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| Posted By: Chris Posted On: Jan 15, 2005 Views: 2758 | Fundamental worldview(s) on sports Perhaps I am totally alone in my take on this, and maybe everyone will tell me I am a fool to think what I do. Maybe I'll even be hated by everyone here for having the audacity to say said outlook. If so, I could give less than a damn, and will tell such to anyone, to their faces. Men view sports, what is enjoyable about sport, far differently than women have, in the world in which I grew up and now presently live. The foundation of the house, not the window-dressing, is basically the thing of it. Of what do I speak, and mean? Quite simple. The males I know who love, for instance, football, have almost always loved it for reasons that actually made evening national news magazines as "disturbing," "frightening," or even "horrifying." They may not say it in the open, and in fact they may claim that such events inspire loathing and disinterest, etc., in them. But, I must point out, if they feel that way, then why does the crowd noise in boxing matches ALWAYS go up when the hits start getting truly brutal, and someone's going to near-get his flesh torn off? Thus, here is the outlook: Men like blood and battle, and have ambition to match. Sport, in lands that are at peace, is a way to let out what in times of war has been exuberence and enthusiasm (and it IS there, whether people want to interview solely those who have nightmares from the wars or not) for conquest of a foreign power ("the THRILL of victory, and the AGONY of defeat"...it's even more pronounced on the playing fields, military/political/economic, of "The REAL Game"). Am I reading too much into this? I don't think so, because of what it then means for sports. In the 1950s, the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race was contested by a generation of race drivers that had emmerged from World War II and the Korean War with wanderlust at the leaat, total disgust at the pastel-lifestyle of the Eisenhower era at the most. These men who had seen the eye of the tiger and smiled back were the same as the Lost Generation that emmerged from World War I only to go into liquor and barroom brawls to try to fleeting touch the energy of the life they had just had, and the warriors of the Civil War that had turned to the far west and the struggles with the Indians, circa the 1870/80s' Wild Wild West, in order to not have to go back to the insipid....gentleness....of eastern life. These men wanted battle, wanted non-stop adventure, and the racing drivers of the 1950s (and their enormous numbers of fans, not too few of whom were wealthy young women drawn to these apparent "alpha males") found it indeed. They drove machines that had been created for the express purpose of being pushed to the max, and then drove them like the hammers of hell. The crowds loved it... ...and felt sober moments silence at the times these men died in wrecks that would stagger many modern minds in the degree of their violence. Felt sober, but then went to the next race...after immortalizing every single one, each in their own way, who had perished doing something that involved riding out on the very edge of the envelope, death quite likely, and pushing still harder. It has been asked by philosophers during the 20th century, and many even before that, if at some time in their lives, young men who're worth anything (worth anything "as warriors," in any rate) will feel the need to try to kill themselves in a risk-taking adventure that borders (by "civilized" standards) on sheer lunacy. To quote the brilliant work, "Against Death and Time; One Fatal Season in Racing's Glory Years" by Brock Yates: "Following V-E Day, subsequent poet Richard Hugo's squadron was stationed in Sicily, training for future combat. Their aircraft, P-47 fighters with giant radial engines, were claimed to be unditchable in water. Flight engineers warned all the pilots that landing in water meant certain death. In the summer of 1945 a fellow pilot and friend of Hugo's was returning from a training flight over the Bay of Naples when, on a whim, he decided to try a water landing with the gear up. He was killed instantly. Hugo would later ponder the possibility that deep in the psyche of all young men [all males in general...? One wonders...] lies a hatred of peace and safety are an irresistable urge to flout all rules and conventions. He suggested that his friend might have chosen the risk as opposed to the prospect of returning home to the cushy domesticity of postwar America. His choice was the play Russian roulette with his airplane and his own mortality in the cauldron of war." Long and thorough, but what does all that have to do with modern sports, and some men's disapproval of women getting very involved with it? The word mentioned, after a fashion, above: Domestication. Taming. I.e., "Curbing the Risks," as a major newspaper proclaimed the need to do after the death of Dale Earnhardt in the final lap of the 2001 Daytona 500 (possibly the last non-WWF NASCAR race to be run at Daytona, though that only this writer's opinion). Getting away from the sheer violence, and making the whole thing safe for families and children..... Making the whole thing no longer what attracted a great number of men to the sport[s] in the first place. In the aftermath of the Pacers/Pistons fight, there were many around me that shook their heads and asked aloud, "I wonder what's going to happen when they play again on Christmas, if that kind of stuff will happen again........I know I'd watch the NBA a lot more if it did." That kind of sentiment is visible in football as well. Phrasings such as "in the trenches," an allusion to World War I even if people don't realize it, cause men to romanticize the men who usually get the least press coverage, the offensive linemen. "Duels," alluding to man-to-man combat, is a phrase that is used in every single sport that exists, when the best struggle with each other. The list goes on...of references to WAR, in sport...and males love it so very much. The drama, the excitement, the passion..."the romanticizing of it all," so long as romanticism involves questing and conflict instead of flowers and bunnies and holding hands. What many men hate, when women get involved in sports, is that aforementioned domestication. To use a personal example (yes, still further examples), and yet another from motor racing, I was once present for a mother mentioning in my presence that she couldn't stand the likes of Tony Stewart (who is not really the subject here) cussing on the radio. "That should be outlawed, there are children in the stands!" When I informed her that she had decided to attend a sport where men are fully able (so far) to cuss out about problems they're experiencing in their rides, and that it was their sport before she'd ever shown up, she replied that it didn't matter...."if they can't control their tongues, they should get out of sports." ALL sports, was the implication. I myself decided to hold my tongue, with the rage and horror that built within. "Why do men have to be that way?!", loving battle and war? Because they're aggressive. They WANT, and will suffer whatever is needed to get it, if they're worth anything. When the notion is raised of "cleaning up" a sport for (for all intents) the good of the community, so that it's "civilized and proper," many men, at least the one's that I know, recoil in horror. That's the reason they......we.....LEFT to begin with, to found our own where the flowers and bunnies and quaint window dressing....WASN'T. These people who want to make sure that it conforms to "Decency Standards" are what we hate...and if any male started bringing it up of his own volition, without reason of the death of a loved one or pressure of people around him to be the main reason, I personally have no doubt that most aggressive and-thus-successful males would call him a coward, and especially traitor, to his face. All this has not been to say that weakass morons do not exist, who feel their manliness threatened by the mere possibility of a woman being able to "run with them" on the subject of fearsome (hopefully, anyway) sport. That is conceded. What many cannot or refuse to understand is that a great number of males feel anger and hostility toward the idea, raised so often in today's society, of taking the fearsomeness, and here and there noble holdouts of "fatal risk" (bloodied but unbowed), out of the whole thing. And you think it doesn't apply to football, the original sport chosen in this commentary? This author would like to point out the days of Laurence Taylor for the Giants, who was encouraged to be as violent as possible with quarterback targets, in the 1980s. Nowadays? "The NFL has to take care of its quarterbacks, we can't allow it to be as rough as it used to be." Why can't it? As I recall, there was no shortage of quarterbacks going into the NFL back then, with the "horrific" risks there for all to see. To conclude: My take on it is simple. I myself get sick and damn tired of hearing ladies say "That's MEAN!", and have recently responded, "Name how YOU'd like us to let our aggression out." When the response has been "Maybe you should change, then!", the comeback I strive for is, "Maybe you should get the hell out of our way." Don't tell me this social struggle is not there, because I've seen it all too often with my own eyes. For you women who happen to enjoy aggressiveness in men, and have no interest in domesticating that level of passion out of them? None of this hopefully constructive criticism was meant towards you, and thank you for your wonderful help in trying to keep life fun. Chris |
| Posted By: JoiseyGirl Posted On: Nov 12, 2004 Views: 3066 | Smarter than you? Hey bud, what cave did you crawl out of? |
| Posted By: Not Fat and Not Ugly Posted On: Nov 12, 2004 Views: 3085 | Smarter than you? Oh please, get a life. Where have you been the last 100 years? Women who enjoy sports seem to scare you. Make you dinner, give you a blow job? Ah, such simple pleasures for the simple minded fools. I bet there's a long line of beautiful fashion models just waiting to do either of those little "jobs" for you. Sorry your narrow little mind strayed our way. |
| Posted By: smarter than you Posted On: Nov 10, 2004 Views: 3019 | maybe they aren't the problem maybe it's just that you're all fat and ugly and stupid and you don't realize that maybe it's not your love of sports that the man doesn't like, but your misunderstanding of "trying to be equal" and "trying to be better". men implicitly go into a relationship with the idea that women and men are equal (not in football knowledge, obviously, but do men always try to one-up you at tampon purchasing?). so when women are there with a chip on their shoulder and something to prove, it comes off as harsh and nasty and you look like a bitch. and if you don't give good h---, you're out of there. so please...what men really want is for you "women's rights" blowhards to shut up and realize that men are men, women are women, and that you should be making us dinner |
| Posted By: Fed Up Posted On: Aug 3, 2004 Views: 3464 | What SOME men really want I'm not fond of generalizations, but even if you do know something, you are not going to get anywhere in groups of men. Maybe one-on-one you can have a conversation, but the group dynamic works against women. I've found that even after I've done research and posted article after article proving someone wrong, they just blow a gasket and insist that their knowledge is superior. It seems to be crucial to some guys' egos and is a key part of (some) male culture. Even if you join a group and it's not there, you're always going to wonder if it's just latent. You're always going to be judged by men, and you get to a point where you don't want to play anymore, because you shouldn't have to feel like you have to prove yourself all the time. Sports should be about fun, and some fans have a way of making it miserable for you. I'm starting to think that it's best just to hang out with the ladies. Also: they bluff so g-damn much, don't they? It infuriates me because women could never get away with faking knowledge. |
| Posted By: Jan Posted On: Jul 28, 2004 Views: 3469 | What men really want Men do NOT want a woman who knows sports. Believe me I have lived my whole life loving sports and all the men who love sports are with women who could give a rats A** |
| Posted By: Jami Posted On: Mar 24, 2004 Views: 4081 | Real Men Real men aren't afraid of real women, and they aren't threatened by women who know and love sports. But, where are these real men? I never seem to meet any. |
| Posted By: Femmefan Posted On: Feb 1, 2004 Views: 3828 | What Men Really Want Big Bopper: Yeah right. I bet women are falling all over themselves to get you a brew!! LOL |
| Posted By: Big Bopper Posted On: Jan 29, 2004 Views: 3830 | get a clue sweetheart men dont want a dman thing to do with women when a game is on unless their getting them a beer... |
| Posted By: Ivette Posted On: Aug 3, 2003 Views: 3583 | What Men really Want Duhhh...real men want real women, who are bright and can keep up with them, and maybe even stay a step ahead! Those who can't handle a woman with smarts, savvy and sports know how are stuck in the stone age. Men who are insecure and constantly cover their "boys" with their hands are irrelevant anyway. |
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