Race Car Drivers Are Athletes

What a great writer and story. By the looks of him, he is a true athlete as well. I'm totally convinced. These chain-smoking whiskey drinkers are truly as athletic as any gymnist or runner out there.

There you have it! Can't include race car drivers as Non-Athletes anynore. The results speak for themselves.[/quote]

David Phillips is an idiot. You can tailor a study to get the results you want relatively easy. Plus, working out to get physically fit is a popular thing to do...just because everyone is doing it doesn't make them all athletes...if a bus driver were to work out extensively I doubt he/she would consider themelves an athlete for having done so.

I guess race car drivers feel inferior and need to be called an athlete to feel better about themselves. I see nothing wrong with being content in the fact that it takes alot of skill, calm, patience, and quick-thinking to drive a car at high speeds...very few people can do it as good as they can.

I don't recall runners ever trying to say that it takes alot of skill to run, so they are like race car drivers.

To the drivers: Keep on driving and working out but please stop insulting those that exhaust themselves daily on a continuous basis by trying to compare yourself to them.

Interesting factoid in the story is that the exertion level is that of running an 8 minute mile. And they do note that there are more restful period on straightaways,and that only road courses are without those breaks.

Since car races last a few hours, presumably that means that at best they're doing the equivalent of a 3:30 marathon. That's exertion, but hardly comparable to the elite level of other sports.

What? Do you only want to recognize people as athletes who are fit lower body--or upper body--or both--and that's it? Yes--auto racing MUST be considered as an athletic event for all the reasons cited above.

Chess is going to be in the Olympics--did you know that. I am not sure exactly when--but it will be. Some of you may think that chess is also not an athletic event. Well, in the traditional sense, no it isn't. But as any hard core chess player knows--athleticism does come into play. One grandmaster--whose name escapes me right now--what a great player well into his 60s. But he is no longer physically fit enough to keep up with the strain of chess--so he isn't too good and is not likely to improve with age--he will get worse. Karpov--in his 50s isn't the grandmaster he used to be. Kasparov (former world champ)--still a great player in his early 40s I think--has probably seen the last of his better playing days. Now the other GM I was thinking of last name begins with K too--hmmm I'll think of it. Anyway, athleticism does play into a person's ability to play chess, as does intellectual prowess. Anyway, race car driving is athleticism--but on a completely different level.

Chess has nothing to do with athleticism. You gave no evidence to support that. You did mention that it has something to do with intellect. That is all chess is. Because someone gets worse at it as they become elderly, does not mat it athletic. I've seen plenty of old people starting to lose their memory, or other aspects of their mental capacity. Chess simply does not involve athletics.

Could a chess player be athletic? Yes. Will it help him? No.

Race car drivers are athletes, I admit. But I still feel that the "sport" of race car driving is far from the rest of the realm of athletics.

as far as chess, its not as much the losing memory thing, as the lack of endurance as one ages to withstand the rigors of world class tournament play. geeky, but true.

catman - are you thinking of korchnoi?

but its still a game like darts or archery (albeit far more noble, and, like parker once wrote about being a miler, there are no deals to be made out on the 64 checkered squares. charlie francis, if his lengthy diatribes are to be taken at face value, greatly sours me on parker's claim)

That's it! Victor Korchnoi. He used to walk 5 miles a day every day--minimum. I think he is in his 80s now and no stronger than a good 1500 player.

By staying fit you allow more oxygen to the brain and better memory. Also, chess is a game of mental and physical stanima. Most of the top players do something to stay in shape. Kasparov I know used to lift weights. Bobby Fischer used to swim a lot. The current champ, Krammnick, smokes a lot--but undoubtedly he does something to stay in shape. I just don't know what he does. Capablanca used to play tennis a lot. Alekhine gave up smoking and drinking to win back his title from Max Uwe. Players who don't stay fit will soon go by the wayside. No one has ever been around chess as a top flight player like Victor Korchnoi did. Except maybe Paul Keres who died in airplane crash. Paul Keres was a fitness fanatic. There are very few overweight slobs who make it to the grandmaster level and stay at that high of playing strength. I can think of none.