Non-sexual Man Crush

It was once wrong for a lady to show any hint of leg. (Look at the ankles on that one! Who does she think she is, Eleanor Roosevelt?) Similarly, it was once considered taboo for a man to show any outward attention towards another man. Such indiscretions could result in wedgies, Indian burns or even the gruesome Lord Flagpole.

But now the times have changed. Ladies are not looked down on for “Going Wild” to entertain the paying public (whether anyone wants to see them or not, Chyna) and men don’t have to live in fear of reprisal for having a Non-sexual Man Crush (NSMC) on someone.

This brings me to my point. Some people are behind the times. They still churn their own butter, refuse to pay the extra 12 dollars a month for TiVo and think it’s “weird” when a guy says he’s going to go see a movie just because Ryan Reynolds is in it.

Men have been doing this for years; it’s just that no one ever came up with a name for it. When our fathers were growing up, they always wanted to go see John Wayne in his new “talkie”. Was that because they were so interested in learning about the Wild West? No, it was because they had a NSMC on John Wayne and they wanted to be like him. They wanted to do everything he did, whether that meant riding a horse, shooting the bad guys or joining the Sigma Chi Fraternity and participating in the “Belt Game.” They felt a connection with him.

Other men besides actors that commonly have a NSMC on them include athletes and musicians.

I have noticed this phenomenon more since I have been participating in fantasy sports. It seems that I always want to draft or trade for the same people. I look at them like my children and I pick them to do well. When they do well, it makes me look good by winning my league. This tends to happen more frequently with younger players or people you have followed since they were rookies.

I have friends that always seem to draft football players that are right out of college for their fantasy teams. I have other friends that always seems to trade for the “next big thing” in baseball; a player who is a rookie and had outstanding minor league stats.

Is there anything wrong with this? No, as I have explained above, these people (myself included) are just displaying a healthy NSMC. It takes a man who is fully healthy in their sexual identity to be able to display such a crush.

So, unless you want to go back to the time where women wore swimming suits that were black with full length arms and legs instead of bikini’s that are too thin to floss with, you’ll evolve and keep an open mind when your friend mentions that he wants to go see the Amityville Horror because Ryan Reynolds is in it. Your friend isn’t gay; he’s just sharing his NSMC, which we all have.

Current Brent A. Nelson NSMC's:

Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl fame? Hilarious!!)
Mark Teixeira (50 homer season? Sleeper MVP…)
Aubrey Huff (1B, 3B, OF plus .300 avg and 35 HR? Yes please…)
Michael Cuddyer (Look at his eligibility!)
Yhency Brazoban (Taking over for Eric Gagne as the next…Eric Gagne)