Sport, I reckon, is life, experienced in a laboratory condition. What's true for one then is also true for the other--albeit in a controlled environment. Is that why we unconditionally applaud sporting achievements the most? Possibly. And that stories about sport--inevitably dealing with triumph, of both will and the underdog--especially told visually (therefore more viscerally), inspires us, instantly? Yup.

Okay, in the same vein, let's suppose I excel in binge-drinking! Which is to say, I, or you, can carry on guzzling vodka/gin/beer/whatever non-stop for 24 hours flat, without legs wobbling, tongue slurring, eyes shutting, while the brain functions fine enough to make absolutely lucid conversations up until the twenty-fourth hour, and beyond. Would you consider it an achievement? Probably not, although you may be silently impressed (come on, admit it!).