Which do you consider a professional athlete?
 

Some would say NASCAR drivers are not athletes since thier sport does not involve a "ball". However it seems that drivers and pit crews devote much time to physcial training.

Interesting question.

I voted Pro Golfers.

So we can only think of one of them as professional athletes?

I can't bring myself to call any activity in which you spend the entire time sitting down a sport.

Driving cars fast and bowling are both entertaining, but neither is a sport.

That's laughable man.

http://www.thenewwearsoff.com/wp-con...cleanballs.gif

I don't really think of any of them as "athletes". Not taking anything away from them at all or anything, but I don't think of debate teams or chess players as athletes either. Hell I don't even consider a Cheerleader as an athlete but they at least to physical shit.. or so they say when the bitch saying they are athletes.

None of them are athletes, but Nascar drivers do stand a decent chance of getting hurt every time they race.

Then you're idiot. Rowers (at least the olympic level ones) would be fitter than NFL, MLB or NBA players in about every way

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athlete

* Sportsperson, a person who participates regularly in a sport
o Athlete (track and field), a sportsperson who participates in track and field athletics more specifically
* Athlete (band), an English indie rock band
o Athlete (EP), an EP by the band
* ATHLETE (film), a 2009 sports documentary film
* ATHLETE (robot), All-Terrain Hex-Legged Extra-Terrestrial Explorer, a lunar rover under development by NASA
* Athletes (moth), a Saturniinae moth genus


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sport

Sport is an activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively. Sports commonly refer to activities where the physical capabilities of the competitor are the sole or primary determinant of the outcome (winning or losing), but the term is also used to include activities such as mind sports (a common name for some card games and board games with little to no element of chance) and motor sports where mental acuity or equipment quality are major factors. Sport is commonly defined as an organized, competitive and skillful physical activity requiring commitment and fair play. Some view sports as differing from games based on the fact that there are usually higher levels of organization and profit (not always monetary) involved in sports. Accurate records are kept and updated for most sports at the highest levels, while failures and accomplishments are widely announced in sport news.

Sports that are subjectively judged are distinct from other judged activities such as beauty pageants and bodybuilding shows, because in the former the activity performed is the primary focus of evaluation, rather than the physical attributes of the contestant as in the latter (although "presentation" or "presence" may also be judged in both activities).

Sports are most often played just for fun or for the simple fact that people need exercise to stay in good physical condition.

Although they do not always succeed, sports participants are expected to display good sportsmanship, standards of conduct such as being respectful of opponents and officials, and congratulating the winner when losing.

Professional athletes are the ones who get paid.

Not sure I'd call any of them (driving, golfing, bowling) "athletic". They're a skill, to be sure. So is archery. To me, an athlete is someone who deals with a.) muscles and coordination and b.) sweating. And, yeah, it takes muscles and coordination to swing a golf club, but it's still not like playing basketball, football, hockey, baseball, soccer, or even Olympic stuff like swimming and skiing.

I'd have to agree, you're a professional the first time they pay you to play.

However, athlete is the operative word. No one is doubting the paid portion.

bowling must be the most BS "sport". There's a reason bowling isn't big time and that is that it's too damn easy. If I can go down and throw down 4 or 5 strikes in a round, shouldn't guys who do it every week be able to bowl strikes on every frame? It's just you, the lane, the ball and the pins. There are no external influences like wind or anything.

Golf, then bowling, and NASCAR isn't a sport at all. Its racing.

And before I get bashed, I have total respect for racing. It is a competition which requires great conditioning (especially mental), extreme endurance, and precision reflexes, as well as a great deal of knowledge. But its still just a competition, not a sport. More dangerous, more challenging and more enduring than most sports, but still not a sport itself.

I'm not a big fan of NASCAR because its circle track, but I love Formula 1 racing when I can see it (hard to find unless you have Speed Channel). They supposedly race so hard that the entire time their heart rate stays at around 180-200 whenever they're behind the wheel. It ends up working their heart so much (like if they were marathon runners), that their resting rate is somewhere between 40-50.