Heckling 101 / JJ Redick's Hair Styling Secrets

Last night I was lucky enough to get free courtside seats for the Pacers Magic game at Conseco Fieldhouse, and as always my friend Ryan went above and beyond his duty as a Pacers fan to heckle the visiting team.

At one point in the game, Ryan was trying to remember if J.J. Redick had won a national championship while playing at Duke, which prompted the guy next to us to look it up on his smart phone. Turns out he didn't win a championship, but that's besides the point. While the guy was looking this up, he came across a Q&A on Redick's website in which he describes how he styles his hair. Here's his secret:

Question: Sort of a random question here, but what the heck. What kind of hair product do you use to keep your hair in place all game?

Answer: Very funny question. And it’s a question that people ask me all the time. The truth is I use very little product but instead rely on a simple, yet effective procedure. I take a little bit of stick wax and rub it on my palms and fingers. I run my hands thru my a few times then take a towel (this is the key) and rub the towel over my hair for two or three seconds. The towel leaves my hair in a messy “fro” but it gives me something to work with. Then I style my hair accordingly. All in all the process takes 30 seconds to a minute.

Of course, Ryan immediately worked this into his heckling arsenal. The next time Redick was near us on the court Ryan shouted, "Hey JJ! Is that some stick wax you got in your hair?!?"

The play had yet to start so Redick turned towards us and shouted, "Yeah! But it isn't on a stick, it comes in a can! It lasts about two days!" That's most definitely paraphrased, by the way.

Unfortunately, it wasn't until today that I discovered that Redick is an aspiring rapper. That would've been some pure gold for last night's heckling.

Ryan was also getting at Vince Carter the entire game, mostly coming up with various ways to make fun of him for being old. The biggest highlight came after Vince was fouled during a drive to the hoop. Vince was slightly limping as he walked towards the free throw line so Ryan yelled, "Big surprise! Vince Carter's hurt!"

After Vince knocked down the first free throw, he looked over and yelled, "Shut your mouth!"

While Ryan made enemies with Vince, he was quick to make friends with Orlando's Matt Barnes. During shootaround, he commended Barnes for having written the following statement on his Twitter account after having a war of words with the Lakers' Lamar Odom earlier this season:

"Morning yall up early w/ the babies watchn Dora. Seems Lamar can't keep my name out his mouth maby I need 2 put my sons shitty diaper n it"

Ryan also bashed Odom for marrying Khloe Kardashian, which Barnes just shook his head at in amusement. Later in the game, Ryan told Barnes to take it easy on the Pacers since it was fan appreciation night. Barnes responded by saying, "Only if you appreciate us."

Ryan replied, "I appreciated you on the Warriors when you upset the Mavericks," which prompted Barnes to come over and give him a high five before the play started.

After the game, his efforts were rewarded when Barnes gave him his game worn shoe and autographed it. I thanked Barnes through Twitter and he actually responded, which is my first real interaction with a professional athlete on Twitter. Huge accomplishment, I know. Unfortunately, he hasn't started following me on Twitter, but he did say "Nice mustache!!!" in reference to my profile picture, which is a photo of Phil Jackson during his playing days. I bet you're feeling jealous, Teenage Mustache.

Ryan also had some minimal interaction with Dwight Howard. At one point, Dwight was standing on the sidelines, and Ryan yelled at him to sit down. Already aware of Ryan's heckling, Vince Carter pointed out Ryan to Dwight. Dwight looked in our direction and Ryan stood up and flexed his muscles. Dwight just shook his head in shame and motioned for him to sit down.