While giving haircuts to my two sons the other day, Randy Wiens of Silver Shears told me, "I stand around, talk sports and get paid for it. It's the best job in town."

He may be right, although to be completely truthful, it should be noted that the weather and newspaper headlines are among the other popular topics in his shop.

When it comes to sports though, Wiens said the local sports scene and major college sports are the most popular topics. The least favorite subject among his customers is professional basketball.

I suppose that sitting in his chair is somewhat therapeutic for customers, and it costs a lot less than seeing a psychologist. Some people let their gripes be known. Others simply like to visit or tell stories.

K-State and KU are frequent topics of conversation, although Kelvin Sampson leaving Oklahoma University and Wichita State University basketball coach Mark Turgeon were among the recently popular discussion topics.

"We smile about the Royals," said Wiens. "Another losing season-what else is new?"

He said that there's been a mixed reaction to Bob Huggins being named K-State basketball coach. Most customers believe he can recruit and win games, but they're not sure at what expense.

Wiens cuts the hair of local coaches, student-athletes, parents, officials and a sports columnist. Each has something of interest to offer as he snips away.

Working on an appointment basis, Wiens frequently visits with the customer in virtual privacy. That, in turn, leads some coaches to be quite forthcoming in their comments. Some coaches give Randy inside information.

Unfortunately, that doesn't translate into a scoop for a sports columnist, though. Wiens is careful what he shares because he says not everything said in the chair is fair game, and he uses discretion as to what he will repeat to other customers.

During the 24 years he has worked in Hillsboro, Wiens said one of his favorite coaches and customers was former Tabor football coach Tim McCarty, whom he describes as a real PR man.

He also liked recent football coach Mike Gardner, but "all the coaches (high school and college) have been pretty good," Wiens said.

Local athletes aren't necessarily forthcoming with information, so Wiens tries to jumpstart conversations. He said most athletes will talk when prodded.

"It helps that I go and watch them play and I can talk about their performances," Wiens said.

Officials may not be popular on the field or on the court, but they are almost always good for some interesting stories when they're sitting in his chair.

As far as officiating goes, it is a popular topic of conversation for parents, while athletes and coaches rarely talk about it, said Wiens.

So what are his qualifications as sports talk guru, therapist and all-around good guy?

For one, he has had plenty of on-the-job training, cutting hair for 30 years. He also reads plenty of newspapers and magazines. It doesn't hurt that most of the magazines are sent to him free of charge, except for Runner's World.

Finally, Wiens is a former student-athlete, having played basketball in middle school and high school.

It's ironic that Wiens "hated to run" when he was in high school because now he runs marathons. As a result, he spends some time talking about training techniques with customers who also like to run.

"We motivate each other," Wiens said.

Wiens is what we in the sports biz like to call a triple threat. He can cut hair, talk sports and chew gum-all at the same time.