Many more give up the ghost in front of televisions while Sunday-night football blares over the airwaves. Transfixed by one sporting event or another, they turn into sports zombies, and, in so doing, turn us into sports widows. Of course, women sometimes turn men into sports widowers, too. But that's less common, says Shirley Glass, Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and marital therapist in the Baltimore area. Most men are more nostalgic and sentimental about playing and watching sports than women are.
Men are vulnerable to sports zombification for yet another reason.
For some, the ball field, or game of the week, is a natural venue for spending time with male friends. If your guy's vital signs flat-line on the field or in front of the television set, here's what women doctors advise. Striking the right balance between time apart and time with a sports zombie is easier if you like sports. If you can enjoy the occasional baseball game, the World Series is that much easier on your relationship. Give his consuming passion a try, says Diana Adile Kirschner, Ph.D., a psychologist in private practice in Gwynedd Valley, Pennsylvania.