It's Now or Never for Mustache of the Year Award Nominations

The American Mustache Institute read our awesome Action Figure Therapy post a couple of days ago and contacted us here at Under the Radar to make sure we were aware of the deadline for their Robert Goulet Memorial Mustached American of the Year award nominations. And, uh, that deadline is TODAY (October 7th).

Frankly, it’s embarrassing that we missed this…we could make excuses that we’ve been with the 160^TH SOAR driving a little bird like we stole it, or that we just found out this morning we’ve been nominated ONCE AGAIN for an AVN Award…but the bottom line is we gapped. Even the most intrepid and daring world-traveling doorkickering counter-insurgency experts have limits. We’ll try to do better.

In any case, the American Mustache Institute, which as you know is sworn to protect the rights of, and fighting discrimination against mustached Americans, expressed their certainty that a large number of U.S. military personnel might qualify for the honor. Twice now in is three year history it has been won by first responders, though not by anyone in the military.

ALCON: The deadline for nominations for this contest is Friday at midnight. Award winners will be announced on 28 OCT. This is time-sensitive. Square away your LIMFACs and get those military mustache snapshots submitted ASAP.

On 10 OCT the pool of nominees will be streamlined to a worthy group of finalists selected by AMI’s certified mustacheologists for online voting.

We caught up with one of the men behind AMI in Chicago. Questioned about the inherent mustache limitations imposed on servicemen (and a very few service-women) by current grooming standards, AMI Chairman Dr. Aaron Perlut (CNM) hastened to reassure us that the contest is not about the biggest, bushiest ‘stache.

“It’s more about people who have to have good mustaches doing good things in their community or serving their community,” he said through the bristling thicket of his own mustache, “that sort of thing…it’s more about good people doing good things.”

AMI is based out of St. Louis, home of the world’s largest mustache (the Arch). They initiated the Robert Goulet Memorial award in honor of the entertainer, who passed away on Halloween of ’07.

“Robert Goulet was an iconic figure with a great mustache and a great sense of humor,” Aaron told us. “I spoke with his wife about naming it in his honor and she thought it was a great idea, and that he’d have liked the idea knowing his sense of humor. So the stars sort of aligned. We still stay in touch and speak with her every six months or so.”

Past winners have included firefighter Brian Sheets, Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Clay Zavada, and retired New York City police detective Tim Galvin. The winner of the 2011 award will be announced at ‘Stache Bash 2011 in Chicago on Oct. 28.

AMI is very active politically, lobbying for such fundamental and flocculent rights as the Mustached American Stache Incentive and able to discourse at length on such weighty matters as the history of the mustache in America and the Supreme Court ruling about facial hair for firefighters back in the 70s.

When asked what makes a good mustache, Aaron responded, “There’s no such thing as a bad mustache, only bad people that don’t have mustaches.”

Under the Radar would like to see a member of its reading (viewing, in the case of the Duo’s fellow grunts) audience win this award. What America needs now is a fighting mustache the caliber of Col. Robin Olds, Col David Lownds, MSgt (Ret) Patrick DuFriend or Brandon "Master P" Peters…something that hearkens back to the heady days of General Buford and the warlike magnificence of truly stupendous mustaches.

For further information you can call AMI at (877) STACHE-1, or visit them on the web. Please be so kind as tell them Under the Radar (and of course the Mad Duo) sent you.