Why Men Dig Sports

Whether we’re participating in sport directly by taking the field or indirectly through the warming glow of our massive Plasmas, sport allows us to release the beast, to some degree, at the same time that it allows for us to maintain strong and rewarding connections with other men.

As opposed to the average animal, modern men have the ability to think about our inclinations and actions, consider consequences and make decisions on how to behave from one moment to the next but we’re also constantly at battle with the same instincts that gave our pre-agricultural ancestors a survival advantage.

The vast majority of men sincerely believe that aggression and violence are unacceptable and have no place in the modern world and yet we watch monster-sized men cannon into each other in pursuit of an oddly-shaped ball and we feel our forearms flex and our teeth grind and over and again we’re transfixed by the addictive thrill and fear of physical confrontation.

Sure, we no longer need to kill large game to survive, or fight against men from other tribes, or display our physical dominance within our own tribe to acquire prestige and mates, but we still possess the same neurological and hormonal mechanisms that once equipped and encouraged us to do so. We still possess the drive to compete and test ourselves against other males. Sport satisfies this to some degree, even if most of us are doing it by-proxy.

Of course, there’s more to men than instinct. We’re also emotional creatures and have the need to connect with others on some level. Although we typically don’t like to discuss emotional issues with other adult men and tend to avoid any male contact that has the potential to be deemed affectionate we still require and seek male companionship.

Sport is important to men because it provides the impetus to meet and honor our maleness regularly. Without sport (in my case Aussie Rules Football) I think I would have lost contact with several of my long term friends. My father and I have had some of our most memorable and rewarding experiences together at a football ground. Most memorable was last years AFL Grand Final where we watched The Mighty Cats – the team my family has supported for generations – as they fought their way to the 2009 Premiership. I can count the number of times I have released tears in front of other men on one hand. That was one of them. And although it was still a tad embarrassing, the sporting context made it okay.