The Darker side of games, is mentioned in Brian Sutton-Smith's Ambiguity of play:

"I think women's tennis is a ballet type of game. It's got beautiful movements and I think there is nothing else that combines that beauty of momvement with the tremendously graceful pirit. But in reality it's also an assassin's game: if one person has won, the other one is dead. There is no compromise. I become quite aggressive on court. I get a thrill out of hitting a winner." In the same vein, an American football professional says, "Football is not fun and games. It's an expression of the darker side of the individual. It's not 'let's go out and have a good time.' It's, 'let's go out and beat the other team, let's pound them into submission, let's intimidate them and show them that we are better than they are.'... As it get down to game time, the personality changes, the darker side, this different person, comes out." (page 88)