A race car driver top "Athlete" of 2009?
 

Really, athlete? Really?

http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/nascar...ory?id=4761210

No disrespect to neckcar and thier fans but I struggle with them being called athletes. Great at concentration, balls the size of grapefruits, one taco short of a combo plate - all a given - but athlete?

And not only an athlete but the "top" athlete of the year? Not Federer, Usain Bolt, Alberto Contador, Tiger "I've got Wood", Kobe, or Poo-holes.

A guy who drives a car = an athlete.

:doh!: :rolleyes:

Yup, any schmuck can go out there and do what he does.

I'm going to assume you're joking here...

Nope, not what I'm saying. Point missed. Fail.

Definately a skill not everybody can do but like golf it doesn't require athletic ability.
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Perhaps true, but a lot of us could go out and do what some of what our Chiefs players (this year) can do... I can kick a ball, run into the back of a guy and fall down, drop a ball that's thrown right to me, heck, I could mismanage a clock if need be. ROFLROFL

Is a golfer really an athlete? If that's true, then I know a lot of really old athletes. I may not be able to get two porn stars in bed with me (not even one for that matter), but I can hit a golf ball, and hit a tree with my car...

There is a difference between driving a car and racing it, and in Nascar especially you have to be pretty fit, dealing with high temperatures and you have to be crazy strong to keep control of a car thats going over 200 MPH.

Like Tony Stewart? :p

The golf swing is a highly athletic move. You have to be amazingly coordinated in order to perform it well consistently. The best golfers also have a lot of fast twitch muscle fibers.

It's not boxing, but it's not cake either.

Personally, I wish that pro golfers didn't have caddies and had to carry their own bags.

the best athletes are fighter pilots

You are proving my point. When I think of "pretty fit" I think Lance Armstrong or Usain Bolt, not Tony Stewart or Dick Trickle. When I think of "crazy strong", names like Poo-holes or Adrian Peterson, or "The Killer" Ray in Baltimore, not Jeff Gordan or Kyle Petty.

And since when does dealing with high temperatures make you an athlete?

I agree these guys have a skill set and not any guy could (or would) do what they do. But an Athlete, I think not. Let alone The Top Athlete.

Danica weighs 100 lbs and she can do it.

the best athletes in in the wwe

She has a motherly strength that is just not believable.

BUt BUt BuT.....those drivers lose 15lbs of SWEAT during each race!!!!


That's ATHLETIC!!!!!

http://the2ndhalf.typepad.com/andys_...r_boring_2.jpg

I would've gone with Bolt.

im torn on this. i hate nascar and its fans. i drove one of those cars for 10 laps at the kansas speedway and its no walk in the park. it takes some upper body strength and conditioning to withstand 200+ laps of that shit. i was surprised how intense it was and couldnt imagine driving like that in traffic....
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They're probably skilled athletes, but top athletes? N.O.

Dick Trickle smoked cigarettes while he did it.

"fast twitch muscle fibers" Perhaps not as many as I'd like, but my wife get irritated at my fast twitch muscle fibers!!! :doh!:

Honestly, if we're naming athletes that control vehicles, I'll take those Red Bull pilots I see on TV over the NapCar drivers.

Ok I understand this bitch, but the 4 peat is one of the greatest accomplishments in all of sport. The award had as much if not more to do with winning four championships in a row than anything. No individual or team has dominated a sport in this manner in it's top tier since.....who? No NFL team, no MLB team and they're not competing against 43 other teams with variables like mechanical failure, wrecks not of your doing, etc in its most competitive era. Would be like Michael Phelps (the only one on that level of consistent excellence IMO) getting attacked during a race and still getting the win. Maybe athlete isn't the best word, but one of the most dominant, clutch, sports championship streaks of all time? Without question. I'd challenge anyone to find another championship streak that tops what the 48 team has accomplished these last four years.
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See, I didn't know this. Great accomplishment and deserves to be recognized.

(But not top athlete).

Yeah, ESPN has always had a hard time with that.... they listed a horse as one of the top athletes of last century.

a racehorse is more of an athlete than a guy who drives a car.

Cool, lets start having Usain Bolt race Cheetahs in the Olympics then, if animals deserve to be called athletes.

"But I bet a racehorse couldn't handle the kinda force a NapCar driver does at 200 mph!!!!!!"

Obligatory Richard Burgess prank call clip.

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that statement wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement for either.

ASSCAR wants to be a sport. They now have teams and compete for points. They're trying.

Well, allllllllrighty then.

Can't be a sport with out a ball. I'm thinking either a dozen huge cageballs on the track or bowling balls randomly released every 60 seconds at the top of the track each quarter mile.

You know, I'd watch if they adopted either of these rule changes.

I never confuse athletes and competitive stuntmen.

She wishes yours were longer and thicker.