Politics, death and taxes not always far from sporting stage

'Sports make you forget death, taxes and politics and all the other garbage that goes on in life.' So said American Todd McFarlane, whose worth as a sporting psychoanalyst rose in direct relation to the millions he was willing to splash out on a piece of memorabilia.

McFarlane, who created a comic empire, went a bit goofy and bid US$3 million to get his baseball glove on the ball that Mark McGwire whacked for his 70th home run last season.

To be sure, if someone is willing to pay that sort of dough for a baseball he deserves his five minutes of fame and the odd quote or two in magazines like Sports Illustrated and Time.

Taken in context, McFarlane's comments were sensible enough.

The homer odyssey featuring McGwire and Sammy Sosa did help most of America forget their President's peccadilloes, their tax bills and the ultimate call to the great bullpen in the sky.

But for the majority of sports fans around the world, who view baseball as glorified rounders and McGwire as the anabolic man, McFarlane's opinions were pure comic fare.

Their credo was summed up by the late, great Bill Shankly when he said that football was not about life or death - 'it's more than that'.