Mindless consumerism with immediate (+/- consumer credit) ego-gratification is the lifeblood of our consumer economy. Perhaps sportspeople can indeed be virtuous, but whether or not they accumulate wealth and fame has more to do with how profitably they can be marketed to the public as someone to aspire to. If the sportsperson pays tax, like any non-sporting garden variety millionaire, does it even matter whether or not the sportsperson is "seen to be delivering" on moral conduct? Perhaps the reason why a sportsperson is held to a higher standard of conduct than, say, a millionaire, is because the sportsperson - in fact their brand - has been marketed to the public as something to aspire to or emulate. Can you really expect the consumer to comprehend or value the unglamorous effort that went into achieving the sporting excellence in the first place?

On the other hand, catering to narcissism and tempting it with wealth beyond any single person's needs is not necessarily a good thing. The personality traits required to excel in sports, business, politics or other professions are arguably adaptive in our society, but not necessarily conducive to being a well balanced, well adjusted person, since they may in fact arise from deep seated insecurities and a pressing need for external ego-reinforcement. Gautama Buddha probably would not have made a good US football or baseball player. Those that excel in our society, are, I believe, some of the most dysfunctional people in our society. Why should adaptive, obsessive traits - or put another way, single mindedness - be considered virtuous or lauded as a triumph of the human spirit?

I cannot but agree with Erich on a number of points that he raises. I do, however, feel that he has missed the point of Dr Aidman's article - it is not so much about elite athletes and money, but more about the role that grass-root sport can play in teaching everyday participants about core values and life skills.