It’s hard to stick up for the Sox sometimes. Given the chance, people like to make some of those old Ligue/Dybas/Reinsdorf/Ozzie/Hawkeroo cracks, and in certain spirits it’s easy to just let it slide; the Sox by no means run a flawless organization (does anyone?) and there’s plenty of ammunition for the well-read Sox fan to fire back with if need be.

And yet. . . this. Mullet Night, the equivalent of the Cubs having “Frat Boy Night” or the Tigers hosting “Foreclosure Sale Night.” Take the negative stereotype of Sox fans being some kind of culturally retarded cavemen and slap a Great Clips sponsorship on it and a soundtrack featuring Molly Hatchet and Poison. From the Sox promotional schedule:

Got Mullet? Join the White Sox for a night celebrating a classic American hairstyle, THE MULLET. Stay postgame for a spectacular fireworks display set to a music soundtrack of classic hair-bangin’ rockers!

Don’t have a mullet? Have a stylist at one of four Great Clips haircut stations (located throughout the ballpark) trim one up for you or create a style all your own. Donations will be accepted to benefit the Ronald McDonald House and Chicago White Sox Charities

MULLET MARCH Then at 5:30 p.m., march your mullet over to Gate 1, where the first 500 mulleted men and women will be invited to parade their classic cuts around the outfield warning track (wigged mullets will be accepted). Mulleted marchers will get a free Sox Mullet Night T-shirt, and the Chevrolet Pride Crew will randomly select mulleted contestants for our in-game features!

Yes, you read that correctly: men and women. Sigh.

And all this from the team that has continually set the agenda for promotional nights. Elvis Night and Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day are near-legendary, and the themed fireworks nights are nothing short of an outstanding to cap an evening at the ballpark. The post-homer, post-win and post-game fireworks, half-price Mondays, twofer Tuesdays – class all around, yet they’re willing to let – no, actually encourage us as fans to ape ourselves they way popular perception would insist that we do anyway.

If you’re going tonight, make a point to have fun. Get the most ridiculous mullet wig you can, do something positive for a good cause, let those hair metal covers rock your socks off and please, please, please get a hearty chuckle or two out of the evening.

Just remember you’re not the only one laughing.