Higgs believes that some are good, but many are bad. The ancient Greeks virtually worshiped athletes as minor gods who worked to achieve physical perfection. This approach has never been very popular in America, said Higgs. However, it clearly influenced Nazi views of sports. Today, the strutting, egotistical attitudes of many athletes suggest that they also view themselves as virtual supermen.
Some people simply see sports as a chance to go wild.
Winning is the only thing. After all, athletes will be athletes and it pays for educators and entrepreneurs to look the other way on issues of sex, drugs, money and violence. As a boy, Higgs and his buddies were scolded for playing baseball on Sunday. Today, religious leaders are far more likely to lead Sunday-morning cheers for teams or invite superstars into the pulpit. Higgs worries that this muscular Christianity overpowers biblical images of Jesus as a humble, gentle shepherd who embraces winners and losers.