Race car drivers are not athletes
#48
#50
I don't know why people keep saying this, do we have any indication that he ever competed in ANYTHING other than golf. Can he run fast, jump high, throw a ball, catch a pass, take a hit, field a grounder, sink a 3 pointer , use his feet with a dexterity few of possess in our hands on the soccer field, etc. etc. Oh, and you might as well throw in the NHL, I don't know if he can skate..but what the heck he MUST be great at that too.
There are plenty of golfers over the years who, though not as good as Tiger at golf HAVE resumes that include other sports (Hale Irwin DIV 1 Football All Conference comes to mind). Why all of a sudden is Tiger the "Dave Winfield" of Golf (Winfield as we all know was drafted by NFL, NBA, MLB) John Daly who everyone likes to hold up as the "anti-athlete" actually has a better resume as an all around athlete than Tiger, at least he lettered in football and played HS baseball. How silly would it be to suggest thet Daly could be anything but a golfer, yet a guy who seems to have never played any other sports could be a Pro???
Tiger is great GOLF, I can't stand hearing another announcer say he could be playing 2 Guard, or D-back or Centerfield..really...based on what? His ability to hit golf shots beter than anyone else? If that's true and the skills are so interchangeable, than the reverse should be true as well. You see how well that theory pans out with Barkley and Jordans golf game..huh??? I mean one guys terrible and the other aint's exactly lightin' it up.
GOLF is a unique skill that humbles many otherwise fantastic athletes, it is not a great indicator of overall athletic ability. Some golfers may be great athletes but I can't base it just on their golf and I really can't see suggesting they could be Pro anything without some other evidence. You could watch a WR, run down the field, leap high, make a juggling catch, break a tackle and score and know he's an athlete. You would know how fast he is, how high he can jump, that he has good eye-hand coordination, good hands, is strong, and can take physical punishmnet in about 10 seconds. You could watch a guy golf for a lifetime and still not know if he posessed that same skill set.
Why this need to embelish everything, the guy is the greatest golfer of all time..isn't that enough???
Last edited by F350Lawman; 08-15-2008 at 03:33 AM.
#51
#52
Speaking of incredible athletes, we never hear about Greg Lemond. Three world championships and three time winner of the Tour de France. Two of the victories after being shot in the back leaving him with pellets lodged in his heart.
Also, how many pro-athletes from other sports have tried professional driving and failed? Walter Payton comes to mind, he was terrible behind the wheel.
Last edited by hacker-pschorr; 08-15-2008 at 10:16 AM.
#53
#54
#57
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Isn't "motorsports" one of the few sports that actually has "sport" in the name?
And I agree with Joe...spend just 45 minutes in 100 degree heat (cool shirt or not), trying to have perfect hand/eye coordination in a car going 140 ^ mph making split second decisions, etc. etc. If you aren't in shape, you'll wish you were.
And I agree with Joe...spend just 45 minutes in 100 degree heat (cool shirt or not), trying to have perfect hand/eye coordination in a car going 140 ^ mph making split second decisions, etc. etc. If you aren't in shape, you'll wish you were.
#58
"Would have" , "Could have" , "If only" ? These are famous last words.
There are gas station attendants that have POTENTIAL to be fantastic athletes, but most are not. By definition, an Athlete will bring natural and developed skills to his sport. If i was a coach of different sports, and met a yound tiger woods. Sure, I would bet he could do a lot of the baseball, basketball, and many other of the sports requring certain types of skills that he seems to pocess naturally, well. Certain sports like driving, skiing, motorcycles, hockey, etc, all require different types of natural abilities. Ever meet a guy that no matter how much he trys to play golf, he sucks? That same guy could be world class in other sports and activities. Well, you see a lot of that on the race track!
I love this topic. We used to debate and laugh over this back in College all the time. "Is this activity a sport?" , " Is this guy an athlete"?.............. That's where we finallly started to agree on the, " You have to be able to die participating in the activity for it to be considered a real sport".
I think my mechanic is an athlete. He is racing against the clock, he has to compete against all the other shops for business, He often is doing back breaking physical work that i often do once a year and hope i NEVER have to do it again, he has to have knowledge, training, ability to concentrate, focus and make snap decisions, and have the endurance to keep on doing it day after day. Now, he used to be a soccer player and a pretty good one.
So, is fixing cars a sport? Is my mechanic an athlete?
I guess It all falls in levels of degrees. Is tiger an athlete? yes. Is tiger an al around athlete? no. Could he be?? not the point. If he was going to race a fat 50 year old man (Marty Krulee) that is still an track athtlete in a 100m dash, who would win? So i guess we need to define our terms better. Athlete, all around athlete, endurance sports athlete, pilot athlete, extreme athlete, gentleman sport athlete, etc.
mk
There are gas station attendants that have POTENTIAL to be fantastic athletes, but most are not. By definition, an Athlete will bring natural and developed skills to his sport. If i was a coach of different sports, and met a yound tiger woods. Sure, I would bet he could do a lot of the baseball, basketball, and many other of the sports requring certain types of skills that he seems to pocess naturally, well. Certain sports like driving, skiing, motorcycles, hockey, etc, all require different types of natural abilities. Ever meet a guy that no matter how much he trys to play golf, he sucks? That same guy could be world class in other sports and activities. Well, you see a lot of that on the race track!
I love this topic. We used to debate and laugh over this back in College all the time. "Is this activity a sport?" , " Is this guy an athlete"?.............. That's where we finallly started to agree on the, " You have to be able to die participating in the activity for it to be considered a real sport".
I think my mechanic is an athlete. He is racing against the clock, he has to compete against all the other shops for business, He often is doing back breaking physical work that i often do once a year and hope i NEVER have to do it again, he has to have knowledge, training, ability to concentrate, focus and make snap decisions, and have the endurance to keep on doing it day after day. Now, he used to be a soccer player and a pretty good one.
So, is fixing cars a sport? Is my mechanic an athlete?
I guess It all falls in levels of degrees. Is tiger an athlete? yes. Is tiger an al around athlete? no. Could he be?? not the point. If he was going to race a fat 50 year old man (Marty Krulee) that is still an track athtlete in a 100m dash, who would win? So i guess we need to define our terms better. Athlete, all around athlete, endurance sports athlete, pilot athlete, extreme athlete, gentleman sport athlete, etc.
mk
#60
Yeah, you said "Horshxxt" , " Tiger is an athlete". I said he was an athlete on the low end of the spectrum based on my qualifiers. Can he do anything else?
If we were going to have him do something that required athleticism, would he be a guy that you would put money on where the level of athleticism would determine the outcome? Can he run, jump , do anything else at a "good High school" performance level today, being the best of the best in Golf?
I know very athletic individuals that can do a lot of things real well. So far in racing, I've seen the more athletic individuals excel at a faster rate than their less athletic counterparts. However, some of the best drivers I've seen are not in the best athletic shape.
The more you look at this, the more you will see that its a lame argument.
By definition, an athlete is someone that competes for a prize using his god given abilities and those he has developed. Its all a matter of degrees.
A sport will have a similar definition. In my book a "real" sport is one that has a certain amount of risk of injury or death. Again, my opinion.
mk
If we were going to have him do something that required athleticism, would he be a guy that you would put money on where the level of athleticism would determine the outcome? Can he run, jump , do anything else at a "good High school" performance level today, being the best of the best in Golf?
I know very athletic individuals that can do a lot of things real well. So far in racing, I've seen the more athletic individuals excel at a faster rate than their less athletic counterparts. However, some of the best drivers I've seen are not in the best athletic shape.
The more you look at this, the more you will see that its a lame argument.
By definition, an athlete is someone that competes for a prize using his god given abilities and those he has developed. Its all a matter of degrees.
A sport will have a similar definition. In my book a "real" sport is one that has a certain amount of risk of injury or death. Again, my opinion.
mk