If you read "Why Nerds Are Unpopular", [0] then look at these photos by pg, [1] and then ask yourself, "who is in the chess club?" then "who is the in the weight lifting/track team?"

    "The kind of things we were interested 
    in didn't count for much in our high school." -- pg

Having gone to HS around about the same time and a mathlete, I recognise similar dynamics, even though I was 10,000 Ml away. It's no myth.

[0] http://paulgraham.com/nerds.html

[1] http://paulgraham.com/gateway.html