Let's see; Ted Williams--you said hitter--must be baseball?
Well, Chemeng, I hope that when people refer to sports players as heroes, that both they and their listeners understand that it is in the context of the game only. I think perhaps the term legend comes into play when a person has been talked about over vast spaces and time.

I must say that although I guess sporting events are okay for students, I believe that professional sports are morally criminal. I think it is wrong, wrong, wrong for some people to get paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to play a game--a god-damned game--when there are people who are going to sleep hungry and/or cold every night. I mean, these players are adults--let them go out and get a REAL job. That's the whole point of getting through school: to go out and do some good in the world, not keep on playing children's games. Yes, I know that some of them DO do some good: entertainment value, and charitable donations, visiting sick children, etc. But that brings me straight back to my original point: all these things are icing on the cake of society; and that cake is a hollow shell. Just think of what wonderful improvements could be made if all the money spent on stadiums, tickets, refreshments, souvenirs, uniforms, equipment, and salaries went to programs to help people become able to take care of themselves and their families adequately. I don't think for a minute this will happen, but I would love it if pro sports were abolished until all citizens had at least adequate food, shelter, and clothing.