"I don't like volleyball because it's a gay sport"

Where the hell did that kind of statement come from?

It's usually said by people who play the more popular western sports, you know, the sports where the teams have to tackle and rub up against each other to win. That's a joke but I do think the irony is funny.

I see no reason to insult it like that of all things. Homophobia aside (that's a whole other can of worms), there's nothing in volleyball that I can see being inherently "gay", it's not even a contact sport.

Wanna know how I think that statement came to be?

Two words: Top Gun

I think people saw the volleyball scene from top gun and just absolutely could not bear the sight of a shirtless tom cruise in denim jeans playing volleyball.

There's a part of me that unironically thinks that this is the true reason volleyball is not as popular as it should be.