The black community debates the singer's icon status in light of her unwed motherhood. The peace dividend Businesses are waiting to cash in on the rebuilding of Kosovo. Suddenly there are bestsellers about winter's wrath. It takes money to reach the top of Mount Everest.
Today there are accountants and doctors and advertising executives willing to pay.
The base camp of Mount Everest is crowded with Japanese and Germans, as well as Americans. Often these adventurers bring along cell phones and fax machines. The line separating the adventurer from the athlete has conventionally been financial. Think of the very rich who fly their hot-air balloons across the sky, only to be rescued at taxpayer expense when their adventure deflates. But the point of such sports is winning or losing, and the game must always be played within rules.