Jimmy Johnson AP Athlete of the Year?

A driver is not an athlete. I don't care what Nascar fans say.

I for one think drivers are athletes. However, I don't think they shoud ever be in the running for athlete of the year. Especially Jimmie Johnson/ Knaus and their cheating behinds.

Car racing is a sport. Athletes participate in sports. I have no issue.

i couldn't do what Jimmy Johnson does. Nascar racing is one of the most dangerous sports out there. That and also Boxing

Originally posted by crzy:
A driver is not an athlete. I don't care what Nascar fans say.

Exactly! There is no athleticism required in driving a car.

I think of Lance Armstrong when this comes up. I can recall him saying that he can't throw or catch a ball. He made it sound like he is very uncoordinated. Riding a bike at his level requires incredible endurance, not athleticism. Drivers, bikers, hunters, etc, are great sportsman, but not athletes.

Originally posted by blunt_probe:
Car racing is a sport. Athletes participate in sports. I have no issue.

Originally posted by strickac:

Originally posted by crzy:
A driver is not an athlete. I don't care what Nascar fans say.

Exactly! There is no athleticism required in driving a car.

I think of Lance Armstrong when this comes up. I can recall him saying that he can't throw or catch a ball. He made it sound like he is very uncoordinated. Riding a bike at his level requires incredible endurance, not athleticism. Drivers, bikers, hunters, etc, are great sportsman, but not athletes.

Ugh, Lance Armstrong is definitely 100% an athlete.

What he does requires a ridiculous amount of physical exertion, strength, endurance, lung capacity.

The Tour de France is over 2000 miles long. The Tour de France is probably more challenging than any physical activity that Lebron James or Patrick Willis will EVER endure in their lifetimes.

Jimmy Johnson sits on a car seat and turns a wheel to the right or left for a couple hours. I don't care if the car is going really fast. The guy sits down and turns a steering wheel. He is not an athlete.

To be an athlete, in my humble opinion, you need to participate in a competitive activity where you exert physical strain on your muscles, lungs, and general body.

Originally posted by schmons:

Originally posted by valrod33:

Originally posted by Riot:

Originally posted by valrod33:

Originally posted by NinerFanMT:
The dude won 4 straight championships which is something that has never happened in NASCAR. The G-forces they have to take are incredible and are a helluva physical toll on their bodies. The temperature in their cars get well over 120 degrees at times temperatures most people wouldn't be able to handle for 10 minutes muchless 4 hours. The cordination they have to have is superior to most athletes cause if they do one lil screw up at 180 mph they're either putting themselves in the wall or wiping out half the field. They are athletes if you like it or not and JimmIE Johnson deserved this honor.

they also pee on themselves, no athlete does that

In no way am I advocating that NASCAR drivers are athletes, but long-distance runners do this all the time.

yeah but they are athletes, they are not sitting in a car making left turns for 3 hours, with someone in their ear telling them where to drive.

If you want me to consider them athletes take away their spotters, if their so athletic lets see them navigate that crash on their own

how is a spotter any different from an OC telling a QB what to do?

Spotter:

In contrast with open-wheel, sports car, and touring car governing bodies, NASCAR does not allow race cars to have wing mirrors. Drivers may still use a rear-view mirror and mirrors attached to the rollbar, but no mirror can extend outside of the car. As a result they are left with large blind spots to cope with. In NASCAR’s more prominent series, spotters are used to combat this problem. The spotter’s purpose is to relay information about where cars in these blind spots are to the driver via two-way radio.[16] Spotters also advise drivers on navigating track-obstructing crashes and may relay messages from one driver to another. NASCAR requires spotters at all times a car is on the track, including series in practice, qualifying, and the race. In many cases, a spotter is a former driver.

At some tracks, mostly the road courses, NASCAR mandates multiple spotters at key locations around the track.

Originally posted by StOnEy333:
He's not an athlete. He's a driver. I can see where people want to put him in the athlete category because what they do is covered on the sport channels, but there is a separation that goes unnoticed.


As far as golfers, they hit a ball with a stick. Sounds like an athlete to me.

you just turned a pool player into an athlete, congratulations

Originally posted by crzy:

Originally posted by strickac:

Originally posted by crzy:
A driver is not an athlete. I don't care what Nascar fans say.

Exactly! There is no athleticism required in driving a car.

I think of Lance Armstrong when this comes up. I can recall him saying that he can't throw or catch a ball. He made it sound like he is very uncoordinated. Riding a bike at his level requires incredible endurance, not athleticism. Drivers, bikers, hunters, etc, are great sportsman, but not athletes.

Ugh, Lance Armstrong is definitely 100% an athlete.

What he does requires a ridiculous amount of physical exertion, strength, endurance, lung capacity.

The Tour de France is over 2000 miles long. The Tour de France is probably more challenging than any physical activity that Lebron James or Patrick Willis will EVER endure in their lifetimes.

Jimmy Johnson sits on a car seat and turns a wheel to the right or left for a couple hours. I don't care if the car is going really fast. The guy sits down and turns a steering wheel. He is not an athlete.

I hear your argument, but neither require any athleticism and BOTH are very physically demanding. NASCAR doesn't require muscle excertion, but it take it's toll on your body. A driver looses, on average, 5-10lbs of sweat and may pull up to 3 Gs. That's pretty intense and requires an insane amount of focus and endurance.

As for cyclists, I liken them to a sprinter or long-distance runner. I have a lot of respect for what they do and the training that it requires, but I just don't think they fit my definition of what it takes to be "athlete of the year". To me, Anderson Silva is much more deserving than someone like Armstrong, Bolt, Tiger, Jeter, and others that were considered. I think Chris Johnson has significantly more athleticism than any of those guys.

IMO, it should be for someone that shows extradinary athleticism in dominating his/her sport.

Originally posted by strickac:

Originally posted by crzy:

Originally posted by strickac:

Originally posted by crzy:
A driver is not an athlete. I don't care what Nascar fans say.

Exactly! There is no athleticism required in driving a car.

I think of Lance Armstrong when this comes up. I can recall him saying that he can't throw or catch a ball. He made it sound like he is very uncoordinated. Riding a bike at his level requires incredible endurance, not athleticism. Drivers, bikers, hunters, etc, are great sportsman, but not athletes.

Ugh, Lance Armstrong is definitely 100% an athlete.

What he does requires a ridiculous amount of physical exertion, strength, endurance, lung capacity.

The Tour de France is over 2000 miles long. The Tour de France is probably more challenging than any physical activity that Lebron James or Patrick Willis will EVER endure in their lifetimes.

Jimmy Johnson sits on a car seat and turns a wheel to the right or left for a couple hours. I don't care if the car is going really fast. The guy sits down and turns a steering wheel. He is not an athlete.

I hear your argument, but neither require any athleticism and BOTH are very physically demanding. NASCAR doesn't require muscle excertion, but it take it's toll on your body. A driver looses, on average, 5-10lbs of sweat and may pull up to 3 Gs. That's pretty intense and requires an insane amount of focus and endurance.

As for cyclists, I liken them to a sprinter or long-distance runner. I have a lot of respect for what they do and the training that it requires, but I just don't think they fit my definition of what it takes to be "athlete of the year". To me, Anderson Silva is much more deserving than someone like Armstrong, Bolt, Tiger, Jeter, and others that were considered. I think Chris Johnson has significantly more athleticism than any of those guys.

IMO, it should be for someone that shows extradinary athleticism in dominating his/her sport.

How does riding a bike for thousands of miles uphill not require athleticism?

Do you think Chris Johnson has the physical capability of actually completing even half of the Tour de France?

Prime Lance Armstrong is a better athlete than Chris Johnson, and arguably the greatest athlete of all time.

Redneck of the year! YEEEHAWWWWWW