Men and Football

In My Humble Opinion
1

Is this a societal thing; men are supposed to like football because they’re men? Is it supposed to be some masculine right-of-passage or something? I often wonder if there are a lot of pretenders out there, as in they pretend to like football to fit in or something. I just can’t wager that so many men genuinely like the game.

I had an interest in it myself, when I was teenager, but preferred to play it and not sit on my ass and watch it, speculating what the players should do better. As an adult, I could care less to watch it, it bores the hell out of me. I’d rather do something else, constructive or not, play video games, work on my car, work out or sleep. Every woman I have dated has a family riddled with the stereotypical football jock types, and while I was friends with them all, they couldn’t understand why I didn’t care for the sport, it wouldn’t compute or make sense why I didn’t care for it or the whole “lets eat shitty food, drink shit beer and all sit on a couch together” football sunday crap. Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Or am I alone in my distaste/boredom of the sport? The only sport I can watch is baseball if at a game, or boxing… I get bored to death watching anything else, especially football.

2

It’s all right once in a while if it’s a good game and I’m in the right company, but I’ve never particularly cared for it. When I was much younger, I was ridiculed for that on occasion. Now I know a number of guys like me who can take it or leave it. Maybe 20 percent of my friends.

I think there are some but not many. Some of them might watch a game at the bar just to avoid being alone and others might do it to get away from the wife/family.

3

That there is a societal factor is clear in that, while men/people in most countries are expected to like football, which football are people supposed to like or even which people are supposed to like which kind of football varies by location.

Are there people who don’t really give a shit about the game but follow it for exclusively-social reasons? Yes; for example, my brother Ed. Are there people who love it, for different reasons? Yes: my brother Jay can rip statistics like a pro, my nephew Mark (Ed’s son) enjoys playing it as I expect does every kid in his team. I consider it a great way to get some time for myself but a pain when it’s Sunday afternoon and I’m trying to find a radio station playing music; two of my cousins (one male, one female) used to be referees.

4

So your girlfriend likes to watch a team of large men try to hurt another team of large men. That is called a SPORT. You might not think it is very entertaining. If she likes it and you don’t, give her up. Please, don’t let someone make you hate someone else you don’t even know.

5

If I’m going to watch a team sport, football (preferably college level or lower) is entertaining and I understand the rules pretty well and I don’t find it horribly boring to watch (the way I do baseball).

I don’t have a “WTF is with men, that they like this stupid game” reaction, but I do have a WTF reaction to the way some people upvote the important of sports (football or otherwise) to a level of emphasis in life that I simply don’t understand.

6

My wife says that ball sports knowledge is the way men establish the pecking order in a gathering. Football and baseball are king (as far as stats and records). Despite my location, I’ve never managed to get interested in football. I prefer doing something myself, rather than watching others.

If I may quote myself from a post a few years ago:
*I’m 60 and have never been able to converse knowledgeably about sports.

In most social events, the men invariably gather in a group and talk about who did what with which ball last week. Apparently, the male-behavior-regulating-commitee met decades ago and ruled this the only allowable subject for men. For me, it means I stand around at gatherings making half-hearted attempts to join in, but am always rebuffed for violating the Prime Directive.

Other male: “Whatcha been up to pullin?”
me: “Well, I went to Kentucky last month and joined a historical cave expedition by the park service. You see, we were only allowed tools from the 1800’s and had to carry burning lanterns and explore only with period specific guideli…”
Other male: “Did ya’ll see when Buford throwed that ball yesterday?”

a little later…

Other male: “What’s goin’ on, pullin?”
me: “I’m outfitting my boat to travel the entire Laguna Madre this spring. I’m using a fuel-flow meter and measuring my total fuel requirements. It’s a really interesting flyway for bird migration and I’ve also…”
Other male: “Did anybody hear they’s tradin’ Buford cuz he couldn’t catch them balls last week?”

a little later…

Other male: “What’s shakin’ pullin?”
me: “Well, I was wandering around the deer lease in the four-wheeler last week, and I found the foundations of an old homestead. I saw some odd shaped rocks in heavy brush and measured them with a laser measure. They were in an exact rectangle and further back I found some perrenials growing in an exact straight line! These were obviously…”
Other male: “Did ya’ll see when Buford dropped that ball Sunday?”

For some reason, I simply cannot grasp the appeal of watching other men dress in matching outfits and play with balls. And my inability to master this aspect of adulthood puts me forever on the outside of male camaradarie.

Sigh. Maybe one day I’ll grow up. *

7

I am a man and a football fan, but my reason for liking football is probably different than most. I like the turn based aspect of the game, having to formulate a strategy for each down with lots of different positions to consider. To make an analogy to video games, football is like a turn based RPG while sports like basketball and soccer are more like continuous action shooting games.

8

You are not alone. I was with you up to the baseball part, tho. I agree that men are expected to have more-than passing knowledge of current sports standings, especially if you are in a city that hosts a major league team. This is another reason I tend to avoid social situations that involve small-talk. I don’t mind watching some football occasionally, or as background while doing something else, but I don’t attend watching parties and I’m barely conversant about it. If that makes me less-of a man, so be it.

9

Probably some men fake it or use it for dominance games, I suppose, but that hasn’t been my experience.

I never really followed it at all – it always looks like they lined up, then fell down, then lined up, etc. It’s a complicated game, assuming we’re talking American football. Then, my daughter was invited to join a fantasy league by some kids she was babysitting, so she started watching and I did, too. It happened that the local team was doing well, which made it more exciting. So, I got to understand it better and now I really enjoy it.

I agree with FlikTheBlue in that it’s cool that it’s a turn-based game. Basically, everyone lines up and the viewers, the announcers, the cameramen all know to watch now because here comes a play. Then a play happens, some are boring, some are epic. Then, there’s time for some replays, and now it’s time for the next turn – 3rd down, what should they do? 4th down, go for it or no? It’s a strategy game played out with athletics.

Baseball has some of that, since it all starts with the pitch, but I find baseball to be really, really boring, and I used to watch a lot of it when I was a kid (and almost no football). Hockey, soccer, and basketball don’t have that turn-based, let’s all watch right now, feel. They are more flow games and you never know when a critical play will happen among all the flowing back and forth. And, with soccer, since it never stops, there are few chances to replay a fantastic play.

Anyway, I watch it because my daughter got me into it a few years back. Once I started to understand it better, I liked it more and more, and now I can finally spot some of the penalties (“Illegal block in the back on the receiving team, 10 yard penalty from the spot of the foul.”, basically every punt).

RS

10

Not male and not particularly interested in football, despite being married to a Dallas fan. What struck me during my working years, and still strikes me today, is the mania about the team of one’s alma mater.

I went to Purdue. I attended the first half of the first football game of my freshman year, and never went again. I have no idea what Purdue has done since then (I do recall some talk of the Rose Bowl while I was there, and I know they didn’t play there.) Yet I’ve lost track of the number of times when “Where did you go to college?” conversations at work continued with “How’s their team this year?” So many coworkers seemed to be befuddled by my “Don’t know, don’t care” response.

I went to college to study engineering. I got my degree, left, and never looked back. I’m not a member of the alumni association or the engineering society, and honestly, I’m not sure where my diploma is. I most certainly don’t care about the football team.

Each to his/her own, I suppose. I don’t get it, but in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter. As long as I say bad things about the Redskins, my spousal unit will allow me to stay. :smiley:

11

I confess to being a man and adoring (American) football. It’s the only sport I’ve followed all my life. I grew up watching it, going to games, and playing it, and I still play recreational flag football (I’m in my 30s).

12

When I was a kid, I watched the game with the fervor of someone who aspired to be a QB one day. That ended at about age 14, and I’ve since learned that nobody sends me any money when my team wins. So, now I watch it for amusement. I like the strategy in football (akin to a human chess match), and the physical feats are occasionally majestic. With a busy life, though, I’m lucky to catch most of one game - I certainly don’t get the chance to sit on the couch all Sunday.

13

It’s not hard wired in me at all. My Wife is from Pittsburgh, and when we visit her family back there it’s astounding to see how interested they are in sports. On ‘sports’ day (whatever it may be) much of the entire city seems to be wearing some sort of sports jersey, colors, whatever. My Wife did not catch the bug. I did see the Steelers play once at the invitation of her family. I asked (just my Wife) if I could bring a book. It was such a boring game that later my wife said I should have.

When I was very young my Dad took me to a White Socks game. I think it went to 13 innings. 1-0. Not sure who won.

Closest city to us is Denver. And it’s not quite as bad. I don’t even know the name of our quarterback. If I have nothing to do, and I’m watching TV, I might put on a Bronco game if nothing else is on. I’d rather work on the house, or car or something. Today I’m chaining up my plow truck to get ready for winter.

:shrug: whatever floats your boat.

14

Or maybe it just gives them something to talk about. With the bonus of being able to categorize people according to which team they’re a fan of.

15

Plenty of women like football. The details of the game, stats, plays, rules, appear to be more of a man’s thing, but not entirely. It’s difficult to find the line between any culture and biological differences. I suspect many men are sort of faking it to fit in, but there are plenty who just aren’t interested also. In general, I think having a team that you root for increases the interest in the game for both men and women.

16

My bubble was burst in the early 60’s when I learned that MY favorite team, the Green Bay Packers, wasnt actually from Green Bay!!!:mad: If fact, most if not all were paid professionals from somewhere else. It was fun to play as a kid tho, until you get over about 100 lbs, and collisions start to hurt more and more.
There maybe some hardwired/tribal element in much of the sports loyalty craziness, that wouldnt surprise me a bit.

17

I know very little about football except that the Cleveland Browns suck. I pay a little bit of attention, because talking about sports is a good social lubricant. It is very easy to talk with a football fan about football, because you don’t have to add much to the conversation except to ask some leading questions and let the conversation run on.

Standard questions like “how are their injuries this year” or “how is their passing game holding up” or “what’s that young player’s name - he’s got promise” and you can go for hours.

Regards,
Shodan

18

Thanks for the replies, just wanted to other perspective on the situation. While I do agree it is a good social lubricant, it seems as though telling someone that you don’t pay that great of attention is one as well lol. I suppose my issue is that I just see so much potential for getting other things accomplished rather than watching people play a sport on TV. Playing it is different, its fun, good exercise and social in more basic way. I just hate the mindless chatter about speculating while watching TV. I probably should have put this in MPSIMS but i wanted to see how others felt. Thanks!

19

You can include me in the “not interested” category. I appear to have been born with no sports interest gene at all. Of course, growing up in the sixties when most Chicago teams sucked probably helped, too! The last time I watched a football game was in the eighties, and that was only because I was dating a girl who was a rabid Bears fan. I would much rather be reading science fiction or watching horror movies.

20

That describes my father perfectly. He watched sports to try and outguess the coaches. Although he’d be happy to discuss what was going on, he had no interest in hanging out with a group of guys, drinking beer and yelling at the TV.

I find myself doing the same thing with baseball (when I bother to watch it) and I have virtually no interest in football.