Name a major global sports icon, and there will be a sin or two, maybe more. Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Tiger Woods, Pele, Babe Ruth - they all committed their fair share of sins. And we are not talking low level sins like coveting your neighbour's servant, or his ox or donkey, as appealing as they are. No, we are talking the seven deadly sins. The capital vices, the cardinal sins. Pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony and sloth.
Where there's sport, there's sinning.
From 338BC to the sinners of today, Titus O'Reily leads us into the temptations of sportspeople across the globe. We have stories from cricket and ice hockey, soccer and baseball, tennis and boxing, NFL and competitive eating, and more. We meet the players, mascots and administrators whose sins are absurd, unwise, inspired or reckless and sometimes lead to losing (sport's greatest sin).
The question is, to be a champion, do you need a personality that means you lean towards sin? Does the sort of risk-taking drive that leads you to become a sporting legend mean you also push the boundaries of acceptable behaviour? Or does being a champion athlete mean you are simply presented with so many temptations it is impossible to resist a bit of lust paired with a side of gluttony?
Whichever way you look at it, sinning is never boring.