Man Caves, the ugly truth

The Super Bowl is upon us.  For quite a few, it is the the greatest football game in the world.  Me, I prefer cycling so I don't share in all the excitement.  One thing I do find interesting is suddenly and quite frequently, one starts hearing about man caves.  What is a man cave?  Supposedly it is the only room where the man of the house can find refuge.  A real man should retreat to his man cave so he doesn't have to deal with the hum drum of daily life.  If you've ever watched House Hunters you've heard men talking about which room is going to be their man cave.  I always have to laugh at them since usually what they end up with is some thing like this.

Sure, there are trophies on the walls and there are a lot of what I call 'faux' male trappings, but this is not a man cave.  Don't believe the little sign over the fire place.  There are just too many feminine touches.  The rusticity is by design.  In spite of its intent, this is nothing more then a family room (note the videos under the television).

A real man cave has wood.  You know what I'm talking about, the real stuff, like this room here.

There is so much wood in this room, you can feel it.  Believe me, there is nothing like real wood.  And look at the leather, no doubt made from real cow hide.  And the bear on the lampshade?  That just screams man cave.  Who needs a sign on the fireplace when you have true, honest to goodness,  real wood and leather?  You can bet no family gathers here to watch television.  This room is only for men. Growl!