Gay men and sports

Judging by threads on this board, there seem to be a number of gay guys who are into sports. Is it one or two guys posting over and over? Gay men who enjoy sports are really a very small minority, I'm guessing. %0D %0D %0D I don't know the first thing about sports. I mean I could probably tell you the difference between a basketball and a soccer ball, but that's about it. None of my friends are into sports, and none of my bfs have been either. When I hang out at the gay sports bars in the city (Boxers, Gym Bar), maybe one or two guys in the entire place are paying attention to whatever sporting events are playing on the screens.%0D %0D %0D I think nowadays that it's non-PC to say that gays and sports don't mix, since we're all supposed to defy the stereotypes and be these big macho guys who are identical to straight men in all ways, except that we happen to enjoy sleeping with other guys. Even a lot of the coming out stories you see on TV are about the popular high school quarterback struggling with his sexuality. God forbid they should show some effeminite gaylet with an encyclopedic knowledge of Broadway showtunes attempting to come out.%0D %0D %0D I'm not necessarily saying that my or my friends' noninterest in sports or my observations about others is reflective of reality, or that what you see on TV doesn't echo fact, but I just don't believe there's a sizeable population of gay men who are into sports. Agreed?

• Rugby is very popular among gay men..even in America

• You don''t have to tell me twice.

  Helen Keller

• Gay Rugby tournament in SF during pride...

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAQCbBT8R_I

• I love sports. Figure skating is to die for. And I''m on the edge of my seat watching gymnastics. \ \ Seriously, though, I like watching and following NFL, baseball, some college basketball, tennis, and golf. I used to follow the NHL a lot, but not too much recently. I enjoy the competition and seeing athletes either achieve the impossible, or fold like a house of cards.

• I know several gay men who love sports, but unlike a lot of straight men I''ve met over the years, their interest in sports is confined to one particular sport. Maybe that''s the main difference between the two groups.

  Tennis Lover

• I love baseball and soccer with a passion, and I enjoy football and hockey.\ \ Other sports bore me to tears.

  SportMary

• Maybe it''s age thing. I''m in my 40s and was essentially shut out of sports in high school because I was gay. That was the early 80s. Possibly if I had been accepted, I would''ve like them. Nowadays, gay teens are more accepted by their peers, so maybe they''re more likely to be involved in the activities that most kids enjoy, such as sports. Just a hunch. Am wondering about the age group of the guys who posted here that they like sports.

• "Figure skating is to die for."%0D\ %0D\ MARY!

• [quote]I think nowadays that it''s non-PC to say that gays and sports don''t mix, since we''re all supposed to defy the stereotypes and be these big macho guys who are identical to straight men in all ways, except that we happen to enjoy sleeping with other guys.%0D\ %0D\ You have to remember that the stereotype of gay men not being allowed to like/participate in sports has always been perpetuated by straights. %0D\ %0D\ In any sport there are gay men, some top class athletes and gay men and women who follow these sports diligently. Just because they''re not on DL posting about it doesn''t mean they''re not out there.%0D\ %0D

• In general terms, many gays like watching some sports. But again in general, most gays don''t like playing sports.

• Faithfully every year there''s a DL Breeders Cup thread for horseracing fans here, who are not exactly overwhelming but there are some and they know the sport and their horses inside out. %0D\ %0D\ There''s usually a World Cup thread and the Pique threads - regarding football/soccer sexuality - is onto thread 30 now and has become more about several gay guys discussing the finer points of the game in excruciating straight-man''s sportstalk, but which I like because it proves the gay brain can handle the offside rule and other sporting technicalities and club histories in some complex sports. %0D\ %0D

• R1, I''m glad to hear that the 2011 RWC will be aired in the US if only to watch the All Blacks do the Haka.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxkpqagv8ig

• I hated sports as a kid. Then, when I became an adult I started watching football and realized that I liked it. A lot. So I now follow college and professional football, along with some tennis, baseball, and college basketball thrown in.

• Tennis is the gayest sport ever. No joke.

• How gay men could not watch football just for the players asses is beyond me.

• Hockey, football.

• Huge college football fan.\ \ Love it. Pro football, to a much lower extent.

• Big sports fan here. Hey, truth be told, sports are tailor-made for the gays. It''s all about the drama.

• I was an athlete in HS and college but it was crew. It never led to watching much of anything sports-wise. Except I do love to go to a baseball park and get hammered on beer. But I don''t watch baseball on tv.

• Heterosexual males exclude gay kids who are suspected of being gay from sports. They purposefully avoid talking or practicing with the gay boy(s) on the team, talk behind his back, make fun of him and play jokes on him. Heterosexual males create a hostile environment where gay boys don''t want to participate in sports to avoid humiliation. If that hostile enviroment didn''t exist gay boys would participate in sports at much higher rates.%0D\ %0D\ I''ve watched many sports except baseball and football. I was on the wrestling, soccer and tennis team when I was younger.

• \ In my opinion, as someone who follows sports and knows a fair bit about them, not many gay guys are sports fans in any meaningful sense of the word. There are a decent number that tolerate sports, but very few that really understand them or care very much. And then there are a very substantial number who either actively hate sports or are indifferent but completely disinterested.

• We don''t follow sports but will go to a Super Bowl party if invited. I could give a shit. I sit back, drink beer, and watch people go apeshit when their teams loses. I don''t understand why it''s so goddamn important to them - like they''re personally invested or something.%0D\ %0D\ I admit to finding it irritating when women are really into football. It''s like the feel like they have something to prove. I find it grating and unattractive.

• I think R21 is correct. The posters who have said they enjoy sports, are you guys or gals? That makes a big difference.

• "It''s like the feel like they have something to prove. I find it grating and unattractive."%0D\ %0D\ This x 100. I also get this overexaggerated attentiveness from some of the gay male football fans I''ve met.

• [quote]I admit to finding it irritating when women are really into football. It''s like the feel like they have something to prove. I find it grating and unattractive.\ \ You are ridiculous. I am a lez who happens to find football enormously boring, but I know many women--most of them straight--who love it and have watched it since they were kids. It has nothing to do with trying to prove anything, and everything to do with growing up in households where watching football was what you did on fall and winter Sundays, and they got into it and developed a lifelong interest just like their brothers did. \ \ And why wouldn''t they? Do you think somehow that a Y-chromosome is required to develop a genuine interest in watching football games? Or is that women should suppress their interest in favor of more ladylike pursuits such as sewing circles or something?

  continually bemused by the Victorian-mentality weirdos here

• Zero interest in sports. Agree with Jerry Seinfeld that sports fans are basically rooting for a sweater as few of the players on a local team are from there.

• I''m hopeless at actually playing sports, but I do like to watch football, and I follow it a bit. I''m a Saints fan, and there''s about 6 college teams I follow. I''ll probably watch at least some of all the NFL playoff games.\ \ I don''t play it, but for some reason I also really like watching golf, especially The Masters, on television. It''s hypnotic.\ \ That''s about it. Baseball bores me to tears, hockey is stupid, and I despise basketball with a passion.

• Thank you, r25. I was going to post something but wasn''t sure if I should.%0D\ %0D\ There are legitimate reasons to love sports, regardless of one''s gender or orientation. I''m a female who is really into sports (not football though). I love hockey, soccer, baseball and men''s and women''s college basketball (Go Huskies!)%0D\ %0D\ I grew up with UCONN basketball and the NY Yankees and probably got my love for sports from both my mom and dad equally. I enjoy sports purely for my own pleasure, not because I feel like I have something to prove or because I''m trying to get attention from men. I honestly couldn''t give a damn whether str8 guys find it "cool" or attractive or not. In fact, my last boyfriend wasn''t into sports at all.

• I was in a straight sports bar with a straight male co-worker last year. Some guy next to me asked me what team I like? I looked at him kinda quizzically for a moment and answered "Team Bethenny."

• I''ll watch the game, but I prefer the lockerroom and showers.

• High school sports gay chart:%0D\ %0D\ 1. Wrestling, soccer, tennis--gay, gay, gay. %0D\ %0D\ 2. Ice hockey--straight and boring%0D\ %0D\ 3. Baseball--bi%0D\ %0D\ 4. Football--straight but curious. Had some very hot sex in high school with a couple of guys on the team.

• [quote]Heterosexual males create a hostile environment where gay boys don''t want to participate... If that hostile enviroment didn''t exist gay boys would participate in sports at much higher rates.%0D\ %0D\ So true.

• [quote]1. Wrestling, soccer, tennis--gay, gay, gay.\ \ Let''s not forget Cross Country or, for the ladies, Field Hockey and Lacrosse.

• I dont know too much about football and I really dont get why Americans are so taken by it. It has to be one of the most boring sports on Earth! I and this is coming from someone who has been to countless football games.\ \ Pro basketball is probably the best sport for gays to watch. The sport is fast moving and the NBA is full of scandalous gossip involving baby mamas and cheating husbands. The NBA is not as rigid about image as the NFL. We were just discussing how Lamar Odom is fucking his gay brother in law. Ive loved basketball since I was a kid. When I got older I realized how hot black basketball players were and I started to follow them. I had a huge crush on Anfernee Hardaway and I still do!

• I had a boyfriend once who was so into football (American) that he would turn down one of my toe curling blowjobs if a game was on.

• R35, your post reminds me of some study they did years back in the UK. They asked men whether they would rather watch a big soccer match or have sex. The majority of them chose soccer.

• [quote]Tennis is the gayest sport ever. No joke.\ \ Really?

  Martina Navratilova, due for a messy break-up any day now

• In New Orleans EVERYBODY loves the Saints, so the games were on everywhere, even most gay bars. It helps that we have/had a winning team.

• It''s too bad none of you have participated in the Gay Games. It''s great fun, very competitive, and thousands of LGBT people compete.

• I know for sure that gaymen often choose swimming as their favorite sport.

• Here''s an interesting Documentary of an all gay Hockey team in Aspen Colorado competing with a straight team . Very cute guys \ \ I wonder who wins?

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rS9vE3AXfY

• [quote]I know for sure that gaymen often choose swimming as their favorite sport.%0D\ %0D\ I was losing interest when they were wearing those ugly all-over rubberized suits. Keep the Speedos. %0D\ %0D

• %0D Personally, I think gays' relative disdain for sports is unfortunate, and a little irritating. It's a tremendously exciting source of entertainment. It is very different from other forms of entertainment in the sense that the outcome is not predetermined.%0D %0D This couple friend of mine called me yesterday to go see 'Black Swan', which was just so unbelievable to me. Here we were in Philadelphia, with the Eagles trying to advance in the playoffs, and they wanted to go see a Natalie Portman movie. They didn't know or care about the Eagles, and were themselves puzzled as to why I couldn't "skip one game" or "just tape it and watch it later." I work in the finance department of a major manufacturer. I could only imagine talking to the guys on the line today, telling them I'd gone to see Black Swan instead of joining the rest of the city to cheer on the Birds.%0D %0D Of course, given the mood in Philadelphia today (except among those who went and saw Black Swan yesterday afternoon), maybe a movie wouldn't have been a bad idea.%0D %0D %0D %0D %0D

• [quote]Gay men who enjoy sports are really a very small minority, I''m guessing.\ \ \ \ I live in Philadelphia and nearly Every Single gay I know is into the sports teams here, at least tangentially.

• Figure Skating doesn''t want gays, athletes or fans.

  Stake Canada

• It''s funny, because a lot of what attracts people to sports (whether playing or watching) is that feeling of inclusiveness. I''ve never had as close and good friends as my rugby teammates. Then again, the old softball team I was on was full of rancid, mean and drunk cunts.

• [quote]Gay men who enjoy sports are really a very small minority, I''m guessing.\ \ Where do you live? Do you have any friends? How old are you?\ \ Every large city I know of has at least one gay softball league. I''m in Philly and we have multiple gay sports leagues, team and organizations. I know gay male fans of every major league sport, some quite committed and obsessive, just like the straight male stereotype. This is not true of every gay male I know, and different social groups will vary, but to act as if the very idea of a gay male enjoying sports is strange and foreign is beyond absurd.\ \ [quote]I think nowadays that it''s non-PC to say that gays and sports don''t mix\ \ Not so much "non-PC" as moronic and out of touch.

• No not really. I love hockey. Most gays I know are into watching at least one sport.

• R31, Hockey is straight? %0D\ %0D\ I play sports, I don''t really watch them.

• I''m into swimming and running on the beach. I also like to watch football in the sand dunes.

  http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_waAT55VRsLo/TF2WJwEdIZI/AAAAAAAACCo/AkWNo0-6_C8/s1600/Scott Manley 001.jpg

• Sports are so boring.

• Scott Manley Troll Strikes Again!

• I like to play softball but hate to watch any sports. I am not a watcher. I just can''t make myself care about overpaid players. \ \ I also like to play tennis but don''t watch that either. \ \ However I would never play on a gay league, to me that is too restrictive.

• I like taking off my clothes and dancing naked

• I love sports, esp. tennis, college basketball and all football. But I find myself in the minority-most of my gay friends couldn''t care less about them.

• Oh, joy.\ \ Another thread which completely ignores the fact that thousands of gays and lesbians have been playing and organizing their own rec league sports events for decades in cities all across the country (and even more recently around the world).\ \ Let''s see how fast you queens can trash organized gay sports events like the national softball championships and the Gay Games.\ \ Better yet, make a witty pun about "drag" races!

  So tired of you

• I''ve been listening to Mad Dog on satellite radio since the NFL playoffs began, and I just fucking love sports talk rado now. \ \ No one told me how wonderful it was. There''s a simple narrative that gets debated all week, and then after the game gets debated all over again. It;''s like a soap opera--you can pick up the main plot points in 15 minutes, and then you just sit back and listen to the drama.

• [quote]So tired of you%0D\ %0D\ Are you so poor that you can''t afford to have a scrollbar option on your computer? How annoying it must be to be forced to open every thread instead of scrolling past those that hold no interest for you. My heart goes out...

• 58, are you so bitter and lonely that your sole purpose of being on DataLounge day and night is to find any chance to snipe at others over the tiniest annoyance, like an ankle-biting flea?\ \ Fuck off, cuntertina.

• R58, still annoyed that his proposal of a Bitch-Off was rejected by his local gay sports committee.

• R58, still wondering why his Surprise Anal Baseball Bat league never caught on.

• I think many gay men are disinterested in the team sports in the US, FB, and the two BBs, and ice hockey. To me it is obvious why this is the case. These are bastions of male heterosexual homophobia- why would you go into something (with exceptions) that are hot houses for abuse. %0D %0D That said I have a significant number of gay friends interested in the FB play offs etc. and love to go to the ball parks in the summer.%0D %0D Lots of gay me are into the individual sports and of course running and weight training. While men's professional tennis does not acknowledge homosexuals at all, women can be out with comfort and success (endorsements in 2011)- and I know lots of gay skiers. %0D %0D Note that there are very large and thriving softball, volleyball, tennis, and skiing gay groups in NYC- runners too. I play in USTA tennis leagues openly (gay) in NYC on straight teams- they focus on my tennis, not my sexuality.%0D %0D So OP, I don't pay much attention to the stereotypes. I just urge those who play sports to do so (it's healthy), and do so as an out gay man or lesbian- as we should do all the time and in every setting.%0D %0D All that said, I am revolted by the culture that surrounds professional football in the US. It is misogenist and homophobic and violent. International FB (soccer) can be pretty violent and homophobic too.

  charlie

• [quote]All that said, I am revolted by the culture that surrounds professional football in the US. It is misogenist and homophobic and violent. International FB (soccer) can be pretty violent and homophobic too.%0D\ %0D\ Charlie, American football has nothing on football (Soccer) when it comes to fan violence. From the hey day of the English hooligans to ultras in Europe. It seems like every other game in Latin America or Africa ends with a riot. But I''ve loved the sport since childhood.%0D\ %0D\ And remember its the only sport to have triggered a real war between two countries (El Salvador and Honduras).%0D\ %0D

• sports!! oh yeah

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSUgq6nPOLg

• Okay, I''m going way, way back, but in the 60s and 70s, every gay in America watched Roller Derby. It was fast paced, exciting and had soap opera like storylines. Of course many of the women skaters were lesbians but most of the men were gay as well. %0D\ %0D\ Joan Weston, Ann Calvello, Shirley Hardman, Judy Arnold. Totally unheralded names from the past but a part of gay history. Weston and Calvello were not lesbians but a Sunday afternoon in San Francisco wasn''t complete without seeing those two battling in Kezar Pavilion.

• Judy Arnold! I remember her...she was on the Philadelphia team. I grew up in Philly, where you are usually a long-suffering sports fan. My dad took me to see the Phillies, wouldn't let me near the Flyers' games (said they were too dangerous) and had worked his way through school ushering for the Eagles. He liked Wilt the Stilt, and taught me the teams in Big Five Basketball (Penn, Temple, St. Joe, Villanova and LaSalle). I grew up and worked for the Orioles (like my dad, paying my college tuition by ushering). LOVED watching 9 or more innings. Also sold programs for the Colts. And to this day HATE Indianapolis with a passion. As an adult, I started following the WNBA as soon as it was founded, and we've been season subscribers to the Liberty for about a decade. I'm on fan hiatus from the Iggles until they get rid of Michael Vick, and have nicknamed Mark Sanchez of the Jets Little Baby Quarterback. Since I hang out a lot with theater people, I mostly discuss the NFL with the straight women, as the guys fall on the "sports? What sports" range of the scale.

  Why yes, I''m one of the lesbians

• Fwiw...%0D\ %0D\ I was on the swim team in high school. This was in the late 60''s and early 70''s. Gay? Well, half the guys were "straight" and the other half either "bi" or "curious." I fell into the latter group. I was "bi," "curious," and got a lot of sex. %0D\ %0D\ What was amazing was that the football team was no different than the swim team. The quaterback was All State, gorgeous, and dated the head cheerleader. I know a guy on the swim who did the quaterback and told me that the guy had a little cock and was lousy in bed. One more thing.%0D\ %0D\ The SCANDAL of the high school was in senior year when the assistant football coach suddenly left and this linebacker "transferred" out of the school. Dad caught the both of them fucking in the basement. The coach was related to the district assemblyman, and so he got off. The linebacker?%0D\ %0D\ Married. Has children. Went home for the holidays, and the linebacker is on the city council. Guess what party?

• I remember Ruberta Mitchell and Sonia Simms from the Baltimore Cats. The name was an obvious play on the Black Panthers because most of the team was black and the audiences at the Baltimore Civic Center and the DC Armory were almost all black. Ruberta was sort of a Wilma Rudolph type, so dignified and classy. Of course, she beat the shit out of every other girl skater and some guys. Sonia was the cute, slightly butch, Pam Grier type. The new girls of Derby have nothing on these bitches.

• Interesting, R67. Is there a reason why you have ''straight'' in quotations in the swimming anecdote, though?

  Were They Bi As Well?

• The "straight" guys dated, and the ones I knew were into heavy metal and hard rock. I fooled around with one of the "straight" guys after high school (jo, oral)and he told me that he was just "horny." Uh. Huh.

• I am passionate about college basketball. During March Madness I''m as crazy as an straight guy I know.\ \ Baseball is fun, especially if you view it as primarily a mental competition instead of a physical one.\ \ Soccer and rugby are lots of fun. I''m always surprised that rugby hasn''t become more popular here in the States. It''s a rough, fast game. I love watching it.\ \ Football? What a fuckin'' bore...

• Most gay men aren''t inot Football as much as they are drooling over Gerard Pique.\ \ \ I really like to watch and play Tennis, enjoy watching Track and Formula One.

• Tennis is clearly the gayest sport ever.

• no r73, figure skating is the gayest sport.

• [quote]I think many gay men are disinterested in the team sports in the US, FB, and the two BBs, and ice hockey. To me it is obvious why this is the case. These are bastions of male heterosexual homophobia- why would you go into something (with exceptions) that are hot houses for abuse. What does that even mean? That confusing jumble of letters seems to indicate you're talking about major league sports...how is watching (or even attending) a professional sporting event like entering "hot houses for abuse"? You sound like a professional victim. I get that "jock culture" is boorish, often to the point of outright misogyny and homophobia, but this is not true of all or even most of the people who watch and follow professional sports, let alone the players themselves. I'm no where near a sports nut, but I have gone to many games over the years, all four of the major league sports, in arenas all over the country. I've never personally experienced any "abuse". I've heard "fag" and "faggot" tossed around casually by some fans, but even that is pretty rare. The overwhelming majority of the games I've attended were without any obvious or overt homophobia from the crowd. When it has happened, people within earshot reacted pretty negatively. Fine if you don't like sports. I don't like opera, but I don't make ridiculous, stereotypical, clearly uninformed assumptions about everyone who does.

• No thread on the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand? Just heard USA Captain, Todd Clever and his gay voice lisp through an interview. Ireland has some major hotties too

• Yeah, I''m a fairly big sports fan. I played in high school and college, and I continue to watch now. Baseball, Hockey, and Soccer are my favorites but I like pretty much anything.\ \ For the person who had an age theory, I''m 25.

• Agreed? Ahhh, NO!

• [quote]we''re all supposed to defy the stereotypes and be these big macho guys who are identical to straight men in all ways,%0D\ %0D\ I didn''t get the message on this. Did you get it by e-mail or snail mail? Was it covered on the evening news? I don''t see it in the Times. Nothing about it in The Advocate. %0D\ %0D\ Maybe you don''t know what the hell you''re talking about OP.

• I love sports. I play soccer, I swim, and I surf. I also enjoy playing beach volleyball and I have dabbled in tennis and golf. \ \ I love going to baseball games (go Red Sox) and I love watching rugby but I don''t particularly enjoy watching sports events on television because of all the adverts. It is also pretty annoying to be at a baseball game with the looooong breaks between innings to make time for the television stations to bombard the watchers with their inane crap.

• Pretty defensive, aren''t you r75. I think that poster made a very good point, which in fact was played out in real life very recently by a friend of mine. This friend was a high school jock himself and a star on his HS basketball team. He recently attended a March Madness game with his father and some other people from their hometown. As they were sitting watching the game, one of the men asked my friend''s father why he wasn''t married yet, and his father replied vaguely. The man then said, at the top of his voice, ''Well, he''s not light in the loafers, is he???" He said it as a joke but my friend and his father were mortified. My friend, who struggles with his sexuality anyway, had an awful time with this event for weeks. This is just one personal example. I have been witness to others. For you to pretend that homophobia doesn''t really exist among sports fans is disingenuous.

• This is exactly what I mean by DL''s violent misogyny, and if you don''t intervene against it, you are acting in favor of it:\ \ "Ann Coulter is responsible for that horrible stench that emanates from her dried up gash wherever she goes."\ \ Your violence against women helps kill queer teens.\ \ Ann Coulter''s stupidity has nothing to do with her body parts.\ \ Stop the violence.\ \ Stop the hate.\ \ It''s killing us.

• Even in in San Francisco, I know of few gay men and women who are NOT into one sport or more. While hardly butch, I grew up playing baseball, (US) football, tennis, handball, and basketball, in the 70's. At the time, it was fortunate for my own safety that I could "pass" as being "one of the guys," but as an adult, I certainly don't strive to be a mainstream, straight-like Dude who just happens to love other men's penises. I love physical, real-time games, but am too old to play them anymore. Loved being with my (male) friends, playing together, and dissing assholes from the opposing team. Guys can be the most catty, obnoxious, gossipy, cunting bitches, and for me, that's fun. I was particularly crappy at baseball and hated playing it, but it is my favorite sport to watch. Handsome players, drama, and complex strategy. Loved playing the other sports, but mostly find them tedious to watch. The most rabid and devoted SF Giants fans I know are lesbian and straight women who enjoy the game's complexity and players' life stories. The straight guys have man-crushes on their favorite players, and the Gays adore all the man-love displayed among team mates when a game is won. Exquisite games are often played out like a finely-tuned orchestra. The games are a pointless exercise in capitalism and often mindless entertainment -- sort of like following Dynasty or Dallas. While in college in the 80's, I was an idealistic leftie who boycotted all sports as being trivial and homophobic, but couldn't suppress my love of sports for very long, and later had to come out of the closet as a gay sports fan. Fortunately, there are so many just like me.

• Perhaps, many or most OPENLY gay men who live in Northeast and Pacific coast gay ghettos aren''t into mainstream sports, but a huge number of bisexual, closeted gay men, and Red State/rural gays are. So many people on here judge what it means to be gay based on a tiny, stereotypical, gay ghetto worldview. As studies as shown, most men who are attracted as men don''t even identify as gay or live in gay ghettos. Many are living mainstream lives, not unlike their heterosexual brethren. Some on DL love to perpetuate the notion that bisexual and gay men are largely another species of male, but thankfully that is not true.

• The fact they don''t identify as gay, that''s a big problem. Cowardly too.

• This is an honest question for the guys who like sports -- especially the ones who love to watch football, baseball, hockey... "why?" \ \ I''ve tried to watch sports, but I don''t understand the appeal. Can you explain why you like it and do it?

• I love sports. The best explanation I can give is that sports are the most exciting form of entertainment available. Unlike other entertainment options: movies, theater, concert,reading, opera, symphony, etc., there is no script, no way that things are "supposed to go." The participants in sports events do not know any more about how things will unfold than the fans do. That keeps things tense, nerve-wracking, and exciting. That is the best I can do for explaining the appeal to a non-sports fan. There is also the appeal of seeing incredibly talented people do what they do best, and in that way I would say sports is similar to other entertainment options. But the edge that sports have is the Great Unknown about how it will finish and what the path will be to get there. Pretty much none of my circle of friends appreciate sports, which is fine but I wish it weren't the case. For me, it means I go through all the emotions that sports creates on my own and don't have close friends to share or relive the experience with. Imagine seeing a great movie or listening to your favorite music but not being able to find anyone to share the experience with. For my friends, I genuinely believe that they (and other non-sports fans) are missing out on a tremendously exciting and unique form of entertainment.

• I love cricket and rugby.

• Figure Skating is considered a sport

• Love all sports.\ Know and care nothing about fashion or theatre. \ Love cock. \ \ Go figure

• R84 really? Stereotypical gay-ghetto guys? You actually have derogatory remarks for guys who got white-collar urban careers and that have the balls to actually be openly gay?\ \ Yes I am sure a lot of closeted gay guys are into sports if for no other reason than they don''t want to attract attention to themselves.\ \ However in 2011 we should not be celebrating guys that are too cowardly to be honest about their sexuality.

• What do you guys think about "mixed-relationships", where there is a sports nut paired with a culture nut. Sports nut could care less about literature, art, music and culture nut could care less about football, baseball, hockey. Can this relationship survive?

• One of the reasons that my partner and I have been together for 22 years is that neither of us care for televised sports. Football especially is a waste of time. Fall is too beautiful a season to waste it in front of the tv.

  Animous

• I played water polo for nearly 10 years. Started because all my folks were very physical and I had to match. No interest nowdays.

• [quote] What do you guys think about "mixed-relationships", where there is a sports nut paired with a culture nut. Sports nut could care less about literature, art, music and culture nut could care less about football, baseball, hockey. Can this relationship survive?%0D\ %0D\ How about being open to new experiences? How about expanding your horizons? How about supporting your partner by sharing his/her interests?%0D\ %0D\ If you are too narrow-minded to enjoy something new and unusual, how about having sports or cultural events be your time apart?

• It''s all just so...unsophisticated. I mean, ugh. What could be more plebian than a bunch of unwashed, sweating, stinking brutes fighting for imaginary arbitrary points vis a vis a ball or somesuch? %0D\ %0D\ I mean, really. %0D\ %0D\ Give me a night at the ballet ANY time...now THERE are some athletes, AND they are consummate ARTISTS to boot.

• [quote]It''s all just so...unsophisticated. I mean, ugh. What could be more plebian than a bunch of unwashed, sweating, stinking brutes fighting for imaginary arbitrary points vis a vis a ball or somesuch?\ R96 just made me cum.

• Really R96? If you aren''t into sports fine, but it is that judgemental better than you self-defense mechanism that you see with many gay guys that annoys me.\ \ And I agree with R95, people should always be willing to expand their horizon and try new experiences. Especially for the sake of someone you are in a relationship with.

• I take my nephew to baseball games but I cannot get into it.%0D\ %0D\ Now I don''t know if R96 was being honest or not but I do love the ballet for the reasons he stated - the combination of true artistry and the hot bodies of the NYC Ballet send me into overdrive.%0D\ %0D\ Interestingly, I also can agree with R87''s point since none of my circle of friends appreciate ballet! I also go through all the emotions that sports creates on my own and don''t have close friends to share or relive the experience after the ballet. %0D\ %0D

• football at the beach

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