http://www.frontstretch.com/krone/021209.htm
Yes, drivers are athletes, and now you can convince your friends
Nikki Krone
December 9, 2002
One of the biggest debates between NASCAR fans and those unfamiliar with the sport is that question of, “Are drivers athletes?” Fans are constantly defending the sport they love, trying to explain to those who know little about NASCAR what the drivers go through and why they should be considered athletes.
I found myself in this situation the Saturday after Thanksgiving at my brother’s 30th birthday party. Sitting in his basement that night, watching college football with friends and family, a comment was made about the “four major sports”. I quickly corrected them, pointing out that there are actually five major sports: football, baseball, basketball, hockey and auto racing. Eyes began to roll and I suddenly felt the need to defend the sport I love. While I truly believe drivers are athletes, I found myself fumbling for the right words to explain to these people just how wrong their perceptions were. Unfortunately, my mind went blank, and in presenting my argument I was not very convincing. It's impossible to accurately explain to people why drivers should be considered athletes so I decided to ask somebody who knows.
During an interview with the truck series’ most recent Raybestos Rookie of the Year, Brendan Gaughan, I asked the burning question: Are drivers athletes? The response I got was more than I had bargained for, but right on target.
Brendan: Define athlete. Right now, you sit there and tell me, and define the word athlete.
Nikki: Me?
Brendan: Yeah.
Nikki: Oh my gosh.
Brendan: Exactly.
Nikki: I don’t even know.
Brendan: Ok, don’t define it. Just give me the loose definition; what do you think an athlete is?
Nikki: Somebody that is involved in physical…
Brendan: In a physical sport. Ok, now is Tiger Woods an athlete?
Nikki: Um, yes? I didn’t know I was going to get grilled.
Brendan: No, no. This is what I always say—Is Tiger Woods an athlete? The actual definition of athlete is, just so you know, a person possessing the natural or acquired traits such as strength, agility and endurance that are necessary for physical exercise or sport, especially those performed in competitive context.
Nikki: You’ve gotten this question before.
Brendan: Yes, I have. I get this question a lot. I played football and basketball at Georgetown University. I’ve played with some fantastic, world-class athletes. Do you watch baseball much?
Nikki: Not so much.
Brendan: You ever heard the name Mo Vaughn?
Nikki: Yes.
Brendan: Have you ever seen a picture of Mo Vaughn?
Nikki: I think so.
Brendan: He’s a big monster of a first baseman. He is probably 300 pounds and he plays baseball. Is Mo Vaughn an athlete?
Nikki: Yes.
Brendan: Why, because he plays baseball?
Nikki: No, because he’s physically…
Brendan: Mo Vaughn couldn’t run from [his] kitchen to his bedroom without being out of breath. Mo Vaughn couldn’t leg out a single in baseball if his life depended on it. So why is Mo Vaughn an athlete? Because Mo Vaughn plays baseball, therefore is called an athlete. But what is the physical trait that Mo Vaughn has?
Hand-eye coordination. He can take a stick and hit a ball with a lot of power, a lot of strength, and hit it a mile. Hand-eye coordination. Physical power, a unique trait that makes him an athlete. What makes Tiger Woods an athlete? Does he look anything like Mo Vaughn?
Nikki: No.
Brendan: Tiger Woods has great hand-eye coordination. He can strike a ball with a metal stick and hit it a mile. How come both these guys are considered athletes? What happens if you put Carl Lewis next to Mo Vaughan at the start line of a race?
Nikki: Carl would probably, um…
Brendan: Kick his ass. What happens when you put Carl Lewis behind the plate of a baseball?
Nikki: He’d probably miss a lot.
Brendan: He’d probably strike out. So how come we have all these definitions of athletes? Different body types, different looks, different aspects… Some that have hand-eye coordination, some that have physical endurance, some that have strength and some that have quickness.
I played with arguably one of the greatest athletes, I believe, of my time, Allen Iverson. He’s a physical specimen. The kid can run for hours, but he can shoot a basketball really well too. Can he do what I do? No. He can’t jump in a race car and drive. We have, in the direct definition of an athlete, a lot of that hand-eye coordination, physical endurance, and agility. We have to sit in a race car. Yes, we’re sitting in a chair.
I have two broken ribs and a broken shoulder blade. Every time I almost hit the wall, it hurts. It feels like I hit the wall. If you’re at a short track like South Boston, you think about that all the way down to the next turn—all of two and a half seconds—and then you turn again and think, “Oh God, barely missed it again.” It’s 200 degrees. We burn our feet, we burn our butts…
Now here’s the biggest difference, though, between racing and conventional sport. What happens when a lineman misses a block on offense in football?
The quarterback gets sacked, five yard penalty, something like that. No real big penalty, is there? If someone makes a mental mistake in football, the lineman holds somebody, a wide-receiver drops the ball, mental mistake, all that happens is a third down. Right? What happens if somebody makes a mental mistake in a race car?
Nikki: Into the wall or into somebody else …
Brendan: Not only can I kill myself, I can kill somebody else with me. Mental mistakes can’t happen in our business. You’ve got to have a lot of faith in the person next to you.
Copyright, 2002, Frontstretch Enterprises, LLC
Nikki Krone has only been watching NASCAR since 1999, but in that time has become a huge fan of the sport—some may say obsessed. One of her most prized possessions are her season tickets to the Kansas Speedway.
While the list of drivers she doesn’t cheer for is shorter than the ones she does, Mark Martin, Michael Waltrip, Scott Riggs, Scott Wimmer, Kenny Wallace and Brendan Gaughan are the drivers she cheers the loudest for.
Away from racing, Nikki works as a Legal Secretary and attends college part-time, but her favorite pastime is to spoil her niece, Addison. She also enjoys going back home to Lincoln every chance she gets to see her family and friends. As an avid sports fan Nikki also loves football, especially college when she can route for her Nebraska Cornhuskers. She may live in Kansas City, but she will always be a Husker at heart.
You can e-mail Nikki at [email protected].
Yes, drivers are athletes, and now you can convince your friends
Nikki Krone
December 9, 2002
One of the biggest debates between NASCAR fans and those unfamiliar with the sport is that question of, “Are drivers athletes?” Fans are constantly defending the sport they love, trying to explain to those who know little about NASCAR what the drivers go through and why they should be considered athletes.
I found myself in this situation the Saturday after Thanksgiving at my brother’s 30th birthday party. Sitting in his basement that night, watching college football with friends and family, a comment was made about the “four major sports”. I quickly corrected them, pointing out that there are actually five major sports: football, baseball, basketball, hockey and auto racing. Eyes began to roll and I suddenly felt the need to defend the sport I love. While I truly believe drivers are athletes, I found myself fumbling for the right words to explain to these people just how wrong their perceptions were. Unfortunately, my mind went blank, and in presenting my argument I was not very convincing. It's impossible to accurately explain to people why drivers should be considered athletes so I decided to ask somebody who knows.
During an interview with the truck series’ most recent Raybestos Rookie of the Year, Brendan Gaughan, I asked the burning question: Are drivers athletes? The response I got was more than I had bargained for, but right on target.
Brendan: Define athlete. Right now, you sit there and tell me, and define the word athlete.
Nikki: Me?
Brendan: Yeah.
Nikki: Oh my gosh.
Brendan: Exactly.
Nikki: I don’t even know.
Brendan: Ok, don’t define it. Just give me the loose definition; what do you think an athlete is?
Nikki: Somebody that is involved in physical…
Brendan: In a physical sport. Ok, now is Tiger Woods an athlete?
Nikki: Um, yes? I didn’t know I was going to get grilled.
Brendan: No, no. This is what I always say—Is Tiger Woods an athlete? The actual definition of athlete is, just so you know, a person possessing the natural or acquired traits such as strength, agility and endurance that are necessary for physical exercise or sport, especially those performed in competitive context.
Nikki: You’ve gotten this question before.
Brendan: Yes, I have. I get this question a lot. I played football and basketball at Georgetown University. I’ve played with some fantastic, world-class athletes. Do you watch baseball much?
Nikki: Not so much.
Brendan: You ever heard the name Mo Vaughn?
Nikki: Yes.
Brendan: Have you ever seen a picture of Mo Vaughn?
Nikki: I think so.
Brendan: He’s a big monster of a first baseman. He is probably 300 pounds and he plays baseball. Is Mo Vaughn an athlete?
Nikki: Yes.
Brendan: Why, because he plays baseball?
Nikki: No, because he’s physically…
Brendan: Mo Vaughn couldn’t run from [his] kitchen to his bedroom without being out of breath. Mo Vaughn couldn’t leg out a single in baseball if his life depended on it. So why is Mo Vaughn an athlete? Because Mo Vaughn plays baseball, therefore is called an athlete. But what is the physical trait that Mo Vaughn has?
Hand-eye coordination. He can take a stick and hit a ball with a lot of power, a lot of strength, and hit it a mile. Hand-eye coordination. Physical power, a unique trait that makes him an athlete. What makes Tiger Woods an athlete? Does he look anything like Mo Vaughn?
Nikki: No.
Brendan: Tiger Woods has great hand-eye coordination. He can strike a ball with a metal stick and hit it a mile. How come both these guys are considered athletes? What happens if you put Carl Lewis next to Mo Vaughan at the start line of a race?
Nikki: Carl would probably, um…
Brendan: Kick his ass. What happens when you put Carl Lewis behind the plate of a baseball?
Nikki: He’d probably miss a lot.
Brendan: He’d probably strike out. So how come we have all these definitions of athletes? Different body types, different looks, different aspects… Some that have hand-eye coordination, some that have physical endurance, some that have strength and some that have quickness.
I played with arguably one of the greatest athletes, I believe, of my time, Allen Iverson. He’s a physical specimen. The kid can run for hours, but he can shoot a basketball really well too. Can he do what I do? No. He can’t jump in a race car and drive. We have, in the direct definition of an athlete, a lot of that hand-eye coordination, physical endurance, and agility. We have to sit in a race car. Yes, we’re sitting in a chair.
I have two broken ribs and a broken shoulder blade. Every time I almost hit the wall, it hurts. It feels like I hit the wall. If you’re at a short track like South Boston, you think about that all the way down to the next turn—all of two and a half seconds—and then you turn again and think, “Oh God, barely missed it again.” It’s 200 degrees. We burn our feet, we burn our butts…
Now here’s the biggest difference, though, between racing and conventional sport. What happens when a lineman misses a block on offense in football?
The quarterback gets sacked, five yard penalty, something like that. No real big penalty, is there? If someone makes a mental mistake in football, the lineman holds somebody, a wide-receiver drops the ball, mental mistake, all that happens is a third down. Right? What happens if somebody makes a mental mistake in a race car?
Nikki: Into the wall or into somebody else …
Brendan: Not only can I kill myself, I can kill somebody else with me. Mental mistakes can’t happen in our business. You’ve got to have a lot of faith in the person next to you.
Copyright, 2002, Frontstretch Enterprises, LLC
Nikki Krone has only been watching NASCAR since 1999, but in that time has become a huge fan of the sport—some may say obsessed. One of her most prized possessions are her season tickets to the Kansas Speedway.
While the list of drivers she doesn’t cheer for is shorter than the ones she does, Mark Martin, Michael Waltrip, Scott Riggs, Scott Wimmer, Kenny Wallace and Brendan Gaughan are the drivers she cheers the loudest for.
Away from racing, Nikki works as a Legal Secretary and attends college part-time, but her favorite pastime is to spoil her niece, Addison. She also enjoys going back home to Lincoln every chance she gets to see her family and friends. As an avid sports fan Nikki also loves football, especially college when she can route for her Nebraska Cornhuskers. She may live in Kansas City, but she will always be a Husker at heart.
You can e-mail Nikki at [email protected].
And believe it or not so is Todd Bodine.