Why Men Watch Football

Chapter 1. What's Love Got to Do With It?

2009-12-31T21:00:00.000-05:00

by Bob Andelman "We were in Chicago for a wedding in 1984 and just happened to be booked at the same hotel that the Chicago Bears were staying at. We rode up in the elevator with four or five of the Bears. Walter Payton was particularly outgoing and he talked to my daughter, who was about 2, and asked if he could hold her. He threw her up in the air and caught her

Chapter 2. Boy's Life

2009-12-31T20:00:00.000-05:00

by Bob Andelman "When I was a young kid, the reason I had favorite teams -- the Cowboys, Raiders and 49ers -- was that I liked their colors or their helmet logo." Kenton Blagbrough Textbook buyer Boston University American boys of 7 or 8 find football everywhere they turn. Dad studies the game on TV every weekend. He shushes Mom so he can hear the scores and watch

Chapter 3. Cat's in the Cradle

2009-12-31T19:00:00.000-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I'm going to keep an open mind. I'm not going to force my sons to be Gators or Dolphins fans. But I expect they'll pick it up. I'm not going to pick their schools for them at 5 and 3 years old. I want them to go to Yale and Harvard. Unless they can play. Then I definitely want them to go to Florida." Harold Hyman Property manager Tamarac, Florida

Chapter 4. Our Town

2009-12-31T18:00:00.000-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I'm a die-hard. I love college football. My two brothers and I were Rutgers undergrads. I donate a pretty good sum of money. I watch the games live and if I can tape it, I'll watch it one more time. During the off-season, I'll watch again. It's a sickness." Peter Hendricks Attorney New Brunswick, N.J. Sports fans sustain a good-guy view of their

Chapter 5. A Hero Ain't Nothin' But a Sandwich

2009-12-31T17:00:00.000-05:00

by Bob Andelman "During the late 1940s and early '50s, I peddled my bicycle 20 miles in each direction two or three times a week to watch the Los Angeles Rams practice in training camp. I was able to meet a lot of players. I wasn't an autograph seeker, though. I just liked to watch them practice, hear the grunts and groans, the hits. I'd try to do what they did. I

Chapter 6. Play the Game

2009-12-31T16:00:00.000-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I played one year of football in junior college. I played for the same coach that I had in high school. When he went to the single wing, I was a 'blocking back.' When he went to a split-T there was nothing for me except the line. I went through one spring practice on the line and figured that was enough of this football stuff for me. Then I was a

Chapter 7. There's No Need to Fear, Underdog is Here

2009-12-31T15:00:00.000-05:00

by Bob Andelman "The team I'm rooting for becomes an extension of me. It is me. When there's an undeserved penalty, it's almost as if it's against me. It makes me mad, like almost missing a red light when you're in a hurry." Jim Melvin Newspaper editor St. Petersburg, Florida Meet Jim Melvin. He's a health and fitness writer and copy editor for the St. Petersburg Times

Chapter 8. Achtung, Baby

2009-12-31T14:00:00.000-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I enjoyed the military. It was precise. It was teamwork. Maybe I like football for the same reason. Football is fairly macho; it brings out the macho in guys that other sports don't bring out. It was something we watched in Viet Nam when I was there. If we could get near a TV and football was on, we'd watch it." Frank Bryant Former Army helicopter

Chapter 9. Every Picture Tells a Story

2009-12-31T13:01:00.016-05:00

by Bob Andelman "What's the first thing you think of somebody who doesn't follow football? Someone you don't have a lot in common with. Especially in the South, where it's not a sport, it's religion." Barry Dreayer Computer software salesman/consultant Atlanta God bless football, for without it, men might have nothing to talk about. Given the feeblest of openings,

Chapter 10. Are We Not Men?

2009-12-31T12:00:00.014-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I recall a game, the Jets against Miami. The field was wet and awful. I remember being home by myself and hyperventilating over that game. The room was spinning; I wasn't drinking. I remember A.J. Duhe deflecting a Richard Todd pass and running it in for a touchdown. I was screaming and pacing. Pretty embarrassing. I was glad nobody else was there."

Chapter 11. Hit Me With Your Best Shot

2009-12-31T11:00:00.017-05:00

by Bob Andelman "At the height of the game, if a player is injured -- I hate to admit it -- but my first thought is, 'Goddammit, we're going to waste five minutes while they take this guy off the field!' " Jim Melvin Newspaper editor St. Petersburg, Florida The only guys who don't get some cheap thrill out of the violent nature of football are the ones who don't

Chapter 12. Fly Like An Eagle

2009-12-31T10:00:00.000-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I enjoy seeing the best of anything. And professional sports provide the best athletes in the world. My wife and I go to the ballet. We like to see the best ballerinas in the world. It's exciting. And in professional sports, you get to see the best athletes every week." Dick Williams President, The Derrick Club Houston Oilers Fan Club Not every man is

Chapter 14. Odds 'n' Sods

2009-12-29T11:05:00.001-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I pride myself on being a trivia expert. I challenge my friends. If they can beat me, I'll take them to lunch. I know basically every number for every Bears player. The most obscure the player, the more I remember. I guess it helped me get my job and I guess it helps me do my job better. It's weird because I don't otherwise have a good memory. My

Chapter 15. You Better, You Bet

2009-12-25T13:28:00.001-05:00

by Bob Andelman "We need something to gamble on. And since you've got money on football, you might as well watch it." Bruce Kessler Warehouseman North Brunswick, N.J. The gambling aspect of football is huge. It cannot be ignored. Go to college or pro games -- or sports bars, even -- you'll see people lined up at pay phones to call in their bets. And if it's not

Chapter 16. I Don't Like Mondays

2009-12-17T18:07:00.002-05:00

by Bob Andelman "There is validity in what some people say, because sometimes the coaches don't have a clue. I've seen high school games where my mother could call better plays." Larry Mayer Managing editor Chicago Bear Report Everybody knows better than the coach whose team lost the big one on Sunday. Come Monday, it's crystal clear to the world that the Chargers

Chapter 17. Two Tickets to Paradise

2009-12-17T17:20:00.001-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I don't go to sporting events unless I get good seats. It's a waste of money if you don't. If you're an avid fan, it's worth the money." Larry Selvin Financial accountant West Roxbury, Massachusetts Jerry DeForest Jr. is a superfan. The 1992-93 season marked his fourth consecutive year of traveling from city to city with his cherished New York Giants.

Appendix: Can't Tell the Players Without a Scorecard

2009-12-13T11:57:00.008-05:00

by Bob Andelman Here's a roster of men and women interviewed during research for Why Men Love Football: A Report From the Couch: Dr. Robert L. Arnstein, retired chief psychiatrist of Yale University Health Services, lives in Hamden, Connecticut Dr. William J. Beausay, a psychologist in Columbus, Ohio, is founder of the Academy of Sport Psychology International and a

Chapter 18. 57 Channels

2009-12-12T09:51:00.062-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I typically watch games by myself. Particularly while I'm watching the Giants. I'm not too receptive to other people's comments, particularly if they don't like the Giants. I get a little intense. I'm fixated on the TV. When the Giants were in Super Bowl XXV in Tampa, I watched it with my wife, my mother-in-law and her husband. I kept turning up

Chapter 19. Bud Bowling for Dollars

2009-12-11T16:41:00.009-05:00

by Bob Andelman "Why do men watch football? Because they're bored with their lives. And wives. And it's a bonding thing. And one more thing -- it's because we love beer." Joe Surdi Barber St. Petersburg, Florida In the 1970's, the corporate underpinnings and ramifications of football exploded, accelerating development of the sports industry itself. Sports as a

Chapter 13. I Yam What I Yam

2009-11-28T14:21:00.004-05:00

by Bob Andelman "The traditional campfire for men of the 1970s and '80s is the football game. Football is your little domain, where you can go back and be a man again. That's where we get a release. You put on your team colors, go out and get crazy with your buddies. Want to talk about male bonding? Football is the male experience." Dan Jiggetts Former Chicago

Chapter 20. The Man Who Fell to Earth

2009-11-27T10:52:00.031-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I get depressed two weeks after the season is over. I'm a Jets fan. I remember watching games when they were 2-10, sitting in freezing snow. The first game I remember was the Jets winning the Super Bowl. I was 8. I was living in New York at the time. Everywhere you looked, people were talking about it. And Namath made the famous statement

Chapter 21. She's No Woman, She's My Wife

2009-11-22T17:48:00.055-05:00

by Bob Andelman "Why do you bug me during football? Did I bother you during childbirth?" Tim Taylor TV Host, "Tool Time" Detroit Mothers. Daughters. Wives. Sisters. Women in-laws. Perhaps the greatest unspoken reason that men love football is because it gives many of us a few precious, uninterrupted hours away from those wonderful women in our lives. Football

Chapter 22. The Post-Game Report

2009-11-22T16:01:00.020-05:00

by Bob Andelman "I'm always interested in the sportscaster who says, 'This is going to be a screen-pass to the right' before it happens. I'm still trying to figure out how they know that." Bill Evans Marketing manager Columbus, Ohio If this book were a TV show, this would be the place we'd recap the action. Feel free to play along at home. Image by Getty Images via

A Report From The Couch: Introduction to Why Men Watch Football

2007-12-10T22:13:00.014-05:00

by Bob Andelman "It's a brutal sport; I never play it. You've got to be an idiot to play. But I love to watch." Larry Selvin Financial accountant, West Roxbury, Massachusetts My attorney is a transplanted Washington Redskins fan who roots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by default -- they're the only game in town. Rick Georges loves football. He's been a Bucs