Why Men Watch Football

Every weekend in the living rooms of America, from August through January, millions of men are seated in front of their television sets watching college and professional football. Meanwhile, others are pouring into stadiums all across the land, a bounce in their step, hope in their heart, and a beer in at least one hand. What is it that excites men about football? What the big attraction? Why is it that some men will sit down for three, six, or even nine hours in front of a TV set when football is on, yet they won’t sit still for more than 15 minutes for anything else when they’re home? Why is it that some men get so emotionally involved in watching football that they’ll scream, jump up and down, cheer and otherwise act as if they have a screw loose when their team wins—and become upset or even severely depressed when they lose? With the help of some of the nation’s leading sports psychologists and sociologists and dozens of male football fans, author Bob Andelman explores the male psyche and arrives at several intriguing and controversial conclusions about why men watch football.

Every Sunday afternoon in the living rooms of America, from the first week of September through the end of December, some 40,000,000 men are seated in front of their television sets watching football. It's a ritual that is as old as televised sports & as predictable as a sunrise. Yet it is a subject that has never been thoroughly explored in any book intended for mass consumption in the U.S. -- until now. WHY MEN WATCH FOOTBALL is designed to answer the question once & for all: Why is it that a man will sit down for six hours in front of the television set when football games are on, yet he won't sit still for more than 10 minutes at a time for anything else? What's the big attraction? What needs are being met? This book answers all these questions in a clear, convincing manner. The author interviewed football fans all across the U.S., as well as psychiatrists, sociologists & psychologists in various U.S. cities. The book is a serious psychological study of the male mind; it is enlivened with dozens of examples & anecdotes & tempered with humor. It is illustrated with photos of excited football fans. Order from: Acadian House Publishing, P.O. Box 52247, Lafayette, LA 70505-2247; 318-235-8851.

On the court and on the field they are the world?s winners, exhibiting a natural grace and prowess their adoring fans can only dream about. Yet so often, off the field our sports heroes lose their perspective, their balance, and ultimately their place. In a work as timely as the latest fracas on the basketball court or the most recent drug-induced scandal in the dugout, Stanley H. Teitelbaum looks into the circumstances behind many star athletes? precipitous fall from grace. ø In his psychotherapy practice, Teitelbaum has worked extensively with professional athletes and sports agents?work he draws on here for insight into the psyche of sports figures and the off-the-field challenges they face. Considering both historical and current cases, he shows how, in many instances, the very factors that elevate athletes to superstardom contribute to their downfall. An evenhanded and honest look at athletes who have faltered, Teitelbaum?s work helps us see past our sports stars? exalted images into what those images?and their frailty?say about our society and ourselves.

“Where does ‘highly happy’ come from—and can we have some too?!” Have you ever looked at a blissfully married couple and thought, I wish I could know their secret? Now you can. After years of investigative research, Shaunti reveals twelve powerful habits that the happiest marriages have in common. Best news of all? Anyone can learn the secrets of a highly happy marriage! In The Surprising Secrets of Highly Happy Marriages, Shaunti Feldhahn shares her findings about little, very unexpected, often overlooked actions that make a huge difference. You’re about to discover that highly happy couples: • Go to bed mad • Keep score (just not in the way you think) • Boss their feelings around • Have factual fantasies • Get in over their heads • Don’t tell it like it is • Don’t look to marriage to make them happy… Packed with eye-opening research and practical helps, this book delivers relationship insights that will take your marriage from “just fine” to “just the marriage we’ve always wanted.”

Originally published: New York: Harcourt Brace, 1994.

The eighth edition of this text remains an indispensable resource for mass communication psychology and media effects courses. This book gives readers an in-depth understanding of how media affect our attitudes, thinking, and behavior. Continuing its academically rigorous yet student-friendly approach to this subject, the new edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect our current media landscape. Updates include new research and examples for an increasingly global perspective, an increased focus on social media, additional graphics, special end-of-chapter application sections, and an expansion in the list of references to reflect the latest research discussed. The book continues to emphasize the power of media, including social media, in affecting our perceptions of reality. There is also a detailed discussion of misinformation, disinformation, and fake news. Written in an engaging, readable style, the text is appropriate for graduate or undergraduate students in media psychology, mass communication psychology, and media effects courses. Accompanying online resources are also available for both students and instructors. For students: chapter outlines, additional review and discussion questions, useful links, and suggested further reading. For instructors: lecture slides, guidelines for in-class discussions, a sample syllabus, chapter summaries, useful links, and suggested further reading. Please visit www.routledge.com/9780367713553.

“The Summer Seekers is the ultimate road trip book.”—Susan Wiggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author Get swept into a summer of sunshine, soul-searching and shameless matchmaking with this delightfully bighearted road-trip adventure by USA TODAY bestselling author Sarah Morgan! Kathleen is eighty years old. After she has a run-in with an intruder, her daughter wants her to move into a residential home. But she’s not having any of it. What she craves—what she needs—is adventure. Liza is drowning in the daily stress of family life. The last thing she needs is her mother jetting off on a wild holiday, making Liza long for a solo summer of her own. Martha is having a quarter-life crisis. Unemployed, unloved and uninspired, she just can’t get her life together. But she knows something has to change. When Martha sees Kathleen’s advertisement for a driver and companion to share an epic road trip across America with, she decides this job might be the answer to her prayers. She's not the world's best driver, but anything has to be better than living with her parents. And traveling with a stranger? No problem. Anyway, how much trouble can one eighty-year-old woman be? As these women embark on the journey of a lifetime, they all discover it's never too late to start over… Don't miss USA Today bestselling author Sarah Morgan's next cozy beach read, The Summer Swap, where a widow's plan to spend the summer in Cape Cod is upended by an unexpected guest and a secret that could change everything... Get lost in more captivating stories by Sarah Morgan: The Summer Swap - Coming May 2024! The Book Club Hotel The Island Villa Snowed In For Christmas Beach House Summer

Acclaimed essayist Mark Edmundson reflects on his own rite of passage as a high school football player to get to larger truths about the ways America's Game shapes its men Football teaches young men self-discipline and teamwork. But football celebrates violence. Football is a showcase for athletic beauty and physical excellence. But football damages young bodies and minds, sometimes permanently. Football inspires confidence and direction. But football instills cockiness, a false sense of superiority. The athlete is a noble figure with a proud lineage. The jock is America at its worst. When Mark Edmundson’s son began to play organized football, and proved to be very good at it, Edmundson had to come to terms with just what he thought about the game. Doing so took him back to his own childhood, when as a shy, soft boy growing up in a blue-collar Boston suburb in the sixties, he went out for the high school football team. Why Football Matters is the story of what happened to Edmundson when he tried to make himself into a football player. What does it mean to be a football player? At first Edmundson was hapless on the field. He was an inept player and a bad teammate. But over time, he got over his fears and he got tougher. He learned to be a better player and came to feel a part of the team, during games but also on all sorts of escapades, not all of them savory. By playing football, Edmundson became what he and his father hoped he’d be, a tougher, stronger young man, better prepared for life. But is football-instilled toughness always a good thing? Do the character, courage, and loyalty football instills have a dark side? Football, Edmundson found, can be full of bounties. But it can also lead you into brutality and thoughtlessness. So how do you get what’s best from the game and leave the worst behind? Why Football Matters is moving, funny, vivid, and filled with the authentic anxiety and exhilaration of youth. Edmundson doesn’t regret playing football for a minute, and cherishes the experience. His triumph is to be able to see it in full, as something to celebrate, but also something to handle with care. For anyone who has ever played on a football team, is the parent of a player, or simply is reflective about its outsized influence on America, Why Football Matters is both a mirror and a lamp.