golfer & NASCAR driver are athletes of the decade/year? WTF?

Wobbie

wouldn't actually being an athlete be one of the criteria?? :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

Black Diamond

imalive wrote:

wouldn't actually being an athlete be one of the criteria?? :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

Yeah I'm with you... How Lance Armstrong does not get this is baffling to me...

PRL1JAM

I agree with you 100%

That said, I would have given the award to Kobe Bryant

Wobbie

I guess it's easier to dominate when you don't have to expend much energy. :roll: :roll:

Cliffy6745

Black Diamond wrote:

imalive wrote:

wouldn't actually being an athlete be one of the criteria?? :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:

Yeah I'm with you... How Lance Armstrong does not get this is baffling to me...

For losing?

Wobbie

Cliffy6745 wrote:

Black Diamond wrote:

Yeah I'm with you... How Lance Armstrong does not get this is baffling to me...

For losing?

he won six TDFs in the aughts.

CJMST3K

2010 it will be a bowler and an archer.

LloydXmas

CJMST3K wrote:

2010 it will be a bowler and an archer.

or someone like Joey Chestnut. The nathans hot dog eating champ

CJMST3K

BabaBooey1979 wrote:

CJMST3K wrote:

2010 it will be a bowler and an archer.

or someone like Joey Chestnut. The nathans hot dog eating champ

Hotdog eaters and Bowlers are the only two "athletes" I can think of who will gain weight while performing.

LikeAnOcean

I think it has more to do with mental to physical coordination rather than how high someone can jump or fast someone can run.

You can be the most athletic person in the world, but still suck at basketball. Same goes with driving a car or hitting a golfball.

CJMST3K

LikeAnOcean wrote:

I think it has more to do with metal to physical coordination

regular or heavy?

LikeAnOcean

CJMST3K wrote:

LikeAnOcean wrote:

I think it has more to do with metal to physical coordination

regular or heavy?

lol.. not enough sleep last night I guess.

IwasBit10

I've seen/heard this debate all over the place. I feel like the word "athlete" gets taken out of context. Take any of the athletes that you think qualifies, and put them in another sport (put Pujols at middle linebacker, or Kobe in centerfield). They would suck. My point is, the award is for competitors who dominate their particular sport, not the most physically dominant. Very few dominated their sport like Tiger.

I think the bigger question is, Is this award now only for individual competitors? Lance, Phelps, Tiger, Federer, Bolt, etc...They only need to worry/rely upon themselves in competion. Kobe, Pujols, Manning, Crosby; the individual greats in a team sport can only dominate to an extent. There are so many other factors out of their control that can prevent that from happening. It's impossible to compare team sport athletes' accomplishments to individual athletes' accomplishments.

81

IwasBit10 wrote:

I've seen/heard this debate all over the place. I feel like the word "athlete" gets taken out of context. Take any of the athletes that you think qualifies, and put them in another sport (put Pujols at middle linebacker, or Kobe in centerfield). They would suck. My point is, the award is for competitors who dominate their particular sport, not the most physically dominant. Very few dominated their sport like Tiger.

I think the bigger question is, Is this award now only for individual competitors? Lance, Phelps, Tiger, Federer, Bolt, etc...They only need to worry/rely upon themselves in competion. Kobe, Pujols, Manning, Crosby; the individual greats in a team sport can only dominate to an extent. There are so many other factors out of their control that can prevent that from happening. It's impossible to compare team sport athletes' accomplishments to individual athletes' accomplishments.

cycling is a team sport

the wolf

you people have no idea the condition mentally and physically you have to be in to be in the top tier of auto racing.

I've had this argument on here before, and I'm not going to get into it again.

Drivers in auto racing are IMO defiantly athletes.

Wobbie

the wolf wrote:

you people have no idea the condition mentally and physically you have to be in to be in the top tier of auto racing.

I've had this argument on here before, and I'm not going to get into it again.

Drivers in auto racing are IMO defiantly athletes.

Mentally, maybe.... physically, no. If Mark Martin and Tom Watson can almost win, at their ages, it's not all that physically demanding. Golfers and car drivers are competitors, not athletes.

demetrios

CJMST3K wrote:

2010 it will be a bowler and an archer.

. I was thinking maybe a dart thrower & a blackjack card winner. Though the kids spelling bee & dog shows the past few year's have been king of the TV sports ratings (TSN, ESPN, HD Sports Channels etc..). I'm surprised not one of those kids or puppies won athlete of the decade! :?

the wolf

imalive wrote:

the wolf wrote:

you people have no idea the condition mentally and physically you have to be in to be in the top tier of auto racing.

I've had this argument on here before, and I'm not going to get into it again.

Drivers in auto racing are IMO defiantly athletes.

Mentally, maybe.... physically, no. If Mark Martin and Tom Watson can almost win, at their ages, it's not all that physically demanding. Golfers and car drivers are competitors, not athletes.

age has nothing to do with it. Mark Martin is on one hell of a workout schedule. I'm not joking, he is probably in better shape than half the drivers out there. dont tell me its not physically demanding, at some tracks those guys are experiencing G's that astronauts experience. not to mention they can lose up to 10 lbs. in 5 hours and NOT pass out from dehydration.

rival.

the wolf wrote:

age has nothing to do with it. Mark Martin is on one hell of a workout schedule. I'm not joking, he is probably in better shape than half the drivers out there. dont tell me its not physically demanding, at some tracks those guys are experiencing G's that astronauts experience. not to mention they can lose up to 10 lbs. in 5 hours and NOT pass out from dehydration.

don't mean to be ignorant on the topic, but how do these drivers lose weight like that driving in circles?

Stone Is God

singularity wrote:

the wolf wrote:

age has nothing to do with it. Mark Martin is on one hell of a workout schedule. I'm not joking, he is probably in better shape than half the drivers out there. dont tell me its not physically demanding, at some tracks those guys are experiencing G's that astronauts experience. not to mention they can lose up to 10 lbs. in 5 hours and NOT pass out from dehydration.

don't mean to be ignorant on the topic, but how do these drivers lose weight like that driving in circles?

The inside of one of those cars can reach 125 degrees. It's not uncommon for them to suffer burns on their feet during the summer months because of the heat coming from the motor.

Mark Martin is probably more physically fit than many of the athletes out there. Just because you're old doesn't mean you can't be athletic.

It's really a lot more than driving around in circles but for people that have made up their mind and think it's like driving on the freeway you will never convince them otherwise.

the wolf

Stone Is God wrote:

The inside of one of those cars can reach 125 degrees. It's not uncommon for them to suffer burns on their feet during the summer months because of the heat coming from the motor.

Mark Martin is probably more physically fit than many of the athletes out there. Just because you're old doesn't mean you can't be athletic.

It's really a lot more than driving around in circles but for people that have made up their mind and think it's like driving on the freeway you will never convince them otherwise.

agreed.

Indifference71

Golf may not appear to be athletically demanding, but it is easily the hardest sport out there. Watching what Tiger did this past decade has been nothing short of amazing.

smarchee

I drive a car, and I go fast

does this make me eligible for athlete of the year?

Wobbie

smarchee wrote:

I drive a car, and I go fast

does this make me eligible for athlete of the year?

It would..................but you're Canadian!

I hear ya on Mark Martin. He's one fit midget.

Still, I don't think "athlete" awards should go to golfers or car racers (or poker players or competitive eater or bowlers). They are competitors, but not athletes.... would you have given the award to Richard Petty (in 1975) or, say, Terry Bradshaw? :think:

Austicman

Stone Is God wrote:

singularity wrote:

the wolf wrote:

age has nothing to do with it. Mark Martin is on one hell of a workout schedule. I'm not joking, he is probably in better shape than half the drivers out there. dont tell me its not physically demanding, at some tracks those guys are experiencing G's that astronauts experience. not to mention they can lose up to 10 lbs. in 5 hours and NOT pass out from dehydration.

don't mean to be ignorant on the topic, but how do these drivers lose weight like that driving in circles?

The inside of one of those cars can reach 125 degrees. It's not uncommon for them to suffer burns on their feet during the summer months because of the heat coming from the motor.

Mark Martin is probably more physically fit than many of the athletes out there. Just because you're old doesn't mean you can't be athletic.

It's really a lot more than driving around in circles but for people that have made up their mind and think it's like driving on the freeway you will never convince them otherwise.

Plus their heart rates hover around 150 to 200 beats per minute during the race. Get your heart rate up around there for 4 or 5 hours and see how much you sweat out.

Austicman

Having said that if a driver gets athete of the decade it should be Michael Schumacher

LikeAnOcean

singularity wrote:

the wolf wrote:

age has nothing to do with it. Mark Martin is on one hell of a workout schedule. I'm not joking, he is probably in better shape than half the drivers out there. dont tell me its not physically demanding, at some tracks those guys are experiencing G's that astronauts experience. not to mention they can lose up to 10 lbs. in 5 hours and NOT pass out from dehydration.

don't mean to be ignorant on the topic, but how do these drivers lose weight like that driving in circles?

I'm not a racing fan, but have you even been to a go-kart track and raced a kart around for half an hour? Much different than speeding on a high way. It's an upper body workout.

My step dad used to race formula 1 cars when we were kids.. he used to get beat up pretty good doing it. Lots of inertia, g-force on your body. It's not as easy to keep turning the wheel, slamming on your brakes and hitting the gas as you think it is, especially when your body's inertia puts many times your body weight on your limbs while doing these simple actions. It is a workout, and you have to be in good shape to race.

catefrances

being australian my comments are more related to V8 supercars rather than NASCAR but the principles the same...

sitting in an increasingly heated up car for hours on end, clothed in fire retardant gear from head to toe, going on average a few hundred kilometres an hour whilst not crashing into all the other cars doing the same thing(not to mention the occasional kangaroo) and hoping your vehicle makes it to the finish line in one piece isnt easy. i bet most of you think you could do it but i seriously doubt whether you have the mental or physical stamina not to mention the skill to do it. tis a bit different than hooning down the freeway.

as for golf.....

LikeAnOcean

catefrances wrote:

being australian my comments are more related to V8 supercars rather than NASCAR but the principles the same...

sitting in an increasingly heated up car for hours on end, clothed in fire retardant gear from head to toe, going on average a few hundred kilometres an hour whilst not crashing into all the other cars doing the same thing(not to mention the occasional kangaroo) and hoping your vehicle makes it to the finish line in one piece isnt easy. i bet most of you think you could do it but i seriously doubt whether you have the mental or physical stamina not to mention the skill to do it. tis a bit different than hooning down the freeway.

as for golf.....

Plus the g-force on your body makes it feel like you have 50 lb weights on your limbs. Keeping control of a car moving that fast is not easy.

catefrances

LikeAnOcean wrote:

catefrances wrote:

being australian my comments are more related to V8 supercars rather than NASCAR but the principles the same...

sitting in an increasingly heated up car for hours on end, clothed in fire retardant gear from head to toe, going on average a few hundred kilometres an hour whilst not crashing into all the other cars doing the same thing(not to mention the occasional kangaroo) and hoping your vehicle makes it to the finish line in one piece isnt easy. i bet most of you think you could do it but i seriously doubt whether you have the mental or physical stamina not to mention the skill to do it. tis a bit different than hooning down the freeway.

as for golf.....

Plus the g-force on your body makes it feel like you have 50 lb weights on your limbs. Keeping control of a car moving that fast is not easy.

plus... theres no friggin radio to sing along to. fuck that. :shock:

jecica

Have you ever seen F1 driver's necks? They are like football players. All the exercise they need to do to keep their head up while their body is under 3-4 Gs in a turn. Professional auto racers are athlete's. Go try a Skip Barber or a Petty race experience and tell me how you feel afterwards. Definitely need stamina.

What's the consensus on cheerleading being a sport?