Why do football and baseball players put black smudges under their eyes? The stock answer is “to prevent glare”, but I recall reading somewhere that it doesn’t really work. Can someone point me to a reference?
Thanks,
SidG
T
In this case the stock answer is the correct one.
There’s also the second secret answer: you look like an intimidating psychopath too!
Reducing glare is the only explanation I’ve ever heard. I’ll bet that it really does not work or has minimal effect unless you have unusually protruding & shiny cheeks. I’ll bet a lot of guys started out putting that stuff on when they were younger and it just became a ritual part of the game for them. Kind of like putting on war paint before going into battle. You know how superstitious these guys are.
There was a thread about this maybe a year ago or more, rather long if I recall… (hmmm, seems like that has been my stock response lately - I’m in the middle of finals and don’t have time to dig through the archives) and if I recall correctly the consensus was that 95% of it is to do with tradition/going for a certain “look”, etc… and very little to do with actually preventing glare.
There were a bunch of arguments about that last bit put forth; such as how the black stuff has a glossy look to it and would reflect sunspots anyways, how the athlete will be sweating and getting reflective oil/water all over it, structure of the face, and the fact that even very dark-skinned black athletes wear the stuff (you can’t even tell unless it’s a real close-up).
Many athletes don’t even use lamp black, which was the smudgy substance of choice. Many are just press on “smudges” similar to adhesive bandages.
What would be the point of trying to do something about glare when you are wearing that head protection too? Seems to me there wouldn’t be any glare if the sun can’t get to the face.
In close-ups of some of the stick-on style black spots, you can see a trade mark. In those cases, you can bet there’s an endorsement contract.
I’ve always thought that it’s decorative not functional. A little experiment: close one eye and rotate the other eye around and see what you can see. The practical athlete balcks out both sides of his nose!
I’m sure someone thought it practical long ago but gvsantos has hit the nail on the head witht the warpaint call…