ABSTRACT
Varsity wrestling has long been a powerhouse sport at the University of Nebraska. Students and coaches played poker games for money on team buses during travel to and from various wrestling matches. Scholarship on the social construction of masculinities and homophobia in sport, together, help explain why several wrestlers at the University of Nebraska were allowed to break so many rules over time, yet the two student-athletes who performed for a gay pornographic website were kicked off the team. Eric Anderson offers a deep sociocultural analysis of the roles of homophobia and masculinities in sports, including the following: The fraternity between members of sports teams bridges many relational aspects. A "boys will be boys" mentality may have been firmly etched into the team's culture and repeatedly used to justify keeping student-athletes around who violated policies and sometimes broke laws.
