Jimmie Johnson: AP Male Athlete of the Year

[andyh2484]

Nah, you are right. It has got to be difficult. But that is a separate subject. My point was that Nascar drivers are not athletes. They fall into the same category as bowlers, golfers, etc.

 

[specialk]

My point was that Nascar drivers are not athletes..

funny how 42 editors of the Associated Press think at least one of them is an athlete...

 

[tcward]

to me, a nascar driver is just as much a athlete as the pansy kicker on a football team that only plays a couple plays a game and anyone that even as much grazes him gets penalized.

Great point Ryano!

 

[tcward]

I will be there with bells on.

 

[andyh2484]

I know they did, it baffles me. But you cannot put together a legitimate argument for labeling a professional driver an athlete, it does not matter what the press says. There is no athletic skill involved. You may as well call a fifteen year old video gamer an athlete.

 

[Sugar HillDawg]

The AP just made a joke out of themselves. No way JJ is a better athlete than Bolt or Federer. I agree JJ is skilled but that don't make him an athlete. AP just did this to get people talking.

 

[andyh2484]

Usain Bolt. Now that is an athlete.

 

[ryano]

I know they did, it baffles me. But you cannot put together a legitimate argument for labeling a professional driver an athlete, it does not matter what the press says. There is no athletic skill involved. You may as well call a fifteen year old video gamer an athlete.

to put this all into a little perspective

McNabb takes a little hit and is out a few weeks

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McDowell takes a crash and drives in the race the next morning <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rfgmyfO4_jY&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rfgmyfO4_jY&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

yep those Nascar drivers are a bunch of out of shape non athletic pansies huh

bottom line is you me or any "athlete" under your defintion would not be able to move for a week after a crash like that much less drive 500 miles the next day.

to compare a Nascar driver to a video gaming kid is not only a apples to footballs comparison but also showing your foolish side and becoming rather comical at this point.

I will take what Webster and the AP says about athletes over a anonymous body behind a keyboard such as yourself's opinion on this one.........no offense of course

 

[KrazieJacket95]

Sorry but I believe golf, bowling, and drivers are athletes. Go hit range balls for 2-3 hours and play 18-27 holes plus add some sort of cardio workout. Do that daily for 5-6 days a week. After 2-3 days your arms and back are gonna not care to work anoymore. Same for the driving... bounce around in that car for a full race go to bed and then when you wake up we will see if you can move and keep your arms not looking like your still driving the car.

 

[andyh2484]

Drivers are not hurt during a wreck because they are protected extremely well. NFL players aren't protected as well, which is currently a serious topic of discussion.

But you are once again changing the subject, no one said it wasn't dangerous to drive a car that fast. What was said is that Nascar drivers are not athletes. Anyone can crash a car at that speed and walk away, but they typically get DUI's afterwards.

I need to see two things before your argument is credible:
1. A rebuttal to my claim that a racecar driver is not an athlete.

2. Why Johnson deserved to win athlete of the year over someone like Roger Federer, or Usain Bolt? (credit to Sugar HillDawg).

 

[KrazieJacket95]

Drivers are not hurt during a wreck because they are protected extremely well. NFL players aren't protected as well, which is currently a serious topic of discussion.

On that note ( not arguing with you just adding something in) I was watching a football game the other day where one of the announcers was saying that football players get hurt more than rugby players because they have more equiptment and trust that the equiptment will work.

 

[specialk]

AP just did this to get people talking.

yea, 42 of them ''conspired'' this up in the back room.......i'm sure brian france lined all their pockets too.....

 

[nickel back]

merry Christmas every body........

 

[DBM78]

The AP just made a joke out of themselves. No way JJ is a better athlete than Bolt or Federer. I agree JJ is skilled but that don't make him an athlete. AP just did this to get people talking.

Yeah there is a reason JJ is the 1st one to be selected for the award in its 70 year history.

 

[redneckcamo]

Your right I don't consider Nascar drivers "Athletes" same goes with pro golfers and bowlers.

Definition of the word ATHLETE

Sportsperson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
A sportsperson (gendered as sportsman or sportswoman) or athlete is a person who participates regularly in a sport. (For the different meaning of "athlete" in British and American English, see Athlete of the Year.)

Athletes can be professional or amateur. A superior athlete is one who has above average physical skills (strength, agility, and endurance) and is thus more suited for physical competition. The word athletes is a direct Romanticization of the Greek: άθλητης [athletes], one who participates in a contest.

Most professional athletes have particularly well-developed physiques obtained by extensive physical training and strict exercise accompanied by a strict dietary regimen. Athletes may also be known as jocks (primarily in American English).

blah,blah,blah,blah,blah ....whata bunch of hooey !! nascar drivers are in extremely good shape ,otherwise they couldnt do all they do !! you are obviously just a nascar hater

Jimmie Johnson is as much of an athlete as I am. It takes no physical, athletic gift to drive a car. It is not a sport. It never will be. An athlete can run, jump, throw, hit, etc. The only parallel that you could argue a Nascar driver has with an athlete is the mental aspect, but it ends there.

Actually, Nascar fans have as much mental endurance as the drivers, considering they can watch cars go in circles for hours on end. Quite impressive.

another good source of facts :-(

Well then head up to Charlotte, hop in one of those cars for 400 laps at the Coke 600, and start making millions and millions of dollars. If it's so easy, why don't you go get rich doing it?

he would pass out from exhaustion more than likely

Because I would fall asleep at the wheel from boredom before lap fifty.

more than likely from mental an physical exhaustion

Yeah there is a reason JJ is the 1st one to be selected for the award in its 70 year history.

sure is ....he deserves it !!
one of a kind athlete GO JJ !!

 

[Howard Roark]

They are definately athletes, not the same as others but still athletes. Congrats to him! Just wonder how good he would be if he stopped every other lap and let a 280 pound defensive end running a 4.5 hit him? Would he finish the race?

Put a 280 pound defensive end in a car running 190 mph and Jimmy Johnson on his bumper. For good measure put Tony Stewart of his left front quarter panel and Carl Edwards on his right rear quarter panel.

Would he finish the race?

Would he live through the race?

 

[skeeter24]

Right Tell you what, let's get together at AMS sometime for the Richard Petty driving school. If you can post a lap time within 5 seconds of what the Cup drivers run, I will pay your way. If not, you pay mine. Deal?

I did that about 5 years ago and was shocked. My average lap time was only 140 something with a top end speed of 168 (that was to the floor wide open). I could not imagine driving for 325 laps like that alone much less with 42 other cars on the track. Throw in the fact that the average lap speed for the pole at ATL is like 194 with a top speed of over 200mph and that is pretty impressive to me.

I played football, tennis, and golf in high school and I will tell you that never in any game did my body go through what it would have had I ran 325 laps instead of 8. The G forces were unreal and sometimes the drivers loose as much as 10 pounds during a race.

 

[Craig Knight]

Because I would fall asleep at the wheel from boredom before lap fifty.

bet you fly F16's at low levels for some excitement too.

 

[specialk]

Put a 280 pound defensive end in a car running 190 mph and Jimmy Johnson on his bumper. For good measure put Tony Stewart of his left front quarter panel and Carl Edwards on his right rear quarter panel.

Would he finish the race?

Would he live through the race?

no, put kyle bush on his left quarter panel, steven wallace on his right, and smoke on on his rear, now that would be intimidating.....


i remember a few years back earnhardt sr. took terry bradshaw for a ride in the pace car around daytona. The pace car is just a real off-the-show-room-floor car, nothing fancy.....he had terry squalling like a baby....

 

[ryano]

i remember a few years back earnhardt sr. took terry bradshaw for a ride in the pace car around daytona. The pace car is just a real off-the-show-room-floor car, nothing fancy.....he had terry squalling like a baby....

that was the last night Dale was with us..............he died the next day

I remember that well.

Its absolutely comical at this point at the armchair know it alls around here that think racing requires no skill or athleticism and just anybody could instantly plop down in a race car and run 200 mph for 500 miles