[Otal Nimrodi]

I don't want to be an athlete. The athletes at my school are all jerks.

[jariten]

that's a stupid idea, because how would you know it's really me and I didn't just find a picture of some random person?

I thought you were going to say "how would you know it's really me and I didn't just find a picture of some random can of spam?"

that woudve been great.

[Rhubarb]

[Despondent]

Nascar drivers are not athletes.

Davey Allison didn't die in a car crash, he died because he had to be the all important pilot of his team helicopter, so he could fly to 'dega in 20 minutes instead of driving an hour to get there.

Dale Earnhardt deserved to hit the wall for preventing a competitor from passing him and possibly taking the lead from a teammate. Watch the video. It was as if #3 was pulling the hair on a runner so they couldn't run ahead.

By the way, where I live, I dare not speak things aloud.

[barend]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Where's the sign?

[Chyld]

I think Despondents got the original point of the thread on the head here; "an athele" is not "a guy who sits in a car while it drives around". There's an article by Yahtz, use that.

Now, to get to the heart of the matter, are touch typers athletes, or stupid people who take lessons in typing, and still can't type as fast as I can?

[James12345]

To get back to the topic....

Pro's
Requires practice, like sports
Requires talent, like sports
You probably sweat and drink Gatoraid....tough one

Con's
You do just sit there....

I think driving is more of a Skill than an athletic sport....

[floppydisk]

It depends on how you define "sport". In some circles, video games are now being considered sport, becuase of the nature of it. To be good at them (like anything), it requires practice and skill. I think we can safely segregate "athletes" into two kinds.

1) The ones who play physically demanding games (baseball, basketball, track)
2)The ones who don't need much physical strength. (curling [remember the broom thing?], NASCAR, video gamers)

[Despondent]

But Nascar has become so much flash and big money, drivers are more like models. Used to be an average joe could be a driver. I think looks figure into the game now.


Yes I said "game." However, Bobby Fisher (chess champion) is not an athlete, either.
Nor fisherman. Nor, people that kill things for "sport".

I think an athlete needs to compete on a field to pass the first test.

Video gaming is not a sport. Nor is photography or Texas hold'em. Orienteering? Only on the wheaties box.

--

Jockeys are athletes.

[floppydisk]

But Nascar has become so much flash and big money, drivers are more like models. Used to be an average joe could be a driver. I think looks figure into the game now.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Looks figure into everything now. Isn't/wasn't Shaq a Fruit O' The Loom model? (Ick, get that OUT of my head)

[Slade]

But jockeys just sit on their horses while their steeds do all of the work. The horses are athletes, jockeys are not.

[Chyld]

Please indulge me as I blatently copy and paste from FullyRamblo again:

What I'm saying is that there isn't enough of the human element in motor racing. At least Olympic waddling has that. A fantastically muscled man in tight-fitting running gear mincing down the road may look like a complete prat, but you can still cheer him on for his magnificent audacity. With motor racing, you can't do that. You're just seeing a load of cars. If they were all painted the same colour, you wouldn't be able to tell who you're cheering on. Oh sure, they're fast machines, extremely impressive vehicles of their kind, but everyone watching thinks 'Huh, I could do that'. People who run Olympic footraces are supremely athletic types with arms and legs like industrial pistons. You can get excited about them when you see them racing against each other. With motor racing, you're just watching a load of skinny blokes sitting in what amount to very fast armchairs.

And so on.
http://www.fullyramb...says/racing.htm

[Revan-47]

It depends on how you define "sport". In some circles, video games are now being considered sport, becuase of the nature of it. To be good at them (like anything), it requires practice and skill. I think we can safely segregate "athletes" into two kinds.

1) The ones who play physically demanding games (baseball, basketball, track)
2)The ones who don't need much physical strength. (curling [remember the broom thing?], NASCAR, video gamers)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

dont forget billiards, and cards, and chess


and gamegirl, i have but one question for you.

Do you like Mountain Dew?

His judgement has been unleashed.

This post has been edited by Revan-47: 16 July 2005 - 11:36 AM

[Despondent]

Athletes wear Jockey shorts.

[Harvey Globetrotter]

The real topic should be, "Are NASCAR fans even people?"