Daniel Allott of American Values makes good points about the cult of sports in the United States. If men devoted the same amount of time, and intensity of attention, to their marriages, families, and faith as they do to sports stats, our nation would be far better for it:

The lives of millions of American men revolve primarily around sports. These are guys who spend large chunks of their weekends on the couch — often in their “man caves” — watching sports; guys whose most anticipated day of the year is their fantasy football league draft day; guys whose most emotional and passionate moments are brought on by the ups and downs of their favorite teams.

Ask these guys which teams should play in the BCS National Championship game, and they’ll have a ready opinion, and probably a fairly well-informed one. Ask them about the latest political debate or about anything going on in the rest of the world and they’ll respond with a blank stare.

Most of these guys aren’t athletes themselves — at least anymore. They live vicariously through their heroes and their teams.