I Wonder if Gladiators Cried?

The Florida Gators and Alabama Crimson Tide college football teams squared off this past weekend for the SEC Championship Game. Going into the game they were the top two ranked teams in college football and nothing less than a shot at the national title was on the line. Gator and Crimson Tide fans have talked smack the whole week prior, hoping that their teams would back them up with a victory. Sports analysts dissected every nuance and studied every statistic of both teams, feeding the frenzy of the impending game. Indeed the biggest game of this college football season. Alabama rolled over Florida in a decisive 32-13 victory. (Dang!) Yet the most talked about aspect of the game isn't Alabama's dominance of the Gators, but that Tim Tebow cried.

If you do a Google search of Tim Tebow right now you will see an overwhelming amount of links of Tebow crying, both at the end of the game and also in a post game interview. A friend of mine called me up and asked if I'd seen the Sunday sports section; on the front page was a huge picture of a teary eyed Tebow. I even saw a political blog running a post on the Florida quarterback's flood of emotion. There seems to be as much coverage of the teared up Tebow as there was pregame coverage. Amazing.

I have to admit that my initial response to Tebow's tears was a little derisive. I think of football players as modern day gladiators. The toughest of all athletes. Warriors without compromise. The manliest of men. And men don't cry, do they?

A side note here: Historians say only about 10% of gladiators died in the arena. Unless it was a fight to the death, an opponent could signal defeat and a referee would call the match. Many bouts were called after a time and both warriors declared winners. Gladiators actually received good medical attention for injuries incurred. And get this, many fights were choreographed and dramatized much like fake "wraslin'" (WEE stuff) is today. Hm...

Actually, many studies have been done on the subject of men crying and it would seem the consensus is, in fact men do cry (What!). Men will primarily shed their tears in private, but there is a discernible increase in men willing to cry in public. What I found interesting is that it's more common to accept a man crying in public than women. The perception is that men are sincerely expressing their emotions while women are crying for attention. How about that? Socially it would seem we accept men crying more than some men would like to admit, so why the big deal over Tebow's tears?

Well, I don't know. I think it's partly social stereotypes and the fact Tebow is seen by many as a tough-as-nails kind of guy. Nothing stirs up that primal sense of masculinity for the Gator fan more than seeing Tebow run up the middle and level a linebacker on his way to a first down. As a Gator fan I have to admit that it's quite satisfying. And I should admit that at the end of the movie Gladiator I teared up as Maximus lay dying on the floor of the arena after vanquishing his foe. I don't think that infringes upon my manhood in any way. Besides, I think Tebow is passionate about what he does on the football field and if he cries about a loss as big as this one was, well I guess we can understand.