[Travis]

I think the King comparison might be the most apt yet. Most people view him as a Crichton/Tom Clancy level populist, but his Dark Tower series really is an impressive literary piece.

WRT the sports thing: do you think some of that difference could be ascribed to the simple fact that we don't play the same sports as they did back in the day? While sport isn't a modern invention, the particular sports (and the fierceness of pursuit due to the money, fame, etc.) are new.

And finally, I'm not sure if my comment further proves your point, or if it means that we can only compare literature to sport in comparable times. If you accept the idea that sports used to be less important (possible due to the physical nature of regular work and the lack of leisure time), then you can really only compare sports (nearly exclusively happening in the 20th century) to 20th century literature.

In short, sports have just started to catch their stride.

Further, it could be argued that the ethos of the warrior was the true analogue of athletes in premodern times. Hercules, et al.