What's Up With the Butt Tap?

I was watching a high school basketball game last week and every time one of the guys made a good play his teammates would slap, tap or even grab each others, ahem ... butts. I thought this was totally wacked! Why is this done in sports and not on the street or in the school hallway? Plus, I've never seen girls do it when they're playing sports. I've seen high fives and hugs but no butt slaps.

I decided to ask a few of my guy friends what the deal is with the butt tap. Their responses were strange and defensive, but mostly just ridiculous. One of them said, "I don't know, it's fun. Did I say fun? I meant weird." He said he's also confused about the butt tap but that it's just common practice among the jock crowd.

Another friend said the butt tap is done, "because we can't hug each other like girls can." He compared the Canadian Women's Olympic Hockey Team's reaction to winning gold with the Canadian Men's Olympic Hockey Team's reaction. The girls dog piled and went wild, and the boys only hugged and cheered.

Other guys just denied the bum scrum altogether. Hellooo, do you live on planet earth?

Others defended it as being "nuttin' but a manly mode of showing a teammate that they'd done good."

Finally I came up with this - guys are insane and sports are even weirder... no, that wasn't it. Guys don't want to hug because that takes too long and is too affectionate for the jock types, so they resort to the butt tap. It flies because it's quick and personal but not too personal. But really, I still think that's bizarre. I mean, how can a hug be more affectionate than touching some other guy's butt?

Obviously I am far from understanding this, so maybe you can answer it for me. What's up with the butt tap?

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