Am I the only straight man who doesn't like sports? (footballers, basketball)

[victorianpunk]

Well, football (American football that is) season ended and right after that, all the Neanderthals go on and on about "March Madness"... From one sports season, to another. Me? I am a man, I like women, but, for the life on me, I cannot understand the intense interest men have for sports.

I mean, what is with the whole hooting and hollering over some steroid addict who just got out of jail scoring a point over another steroid addict who also just got out of jail? The time and energy these guys invest in watching other men in an athletic activity really is amazing.

I have never, ever, been interested in sports. As a kid, I never played them save for a few times I was forced to in gym class. I was never really athletic, mostly fit, yes, but not an athlete and I never had any real interest in being one in the traditional, American sense of the word. But, at times, I feel like I am the only heterosexual man of that opinion.

The way these guys get so invested in sports...saying "our defense" and "our draft picks" "ours?" I hate to break it to you guys, but you did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to to help the team and it is no baring on your day to day life if "your" team wins or not.

I have even seen Yankees and Red Sox fans (I live in Jersey, were "da' Yankees!" are the local faves) even actually fighting in a bar ones...when I say "fighting", I mean, literally, like chairs flying and fist in the faces! What the heck!? IT IS A STUPID GAME! WHY HAVE SUCH AN INVESTMENT IN IT AS TO GET INTO PHYSICAL VIOLENCE OVER WHO LIKES WHAT TEAM?!

And then there's the whole "Fantasy" thing. Okay, I have nothing against it personally, but why ohh why do these guys HAVE THE NERVE to make fun of my playing Dungeons and Dragons, and then go ahead and make a "fantasy Football team?"

That is another thing: Why is it that if a man watches Star Trek and maybe once in his lifetime goes to a convention or if a guy reads comic books every now and again, he is considered a "nerd" , BUT, if a guy ABSOLUTELY HAS TO watch all of "his" team's games and has to see them live and has to have the season tickets, he isn't?

I am sorry, but the fellow who know every name of every man who ever played on his favorite team is just as big a nerd as the man who can name all the members of the X-Men! There are Star Trek nerds, comic nerds, fantasy nerds, and also, FOOTBALL NERDS AND BASEBALL NERDS!

So, I do not get sports, and some times, I feel like I am the only straight man on Earth who feels that way. Am I alone?

EDIT: Note that I mean "sports" in the traditional American, ball-playing way. I do like Judo and hope to, in the near future, take classes in Kendo (Japanese Fencing). But it's the whole watching it on television while screaming at the screen that I do not, for the life of me, understand.

[NotARedneck]

You're not alone. Perhaps this rather than shortness is your real problem.

I sometimes think that women reject men like us because they will not have anything legitimate to complain about.

[MontanaGuy]

I've gone through different phases of interest which was mainly because I happened to be living in a city that had a good sports team and I really got into it. I lived in Denver when the Broncos won their Superbowl games and I watched every single game during the season. I also got into basketball when I lived in Seattle and the Sonics were doing very well. I guess that makes me a bad fan because I tend to lose interest when the teams suck. For the past few years I've hardly watched any football and no basketball at all. I agree that guys who just get plain obsessive about every single sporting event are probably going overboard but I guess they enjoy it. I think most guys like sports to a varying degree but a few do take it to the extreme.

[Dorrans]

I love football [our football]. It is an integral part of my life. I play it. I coach young kids. I have a season ticket at my home town club. I used to do match reports for a website. So all in all, football is a pretty important aspect of my life. I've made many friends, males and females, in the sport.

Originally Posted by victorianpunk

The way these guys get so invested in sports...saying "our defense" and "our draft picks" "ours?" I hate to break it to you guys, but you did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to to help the team and it is no baring on your day to day life if "your" team wins or not.

Nothing wrong with that. A team represents the city/town they are from. They represent the people of that said town. My home town club represent me & everyone else who hails from there, so that's why we refer as "we". When USA play in the Olympics or any other event, do you not say "we won this, we lost that". USA represent you & the rest of the Americans.

It's a pride thing. It's bragging rights, when you know you got one over your next-door neighborough city couple of miles down the road. It's a pride thing when you home town club achieves something. It gives the whole city a lift. Footballers here do a lot for the local communities and they interact a lot with local schools and the kids that go there.

I think if you haven't grown up with it, then it is difficult to comprehend it.

[LaoTzuMindFu]

Originally Posted by victorianpunk

Am I the only straight man who doesn't like sports?

You are not alone. I LOVE the NFL and boxing but that is about it. I dont own any team sports clothing and I dont really care to ever sit and watch MLB, NBA, College FB or Basketball etc. I always find it weird to see people out and about wearing professional sports jerseys and such.

If flipping through the channels, I'll watch tennis if its Venus or Serena or if I see its female college gymnastics, or the Brazilian womens indoor volleyball team playing but thats about it.

Going to the occasional Laker or Dodger game is fun, but I wouldnt watch them on TV (unless its for the championship).

[thriftylefty]

sometimes I don't go to the store or run errands while the Super Bowl is on because I don't want people to think I'm ..weird

[mir86]

I'm a female and let me tell you, the men I've dated weren't into these major sports, it was usually something oddball and even then, it wasn't religiously. I don't really like men who are religiously into sports, it turns me off. Most guys I've dated had video game problems..but I don't know if that's worse..hmm..lol

so anyways, no, not all women are into men who are obsessed with sports..blech.

[Coolhand68]

Originally Posted by LaoTzuMindFu

You are not alone. I LOVE the NFL and boxing but that is about it. I dont own any team sports clothing and I dont really care to ever sit and watch MLB, NBA, College FB or Basketball etc. I always find it weird to see people out and about wearing professional sports jerseys and such.

Same here. My interest in sports has gone up and down on my give-o-shyt meter in the past several years. With the increase in steroid abuses and heated salary negotiations I'm tired of watching spoiled millionaires who often get lazy after signing a fat contract. Especially true in baseball and basketball. I've never seen so many injuries in baseball as I have in the past 5 - 10 years. Bunch of gold-brickers.

I'm an avid boxing fan, always have been. I like pro football too. Baseball usually sparks my interest in the post season. I have ZERO interest in college sports and I hate golf. I just don't get NASCAR.

Each year I will attend a game or two at the ballpark, but that's it. I won't go out of my way to watch a game on television.

Now participating is another story. I love to participate in different sports like softball, football, boxing, and outdoor activities like bike riding and hiking.

[Yzette]

No, you're not alone. My guy isn't into any major league sports at all. He'll watch MMA with his guy buddies sometimes, if one of them has a party for a big event. But that's it.

He's not into participating in them, either, although he was into martial arts for a while.

I, on the other hand, grew up in a sports-loving family. I'm a huge hockey fan (had season tickets and assorted other plans in my D.C. days), and I enjoy football. I like baseball, too, but only live. Can't watch it on TV. There was a span of time in my 20s when my alma mater crawled out of the basement and I got really into March Madness, too, taking time off from work or coming in early so I could leave early and get to a sports bar with my fellow alums to see the games.

My guy will watch hockey once in a while if I say it's a really big game and I project a lot of enthusiasm about it, and he even got me tickets down low to an Isles-Caps game, but overall, he finds watching sports to be rather boring.

Sports would be a huge part of my life again if I knew anyone around here who was into them other than my downstairs neighbor, who by the sound of it loves the NY Rangers.

And I love to ski, but don't know anyone else around here who does.

[thriftylefty]

I have to admit the sound of baseball on an am radio reminds me of when I was about four or five years old hanging out with my dad and his brothers,