Sports

Rayhawk Haircuts All the Rage With Tampa Bay Rays Fans

by Jon Azpiri | October 14, 2008 at 01:27 pm

2388 views | 2 Recommendations | 2 comments

Many Tampa Bay Rays players and fans have taken to sporting mohawk haircuts dubbed "Rayhawks" as a sign of solidarity during the Florida team's first-ever playoff run.

The trend started with Rays players who shaved both sides of their scalp as a sign of unity. Local barbers have seen a steady increase in customers asking for the same haircut.

"This is the Rays craze, I call it," says Denise Foote, owner and barber/stylist at Brooksville's Haircuts Express, who did three of them last week. They are popular with younger guys, she said.

Foote says the style is similar to a Mohawk, only the sides of the head are not shaved as much and the center strip of hair is longer.

Foote says it's wonderful to see the local fans supporting their team. It's been a long time coming, she says.

"It's only hair," she jokes. "It will grow back."

Not everyone has such a laidback attitude towards the Rayhawk. A seventh-grader from Palmetto, Florida, was punished after coming to school with a Rayhawk. School officials told 12-year-old Zachary Sharples that the haircut violated the district dress code, and he was sent to in-school suspension.

The story does have a happy ending, however.

Rays outfielder Jonny Gomes saw Zachary's story on the local news and decided to pay the boy back for his trouble. According to MLB.com, Gomes, after learning Zachary and his dad would be at Game 2 of the ALCS, provided two field passes for pregame batting practice and presented Zachary with a bat autographed by members of the Rays.

"The kid got punished for being a Rays fan," Gomes said, according to MLB.com. "What's wrong with that?"

And once Sharples walked out onto the playing surface at Tropicana Field, members of the team stopped by to greet him.

The experience was a memorable one for the lifelong Rays fan.

"I've been going to Rays games since I was 2 years old," Sharples said, according to MLB.com. "I went to the second baseball game [at Tropicana Field] ever."

So will he be shaving his Rayhawk any time soon?

"Not until they win the World Series," he said, according to the report.