electric razor with me, which I use to trim my flattop, and I dug it out. I said, ‘Sammy, you’re doing it. There’s no turning back.’ ”

It’s a good thing Samuelson was missing only hair and not a limb.

Barber and customer both understood the gravity of the act they were about to commit.

This wasn’t just another head Samuelson was going to shave.

This was a million-dollar corporation losing its identity.

“My flattop is our logo,” said Timmons, co-owner of the Redsand Beach Sportswear Co. “It has been trademarked. So I had a lot more riding on this than the other guys.”

Consequently, Timmons was nervous as he settled into the chair. “He was timid,” Samuelson recalled. “He told me, ‘OK, just take a little off the top to start with.’

“I said, ‘Trust me, trust me.’ ”

And then, grinning maniacally, Samuelson pressed the razor into Timmons’ scalp and gave him a reverse Mohawk.

“A big stripe, right down the middle,” Samuelson said. “I wasn’t going to start on the sides and give him a way out. Once he had the stripe, he had to get rid of the rest.”

All around him, Timmons’ teammates gulped.

Two of them, Brent Hilliard and Jeff Stork, started scanning the room, looking for the nearest exit.

Sorry, they were told.

No one hair gets out alive.

“I don’t think Hilliard’s had his shorter than five inches in his life,” Timmons said. “He and Stork were dragging their feet. But once they saw Steve Timmons, who’s known for his haircut, give it up, they had to fall in line. It was all of us or none of us.”

The United States has its Dream Team, and now it has its Mr. Clean Team. Twelve players, plus USOC volleyball press officer Rich Wanninger, had their heads shorn hours before the United States was to face Canada in its second Olympic match.

Tuesday afternoon, they strode into the Palau d’Esports, pulled off their concealing baseball caps like head covers from golf clubs and there they were--the Barcelona Chapter of the Sinead O’Connor Fan Club.

The crowd cheered but on the other side of the net, the Canadians shook their heads.

“They haven’t stopped complaining from the start,” said Canadian starter Gino Brosseau. “That’s now going to be their strategy--’Everybody’s out to get us.’ That’s the United States, always trying to intimidate people.”

Teammate Kevin Boyles said the Marine cuts made the Americans “look silly.”

“What would he know about it?” Timmons shot back. “Did he even play today? What number was he?

“I have no comment for him. He knows nothing about our situation.”

Timmons then proceeded to outline the situation for reporters, if somewhat melodramatically.

“I feel like we were raped,” he said of the federation’s ruling.

“I wonder how many people are on death row who shouldn’t be there. That’s how I feel.”

Stripped of the hyperbole, the United States’ situation is this: Despite the reversal, the Americans should live to see the medal round; all they need do is finish ahead of lightweights Spain and France in their six-team pool.

Actually, the reversal could turn out to be the best thing to happen to U.S. volleyball. For one day, there was respite from the Michael and Magic five-ringed circus, with the Olympic spotlight casting instead on a bunch of skinheaded setters and spikers from the beaches of Newport, Laguna, Manhattan and Long.

“I wonder if (federation president) Ruben Acosta and the commission planned it that way,” said Timmons, sounding a little too much like Oliver Stone. “They knew a forfeiture would give us so much more press back home.”

Timmons rubbed a hand over his stubbled scalp.

“I’m going to have to call my business partner,” he said. “We’re going to have to chop our logo down a bit. Maybe we can put out a special Barcelona edition T-shirt.”

That, and perhaps rename the company. Already, Timmons has a candidate in mind:

“Redsandpaper.”