Boys to Men and Game Snake

An article in the Birmingham News is about a new way of getting together to play. The website is www.gamesnake.com and it offers men the chance to gather "the guys" just like when they were younger. Simply choose your sports and your skill levels, and then you can either invite or be invited by others in your area to events that match your descriptions.

While the concept is pretty neat, it strikes at something that haunts men in our society. Once men move on from college their circles of friends seem to diminish. Not that we all have to be playing pick-up basketball with our 5 closest friends every afternoon, but there is a real need for men to sustain friendships with other men. It's just plain healthy and good for us. Certianly the role of a wife becomes first and foremost for the married man, but it is too easy to completely remove oneself from the world and from those vital friendships with other guys.

There are plenty of factors, of course, that could be considered. A man who is, let's say 32, does not likely live with 3 other guys his age. His place of work is made up of a wide-variety of people, among whom he might come across one tennis or racketball player and maybe a foursome for golf, but there is probably not going to be the makings of a 3-on-3 basketball game at the worksite.

Here's applause to the idea behind gamesnake.com.