[AtlUmpSteve]

ASA 12A National Championship, we had a young and very upcoming local umpire assigned. So young that his prized goatee was pretty much the result of his accumulated life time. At the pretournament meet and greet, and before the NUS UIC arrived, a longtime and respected umpire (himself sporting a full beard at the time) told the young'un that he planned to shave before the umpire clinic being held in the morning, as he had been told this UIC disliked facial hair.

Of course, that was a setup; and the young'un bit, and showed up the next morning cleanly shaven, while the oldtimer still had his beard. The young'un took a good bit of ribbing, but the UIC didn't know what had happened.

Until I stopped by (had a different assignment that year), heard the story, and knowing the UIC from a prior tournament, set up Part II. At the umpire party, the UIC made the usual comments about each umpire receiving their coin and certificate, and in this case, told everyone that the young'un had a great tournament (he had), and that he just wished he had some facial hair, so that he looked a bit more mature.