Jesse Lira

Business in front, party in the back

It was hard to tell who got more laughs out of Jesse Lira’s ridiculous haircut at last year’s state wrestling meet — the people who gawked at him or the West Liberty assistant coach himself.

Lira gladly paid up in February 2008 when he lost a bet to his son. If Tomas Lira qualified for the state meet, he earned the opportunity to cut his father’s hair — any way he wanted.

Tomas not only qualified for the state meet, he reached the Class 2A finals at 189 pounds, and his father sat in his corner chair with the front half of his head sheared and the back left long — business in the front, party in the back.

“I didn’t even cut it off until a week after state,” Lira said. “I’d get those really weird looks up at state. Everybody at work thought it was great that I’d let my kid cut my hair. … A bet’s a bet. He made it to state, that’s a great accomplishment, and the bet was if he made it to state he was going to get to cut my hair. Making it to the finals was a bonus.”

So, too, was the response he got from people in Des Moines.

“I make fun of myself and people kind of respond to that sometimes,” Lira said. “First and foremost, I like to have fun. I think people around me have fun when I’m around because I’m a joker, I’m a prankster. But when it comes time for serious stuff, I can be serious also.”

No one is immune to Lira’s pranks, not even his children.

“When Tomas was little, his two older siblings picked on him all the time and sometimes I would joke around with him and say, ‘Hey, Tomas, you know why they pick on you is because you’re not really their brother. You know that, right?’” Jesse said. “The other two are white and Tomas looks really Hispanic. I’d joke around with him like that. But he knows he’s my biological son. He’s a lot like me. He likes to joke around and laugh a lot, too.”

— Andy Hamilton

Iowa City Press-Citizen -- March 12, 2009