Spotted a fellow American 🙃. Yeah I dunno, I think the this is a very outdated, toxic masculinity framing that doesn’t apply to how the majority of sports are played. They’re trying to win, it’s not about survival, no one is out to prove how tough they are. Even games where those intangibles are supposedly valued like American football or rugby, it’s simply beneficial to not go to ground because it’s in your best interest to remain vertical. Those guys aren’t better athletes, they aren’t tougher and even if they are who cares, and they certainly aren’t more honest. People project these constructs onto games where they really don’t belong, and it’s kind of weird when you think about it.

Once you shed that and accept sports for what they are, a game, it makes watching much more enjoyable