It may be true that males, in their wonder years, are capable of true friendship, but squander that ability during the following decades of striving and stress—and that as a result, when the kids are gone, the professional peaks climbed, and the spouse's stories a bore, they are buddy-bereft. When my husband, for example, learns I can't go with him to a sporting event, he gets that deer-in-headlights look. "Who will I ask?" Now, if I have an extra ticket to something, I can easily pluck 20 names out of my contact list.

"It is true that men do not easily show intimacies and revelations of strong emotional responses," says New York psychiatrist Dr. Roger Gould. "It does not mean the relationships are not filled with trust, deep regard and respect, fun, and sometimes crisis support. Men relate to other men quite well, just not the same as women relate to other women."

As I conduct my own informal polls, I find that many men—particularly the Boomer and beyond variety—are simply out of practice. Part of this is due to the fact that women are generally the social planners in the house, whether by choice or default.

"Men who do not have male friends often rely too much on their women and expect too much from them," says psychiatrist Dr. John Jacobs, who specializes in couples therapy. Meaning it is not good for the marriage, for starters, and may leave serious emptiness at some point. (Remember in I Love You, Man when the groom couldn't find a best man?) Historian-author Richard Reeves, whose wife of 33 years died this month, revealed on his website that, "I'm not sure I've made a decision without her since the day we married."

When men do get together, it is still often to watch sports, or, if their muscles haven't atrophied, to engage in them. But how often do they get past discussing Brady vs. Manning or the best drives of their day? "When my husband (64) comes back from a day of golfing with a bunch of guys, I ask him specific questions about the others," laughs Myra, a New York non-profit executive. "He will always say he has no idea. I say, 'Well, what did you talk about for five hours?' When I am with my girlfriends, we never stop talking and the curiosity is insatiable."

Yet, there are exceptions, and proof that as men reach a point where the past is longer than the future, they may be ready to go deeper. Television political reporter Jeff Greenfield is among a small group that has been meeting regularly for lunch for decades. (The late film critic Joel Siegel was also a member.) Although they have shared their ups and down, they have each enjoyed success in their fields, which include screenwriting and cosmetic surgery. "I think the lack of competitiveness helps, even if unconsciously," says Greenfield. Gore Vidal once said, "It's not enough that you succeed—your friends must fail.' This is cruel and I hope not really true, but it's probably good that we are not in similar professions. It makes it easy to genuinely root for each other."