I have always assumed that, like most geeks, disinterest in sports was not so much "cultivated" as it was a kneejerk reaction to the fact that the football play

I have always assumed that, like most geeks, disinterest in sports was not so much "cultivated" as it was a kneejerk reaction to the fact that the football players were the people making my life miserable every fucking day in public school. A huge chunk of my disinterest in certain genres of music (e.g. heavy metal) come from the same wellspring. Of course high school was many years ago for me and I have moved on with my life. But until a strong-enough counterforce is applied, football (and Led Zeppelin) will continue to elicit a vaguely negative response.