Men and Sports

What is it with boys and sports? It could be a pick-up basketball game or game 7 of the World Series, we’d treat each with the same intensity. When men watch sports, we often offer our criticism as if the coaches have a direct line to our couches. Fandom takes on a new element in fantasy sports, where we manage a team of pro athletes (yes we know they don’t actually play for us). Why do men dedicate so much time and energy to an entity that is almost entirely out of our control?

Here I will insert a necessary disclaimer: some women love sports too, and God bless you all for it. Consider yourselves a part of our brotherhood of fans, someone has to wear the pink hats after all.

Just about every young boy plays sports. It’s a part of our culture. It teaches teamwork and the value of friendship. It also allows them to run around screaming and kicking or hitting things for a few hours, a necessary release for kids as well as parents. As kids grow up, sports are a huge part of the social circles in middle and high school. Everyone attends the games and those who perform well are popular. This isn’t the sole motivating factor by any means, but it helps.

Let’s take a stroll backward in time, oh how about a million years? Back to the times of the hunter-gatherer. Men were relied upon to provide food and sustenance for themselves and their family units. Moving forward on the timeline, Native Americans hunted in groups with more advanced tools. The best hunter was the alpha male. Flash forward to a couple hundred years ago and men no longer had to rely on their own two hands for food, so they invented games where their intrinsic competitive nature could be satisfied.

Sports in our culture are a way to allow our innate competitive nature to surface. They involve physical strength as well as mental capacity. I think this is why men take sports so seriously, they closely mirror our ancestors’ fight for survival. Our instincts kick in. Just ask my college roommate Dave, one of the only serious fights we ever had was over a pick-up basketball game. We laugh about it now, but it just shows how much passion we pour into our athletic endeavors. They are important to us.         

Now, I will admit that professional sports are entertainment. Athletes are not heroes when they’re on the field, they are performers. They make way too much money and receive way too much attention. I know these things on a practical level. Still, I watch hours of sports a week (much to the chagrin of my girlfriend), juggle several fantasy sports teams, and spend money on tickets and merchandise. Why? That competitive nature surfaces again. It satisfies a thirst for contest. Dave and I often banter back and forth about our competing fantasy baseball teams (we haven’t fought over it yet though).

So, to answer the opening question, boys love sports. They allow us to engage in (usually) friendly competition and utilize our physical as well as mental capabilities. They’re entertainment sure, but so much more engaging than sitting on the couch or in a movie theater. Ladies, I know our fascination with sports may seem ridiculous but that’s how we feel about the Kardashians or Cosmo quizzes.

Well, I’ve got a big day ahead of me. Have to set my fantasy lineup for the day, read some of the Terry Francona book sitting next to me (thanks mom) and then spend the afternoon basking in the sports temple that is Fenway Park. Go Sox.