Facepaint sports superfans: THE BLUE AND WHITE KID

Real name:	Dale Nosel
Birth date:	2nd September 1986
Profession:	Primary teacher
Location:	Wallingford (Connecticut) (The United States of America)
Supported Team:	Uconn Huskies

The blue and white kid, aka Dale Nosel, is probably the greatest sports fan the University of Connecticut has ever had.

This University, as well as many others in the USA, has a strong sports tradition in which fans don't hesitate to paint their faces and even their bodies to show their spirits. It is not something just an individual does. Big groups of students show up in matches with their faces and/or bodies painted.

But what makes Dale outstand from the rest?

Well, Dale has attended almost every single match of the Uconn Huskies during the time he was a student (and afterwards) and he has tirelessly painted himself for all these matches. Dale even attended to his graduation day all painted up and he still continues colouring his body after 16 years whenever he attends a competition. Can someone beat that? 😎

In order to attend the matches (no matter if they are football or basketball) he shaves his head and paints all his visible skin half white and half blue, head to toe.

His most extreme look is the one in which he just wears a pair of underpants and trainers as the only pieces of clothing dressing him.

His most standard look still shows, of course, no visible skin without paint. It consists of a Uconn shirt or jersey, trousers or shorts and footwear.

I've had the pleasure of getting to know Dale and chat with him. He's really friendly and he's been truly kind to answer some questions I made him for the blog which I transcribe here

Hello Dale. Thanks for answering my questions and for your support to my blog.

You are welcome. I try to be an open book about stuff like that.

How much time have you been painting yourself?

It’s 2018. I’m going on my 16th year doing it, and don’t plan on stopping.

When is the first time you remember you got painted for a game and what made you do it?
The first time, I was probably 15. It was a high school football game. I just did it because I wanted to support our team. I did it sporadically in high school. Once I got to college it became an everygame thing after a few weeks of class.

Aha, those first times I guess it wasn't a full bodypaint...
No it wasn't. I believe the first time it was 3 letters on my chest, but none on my face.

It is cool the motivation to do it came basically from yourself 😁... What is the longest time you've remainded with the paint on?
January 22nd, 2005. I think I put it on around 6:00 or 7:00 am. It stayed on until around 11:00 pm

Wow, and you even remember the exact day even though it was thirteen years ago? Maybe it was a very memorable day...
It was the first ever episode of ESPN college gameday for basketball. I painted up for the taping of the show. Then, I went to a women's basketball game; then, I went back to the campus, ate something and then went to a men's basketball game.

Wow! The paint probably was a bit destroyed by 10 pm
Yeah, I think I had to touch it up a little bit.

I’ve noticed that in colleges full facepaint is very popular, everyone wears it. So I guess that’s why you decided to go for more extreme and do bodypainting?

Yes, a lot of people do it at college games, specially for national television games. However, I think the popularity here has decreased over the past 5 years. I’m surprised it’s not bigger over there (Europe). People seem to be very passionate about their teams over there.

Well it is not that common… By the way, one of my premises when I paint myself is, “the more paint coverage, the better”. I’d say you agree on that too…

Yeah, I make sure any exposed skin has paint on it and nowadays painting my head and arms are the norm.

Well, you needn’t paint the whole body if just your face, arms and legs do the trick with a T-shirt and shorts on. You save a lot of paint!

...and time, lol! I haven’t done full body paint for three years.

But you still shave your head, don’t you?

Yeah, I shave it for every football game, and go to every game, home and away, painted.

The head shaving is, in my opinion, one the most fascinating things you do. Do you do it to increase the skin area you can paint?

Yeah, I think when I started, I figured the more paint I had on, the higher level of dedication it showed. I wanted to paint my whole head and knew that hair would get in the way so I started shaving it whenever I painted up.

What is the furthest you think you could go?

For me going the furthest possible would involve shaving my eyebrows.

Oh, that’s cool too :D Luckily, they can be painted easily…

Yeah, I guess that’s why I haven’t shaved them yet.

And have you ever painted just your face, instead of a bodypaint?

The only time I ever did just my face was back in high school to support our high school sport teams.

How many times do you think you have painted yourself?

I want to say minimum 400 times. Maybe 500+

How long does it all take?

The full body paint takes a little more than an hour, plus the shave down time.

By the way, the skin of an average body occupies 2 square metres. Assuming you painted yourself 500 times, that means you’ve painted an area of 1 km²…

I haven’t done the full body all the times. The majority have been head and arms, so I still have with to do. I’ll get there :D

Do you like painting others?

I’ve helped friends paint up occasionally, but it’s not a passion of mine.

How would you say you feel when you paint?

I don’t know. I go to games thinking that the crowd can have an impact on the game, so it helps me get in the mood to do that. Sometimes, I like the attention I get but other times I don’t. It’s just my way of expressing my dedication to the team.

Would you say paint helps you feel more connected with what you do? That is, supporting your team and show your passion.

I think so, but I haven’t gone to a game unpainted in so long that I don’t have anything to compare it to.

Oh, so you’ve gone unpainted to a game, after all?

There were literally only 2 or 3 games I was in college when I went to football games without paint, and that was more than 10 years ago. Ever since, I have always been painted.

In which way you think your particular way of supporting your team has influenced your life?
There are definitely negatives. It has probably had a significant impact on at least two romantic relationships not working out. Probably more. I spend a lot of money on travelling that could be used elsewhere. I've missed family events. I believe it has had a negative impact on job opportunities and on my grades while I was in school.

Positives: I've seen lots of national titles. I've been to many different destinations following teams around the country. I've met a lot of cool people. I received some notoriety. I can say I've done things that nobody else has. The emotions that flow during big games is something that I don't get in life very often any more. I love competition and that is my way of experiencing it still. It's my way of feeling like I'm contributing to the teams without actually being on the team or on the field.

I think you made a real good balance, very honest, So I guess the final balance is quite positive...
Tell me one of those things you've done nobody else has.
So UConn basketball is the only team to win the national title in men's and women's basketball in the same season. Both times I saw in person both semifinal and championship games. To do that I had to drive from San Antonio, Texas on a Saturday to New Orleans, Louisiana on a Sunday, back to San Antonio on Monday for the men's final and then back to New Orealns on Tuesday for women's final. The second time involved the same schedules, but driving back and forth 10 hours between Dallas, Texas and Nashville, Tennessee.

I guess you drove with the paint on...
There was paint on for parts of the drives, but not all of them.

You are a teacher. Do your students know you are a superfan?
I wonder if there is a connection between working in school and face painting. A lot of them know. It's not something I bring up, but I don't hide it if they ask me about it.

Have you ever had to cope with haters?

Yeah, there used to be a Facebook group with 50+ members that was dedicated to hating me. It’s not a big deal, there are people out there who want to tear successful people down because it makes them feel better about themselves.
I've definitely experienced some nasty looks and rude comments both from fans of opposing teams and of fans of teams that I support.

What would you say tho those who maybe think of getting painted for a match but don't dare to do it because no one else around does it?With anything, not just pace paint, I always think people should do what they want and not worry about what other people think. Each person's uniqueness is what makes them special. If everybody does what everybody else does, then we all become the same and there is no fun in that.
Don't be afraid to stand out. Don't be afraid to be different.

Tell me about a curious or funny fact or memory related to getting painted.
I was once getting painted at a shopping centre, in a bathroom, for an NCAA tournament game in March 2005. While I was in front of the mirror applying the paint, one of our former players walked into the bathroom with his 2 or 3 year old daughter. That was unexpected and interesting conversation.

Generally speaking, what do you think is the overall impression everyone else might have from the Blue and White Kid?
I think it's very mixed. It depends on perspective. Some people think I'm awesome. Some people think I'm an idiot.

Finally, could you rate how much you like to paint yourself in a figure?
It's hard to tell on a number scale. I don't enjoy the actual process of paint application. At this point, painting up is just me and what I do. This is why I continue doing it.

So remember that if you ever go see Uconn play you will very possibly spot Dale somewhere so don't hesitate to go and ask him for a photo. He will surely say "yes" with a broad smile on his face.