It's not just Americans, most men in Britain are the same with football. How many times can you have the same conversation about an overpaid moron kicking a ball round a field?
It's been said before but when we look up to nurses, doctors, scientists & people who actually achieve something then humanity can start evolving.

To answer your main question, Yes! Absolutely. My admitted bias as a gay dude is that the classic spectator sports have been bastions of sexism and homophobia, especially football and hockey. Reason enough for me to be averse to them for decades. But I think the appeal for men is twofold. First, strong socialization to compete and win means sports provide an obvious target for our fantasies of winning (it certainly is fantasy that "we" spectators are winning by merely watching). Second, every heterosexual American male is socialized to bury any hint of being "overly" emotional(John Wayne code of manliness). Sports is the single biggest permission slip for showing that emotion. Do we spend ridiculous amounts of money on it to the detriment of other positive pursuits? Abso-freakin-lutely!

Absolutely. I think back to an economics professor I had who said that spectator sports is a perfect example of false solidarity. I totally agree.

Have you ever met a European football fan?

I watch MLB games sometimes if my favorite team is on, but other than that I never cared for watching sports much, a waste of time.

Social norms tell men that they can't just get together in a group because they like each other. Testosterone driven sports provide them with the cover needed to get some mild social contact and connection that all humans need. Personally, I call up my friends and ask them to hang out. If that's a football game, so be it, but it's often watching kids play video games and run around the house while we drink scotch or beer and talk about life. I am completely straight and CIS and even I can clearly see reasons to hate these gender roles. It's all BS and this is just a symptom.

panem et circenses

Like anything it can be taken too far, but as long as the individuals involved are having a good time who am I to judge? I am of the opinion that if you are able to finish everything you said that you would, and you have enough time to watch a bunch of sports (or really anything for that matter) have at it as long as it doesn't hurt anyone who doesn't want to be involved. As far as spending too much money, as long as you make rent and pay the bills spend your money how ever you want to.

I'm certainly not a fanatic. I like things I was able to do when I was young and things that demonstrate the human spirit and skill. I was a skier so I like the Olympics. I like a bit of motocross. I will go to a school game if I know the kids playing but it has to be personal.

I agree. I find fantasy sports a total waste of time and it has ruined some professionals sports by putting the emphasis in the individual and not the team.

I am not a sports fanatic. I like curling. Going to a baseball game a couple times a decade. Go to as many Little League games as I can. Super Bowl football with friends or family. I was on my college raquetteball team. And that’s about it.

However, I have things I am very passionate about. Prehistory, my 84 Celica GTS hatchback, rocks, my grandkids. I think these passions are the same for sports watchers/analyzers/debaters. To each their own hobbies, if they don’t hurt anyone.

My exception is the gambling. My dad was a gamblholic. He lost 70k in two years. I do gamble occasionally for fun. Though, I take my twenty and that’s it. So, if gambling is causing issues, well, then it’s an issue.

I love NFL Football, specifically Patriots, because i thoroughly un6derstand it....just as much as I love reading, home improvement,gardening, etc etc etc....my money, my time, my business,nobody else's. Do not confuse ADDICTION with enjoyment....and spectator parties are a blast!

I'm totally disinterested in spectator sports, and I pay a social price for that. So I get punished for being disinterested, and I get punished for the assumption that I'm too interested.

In Statist societies, spectator sports, and gladiatorial events, distract the masses from the realities of everyday life. They are the modern version of Rome's "Bread and Circuses".
Mass architecture also emerged in Statist societies. In ancient times, temples to "the Gods", and palaces for the rulers were constructed. In modern Statist societies, the "temples to the Gods" coexist with the palaces of the Banks, the Corporations, or of individual capitalists.

The world pays too much attention to sport, soma of the masses.

I have always thought that if the world embraced politics and diplomacy as much as they do sports then the world would be a better place. I get that sports is a good way to escape the worries and stress of real life and that has to be appreciated.

Seems a bit excessive to me, but to each his own.

I just don't get spectator sports, particularly the team allegiance and the elation or depression that results from the success or failure of people I don't know.

Yes, but I am bias. I don't like sports, but I have to work with guys that do.

yes

I think some do. To me it it's just entertainment. I never hardly spend money on it but some do. Most any hobby or form of entertainment is expensive. What really cracks me up is watching parents ( even grandparents ) fight at a t-ball game. That's way more entertaining than a pro game on tv. And it's free man!

I agree. I played many sports in my earlier days -- football, fast-pitch softball, basketball, racquetball, volleyball, etc. and strongly encourage participation in sports. We are too often becoming spectators iin the game of life. Life is to be lived, not watched.

Sport is direct descendant of the Greco-Roman ideal of a sound mind and a sound body. It shows that people can succeed if they train and practice hard enough. It gives us heroes. It sublimates urges toward warfare. Well, maybe not in the case of soccer. It shows that operating as a team can result in favorable outcomes. And then we get to destroy our "Gods" when we find out they're doping.

I'm watching a Blackhawks game right now.
I'm not into all the things you listed though. Hockey is pretty much the only game I really follow.
I do know some guys that are like what you described.

Mmm... i don't participate in sports or watch them. Its hard to be these guys that are playing. I couldn't. Im burned out i guess. It cost to much to go see them. I don't like all this disrespect to the anthem and our flag. I like some of the players.