“Up Chelsea” Bayo announces as he pours himself a glass of wine to celebrate the on-going match between Arsenal and Chelsea. Jide, his friend and business partner who is a fan of Arsenal hisses and bets that Arsenal will win the match.
The two friends end up arguing and trading words till the match ends with the two teams having an equal score. As a result of the equal score, another match between the two teams is fixed for the next week and to this end the two friends (Bayo and Jide) place a bet with their life saving over the upcoming football match between Arsenal and Chelsea.
No doubt, football is the one game that unifies the world, but around this time of the year, when many ladies share the love of their men with football, the questions that looms in many minds are – Why do men go crazy over football? Why will a man sit down for hours in front of the television set when football games are on, yet he won’t sit still for more than 10 or 15 minutes for anything else when he’s at home? What’s the big attraction in the simple game of 22 men chasing a ball for 90 minutes till a team wins? Channels Television’s reporter, Kemi Filani conducted a survey in Lagos to find answers to these questions.
Even footballer, Osaze Odemwingie would probably be asking the same question following his soon-to-be father in-law’s rejection of marriage date fixed for May 19, as a result of the ongoing champions’ league.
It should be noted that football passion is not exclusively male; we also have women who go to the stadium to support their favorite club. As a matter of fact, restaurants and bars are packed when a big game is on with both genders and all ages. Even kids get thrilled when the game is on. However, that does not change the fact that there is a special bond between men and football.
Some restaurants, parks and other viewing centers were visited before and after the last football match and it was found that Men go crazy over football for the following reasons.
1. Football meets men’s social needs: Were it not for football, many men would probably have nothing to talk about. You find that the one thing that most men discuss and argue about is football. While travelling in a commercial bus one morning, virtually all the men in the bus were arguing on the previous night’s Chelsea vs Barca game and they were arguing with passion. Even at the car parks visited, the passengers, conductors and drivers were found arguing on the game. Unlike women, who tend to communicate more freely over a vast range of topics, including emotions, Men tend to be more limited in their communication so it is Sports; particularly football provides them with a socially-acceptable reason to hang out with friends.
2. Men watch football for entertainment: According to a football fan, “We see it as a pleasant diversion from our normal routines”. One of the drivers at a park said “You don’t expect me to sit down and watch movies like you ladies do…watching football helps me unwind” and when the fan’s team wins, they celebrate. Some of them go as far getting drunk and engaging in fights like in the recent cases of the fatal accident and stabbing that occurred at a viewing center in Lagos after a big football game.
3. Watching football games gives retrospect for the men on their childhood and adolescent years: Since most men do not have the time to go and play football on fields like they used to when they were younger, watching the sport fills in the gap. One of the passengers in a park visited said “if a guy can’t be on the field playing or coaching football, then the second best thing is to be in the stands or on the couch, watching…our egos are so tied to sports that if we can’t be playing, we want to watch”
4. The war-like strategy of football: Football is a war-like sport; a war between two opposing teams defending their city’s honor. Let me add in a little humor here, even the names of the teams are almost all war-like: Gunners, Red devils, Chipolopolo, Indomitable lions, amongst others and the animals that teams choose to represent them are aggressive by nature: Falcons, Eagles, Bengals, Broncos, Sharks, Lions, Bears, Dragon and the likes. This war-like strategy appeals to men a lot besides the fact that football involves lots of attacks, defence, strategies, calculations, outsmarting, outwitting, outplaying and outfighting an opponent, holds men to their seat all through the game.
5. Sense of security and fullfilment: Some young men in one of the football viewing centers visited disclosed that football provides a sense of security and a sense of fullfilment for them. According to one of them, “even if one’s team loses, all is not lost…this encourages us (me) to play the game of life with newfound inspiration and hope”. A supporter of a football team will feel fullfill after his team defects their opponent.
6. Sense of Belonging: Football allows fans to associate with the winning team or remain faithful to losing team. In the survey, it was found that when a team is winning, the fans share the victory and when a team is losing men either “reaffirm their commitment by remaining loyal to their clubs” or begin to speak of the team with second person plural pronouns like “They are losing because they are having a bad season”. Either ways, it makes them feel good about themselves through their association with the team.
Thus, who are we to query them when they get all excited when it comes to football after all!
