Fantasy Football/Dungeons and Dragons

If there are two things that most people would agree on it is that Sports fans and Nerds are on totally opposite ends of a spectrum of interests. But is that true, or are these two seemingly opposing cultures more alike than most would think? (Warning, Generalizations abound, not all members of a certain culture fall under what I am discussing)

Lets take a look at the sports culture first. Many sports fans know a great deal about the nuances of the particular sport that they have interest in. Just by watching a play they know who the key players are, what positions they play, what formation was used and, if they play fantasy (sports name here) how many points their player got them if they were involved. 

Compare that to the Nerd culture. A lot of nerds know a great deal about things such as Dungeons and Dragons, by watching a battle they can tell who the characters are, what class they are, what formations the monsters used, what tactics the main characters used to combat it, and how many experience points the characters got.

Seeing a resemblance yet? It is easier to digest this if we used the in-class definition of what a Nerd is, a person who has great interest and knowledge in a specific subject. Those who are into the sports culture generally have a specific sport that they have great interest in, you don't see people who go to football games in body paint at the horse track cheering on their favorite stallion. This interest leads them to have greater knowledge in that subject than the average individual. 

It is due to this that the feel that you have to safeguard your interest. Instead, letting people into what you are interested into would allow people to break the perceived barrier between interest groups.