ÿþ<html> <head> <TITLE>Johnson's "Athlete of the Year" Award Revives Age-Old Argument</TITLE> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Pragma" CONTENT="no-cache"> <META HTTP-EQUIV="Content-Type" CONTENT="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META http-EQUIV=refresh content="7200"> <META NAME="description" CONTENT="NASCAR, Tickets, 2010 Sprint Cup schedule, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Juan Pablo Montoya, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne, Joey Logano"> <META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="NASCAR, Tickets, 2010 Sprint Cup schedule, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Michael Waltrip, Scanner, Auto Racing, Car, Speed, Next Race Info, Insider, Headline News, Rumors, RaceCars, Stock Car, Speedway, Raceway, Racetrack, Car of Tomorrow, Joey Logano, Kasey Kahne, Jimmie Johnson, Brian France, Toyota, Kevin Harvick, Juan Pablo Montoya"> <META NAME="author" CONTENT="Insider Racing News, Ron Felix"> <META NAME="copyright" content="January 2000"> <style> h1 { text-align: LEFT; font-size: 17pt; color: #FFEBCD; font-family: Times New Roman; text-decoration: font-weight: bold; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } h2 { font-size: 14pt; color: #FFFF00; font-family: Times New Roman; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } h3 { font-size: 12pt; color: #FFEBCD; font-family: Times New Roman; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } </style> <style> .nd { text-decoration: none; } a:hover { color:#ff0000; text-decoration: underline; } </style> <!--Image Preloaded --> <script language="JavaScript">var image1 = new Image();image1.src = "/image_path/image_name.gif";var image2 = new Image();image2.src = "/image_path/image2_name.gif";</script> <!--End Image Preload --> </head> <BODY BGCOLOR="#000000" MARGINWIDTH=0 MARGINHEIGHT=0 TOPMARGIN=0 LEFTMARGIN=0 TEXT="#ffffff" LINK="cccccc" VLINK="#cccccc"> <TABLE bgColor="660000" border=0 cellPadding=0 cellSpacing=0 Height="3" width="98%" ALIGN="center"> <TR> <TD> <img src="http://Insiderracingnews.com/Image/Trans-Pixel.gif" width="1" height="4" border=0> <center> <img src="http://Insiderracingnews.com/Images/Misc/BlueBar.jpg" Width="100%" Height="3" valign="top"> </center> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <TABLE bgColor="660000" border=0 cellPadding=0 cellSpacing=0 width="98%" ALIGN="center"> <TR> <TD> <center> <b><font color="ffffff">Sprint Cup Headline News, Commentary and Race Coverage</font></b> </center> <img src="http://Insiderracingnews.com/Images/Misc/BlueBar.jpg" Width="100%" Height="3" valign="bottom"> <TABLE background="http://Insiderracingnews.com/Images/Misc/BGBlackline.gif" border=1 bordercolor=red cellPadding=5 cellSpacing=0 width="98%" ALIGN="center"> <div> <tr> <td width="98%"> <center> <img src="http://insiderracingnews.com/Images/Misc/Ford7.jpg" width="100" height="62" Border="0"> <!-- LOGO --> <a href="http://insiderracingnews.com/" target="new"> <img src="http://Insiderracingnews.com/Images/Logos/2007/IRNLogo.jpg" Width="475" Height="60"></a> <!-- End LOGO ---> <img src="http://insiderracingnews.com/Images/Misc/Ford5.jpg" width="100" height="62" Border="0"> </center> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <TABLE bgColor="660000" border=0 cellPadding=5 cellSpacing=0 Height="3" width="98%" ALIGN="center"> <TR> <TD> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <!-- THE MAIN SIDE TABLE --> <TABLE BORDER="0" CELLPADDING="1" CELLSPACING="7" WIDTH="98%"> <!-- SIDE CELL ###################################################--> <TR> <TD WIDTH="22%" BGCOLOR="#660000" VALIGN="top"> <!-- ############ Start Time Display ######### --> <b><font color="ffffff" size="-1"> <p align="center"> <!--Place this script anywhere in a page. 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All Rights Reserved.</font></B><Br> <B><Font color="ffffff" size="-2">Sprint Cup® and NASCAR® are registered trademarks of the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. This web site is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by NASCAR®. The official NASCAR® website is "NASCAR® Online" and is located at.. <a href="http://www.NASCAR.com/" target="new">www.NASCAR.com</a></font></B> </center> <Br> </center> </TD> </center> <!-- ############# MAIN TABLE #################### --> <!-- &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; --> <TD WIDTH="78%" ALIGN="LEFT" VALIGN="TOP"> <BR> <H1><I>Johnson's "Athlete of the Year" Award Revives Age-Old Argument</I></H1> <I>An Opinion</I> <BR> <img src="http://Insiderracingnews.com/Images/Writers/Staff2.gif" Width="107" Height="29" align="right"> <BR> <table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=100%> <tr> <td align=left width="4%"> <div align="left"><img src="http://InsiderRacingNews.com/Images/Logos/2009/MediaCorpLogo.jpg" border="0" width="200" height="56"></div> </td> <td align=left width="96%"> <HR SIZE="-2" color="ff0000"> </td> </tr> </table> <P> <TABLE bgColor="000000" border=0 cellPadding=5 cellSpacing=0 width="200" ALIGN="right"> <TR> <TD> <TABLE bgColor="000000" border=0 cellPadding=5 cellSpacing=0 width="165" ALIGN="left"> <TR> <TD> <center> <a href="http://twitter.com/nscrwriter" target="new"> <img src="http://insiderracingnews.com/Images/Logos/2009/TwitterLogo2.jpg" Width="155" Height="36" align="center"><BR> <center><img src="http://Insiderracingnews.com/Image/Trans-Pixel.gif" width="1" height="3" border=0></center> <TABLE bgColor="ffffff" border=0 cellPadding=0 cellSpacing=0 width="160" ALIGN="center"> <TR> <TD> <center><B><font color="000000" size="-2">Follow Rebecca On Twitter</font></B></center></a> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </center> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <br> <br> <br> <br> <CENTER> <TABLE bgColor="ffffff" border=0 cellPadding=10 cellSpacing=0 width="92%"> <TR> <TD> <Font color="000000"> <P>December 25, 2009 <P> By Rebecca Gladden <BR> <BR> <!-- &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; --> <!-- <a href="http://" target="new"><font color="ff0000"></font></a> --> <!-- ################### LEAVE THIS PHOTO IN PLACE ############### --> <TABLE bgColor="FFFFFF" border=0 cellPadding=5 cellSpacing=0 width="110" ALIGN="left"> <TR> <TD> <center> <img src="http://Insiderracingnews.com/Images/Writers/RGladden2.jpg" Width="65" Height="91" align="center"> <TABLE bgColor="FFFFFF" border=0 cellPadding=0 cellSpacing=0 width="110" ALIGN="center"> <TR> <TD> <center><B><font color="FF0000" size="-2">Rebecca Gladden</font></B></center> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </center> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <BR> <BR> <table cellpadding="15" cellspacing="15" border="0" width="130" align="right"> <tr> <td> <center> <!-- Start 160 X 600 Verticle--> <script type="text/javascript"><!-- google_ad_client = "pub-4652236660414985"; /* 160x600, created 4/24/08 */ google_ad_slot = "9807583107"; google_ad_width = 160; google_ad_height = 600; //--> </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js"> </script> <!-- End Google Ads --> </center> </td> </tr> </table> This week, Jimmie Johnson was named 2009 "Male Athlete of the Year" by the Associated Press. It was the first time in the history of the award that a racecar driver was the recipient. <P> Within minutes of the announcement, blogs and social networking sites lit up with a wide range of reactions. While some declared Johnson the perfect choice for the award, others decried the selection as ludicrous. <P> At the core of the controversy is an issue that has plagued NASCAR for as long as it has existed: Is stock car racing a sport? And are its participants athletes? <P> Opinions on Johnson's award fell along predictable lines. Most NASCAR fans approved of the honor, if for no other reason than the prestige and recognition it affords, while stick-and-ball enthusiasts argued that the car is actually more deserving of the award than the driver. <P> I guess it's understandable that NASCAR drivers might not seem like athletes to the casual onlooker. They're not required to run fast, or jump high, or throw anything a great distance. And, since driving a car is something most of us do every day, many people think there's just not that much to it. <P> I must admit that the drivers-as-athletes question is one I struggled with for a while myself. I've always had tremendous respect and admiration for the talents and abilities of NASCAR racers. But some drivers do not appear, at least outwardly, to be particularly physically fit from an athletic point of view. On the other hand, some professional football and baseball players carry around a bit of extra weight, yet no one questions their status as athletes. <P> Still, it's hard not to notice that in NASCAR, 50-, 60-, and even 70-year-old drivers compete on the same playing field with 18-year-olds - something that does not occur in most other forms of athletic competition. <P> Ultimately, however, two things tipped the athlete/non-athlete scale in favor of the former in my mind. <P> The first was a 2005 CNN primetime TV special by CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta entitled, "NASCAR: Driven to Extremes," in which Dr. Gupta, a medical doctor, examined the physical and mental stresses and challenges of driving a racecar. <P> "You might not think to put a NASCAR driver in a marathon runner's shoes," Dr. Gupta said at the time. "But, with the physical rigors that come with driving - mostly unseen by spectators - some industry insiders and drivers not only understand the similarity to long-distance running, but also stress the importance of being physically fit for their careers." <P> Dr. Gupta consulted numerous prominent experts, including neurosurgeons, an exercise physiologist, a sports psychologist, and others who concurred that the demands of NASCAR driving are at least as taxing as those facing other competitive athletes. "On an oval track like NASCAR's, drivers sustained heart rates (are) 80 to 85 percent of their maximum, similar to the heart rate of a marathoner," reported Gupta. "You're essentially trying to function at a very high level of concentration in a sauna," one expert explained. <P> Aside from the compelling testimony of Dr. Gupta and his array of specialists, I had my own brief exposure to the conditions inside a racecar when I was given an opportunity to take four laps in the passenger's seat at Phoenix International Raceway with Kyle Busch at the wheel. The thing that surprised me the most was the fact that the driver is in constant motion, continually working the steering wheel, the gearshift and the floor pedals. In addition, the forces involved in transitioning between the straightaways and the turns and back to the straights was much more dramatic than I had expected. <P> And this was on a relatively short track at speeds of 140-150 miles per hour. Conditions would be even harsher on a larger track at higher speeds and with greater g-forces - not to mention the demands of racing at such high speeds inches away from 42 other cars, sometimes for four hours or more without rest. "Football, you go hard for 15 seconds, rest 30-40," one of Dr. Gupta's experts noted. "Basketball, you have time outs. You can't stop a race and get out of your car. You know, you're going hard for four hours." <P> So, to all those armchair critics and couch potato pundits who seem to delight in dissing NASCAR and its drivers, I have one suggestion: Don't knock it until you've tried it. <P> Despite the fact that the professionals make it look effortless, racing in NASCAR is really not the same as cruising down the freeway in your hometown. <P> As the saying goes, if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it. <BR> <BR> <P> Follow Rebecca on Twitter: <a href="http://twitter.com/nscrwriter" target="new"><font color="000099">@nscrwriter</font></a> <P> <BR> <TABLE bgColor="FFFFFF" border=0 cellPadding=5 cellSpacing=0 width="57" ALIGN="left"> <TR> <TD> <center> <img src="http://insiderracingnews.com/Images/Misc/2007/AnimatedMailBox.gif" Width="47" Height="134" align="center"> </center> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> <P> <BR> <BR> <B><i>You can contact Rebecca at..<a href="mailto:NscrWriter@aol.com"><font color="000099"> Insider Racing News</FONT></a></i></B> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <img src="http://insiderracingnews.com/Images/Misc/RedPointer2.gif" Width="18" Height="12"> <a class="nd" href="http://insiderracingnews.com/Writers/RG/redirect.html"><b><font color="ff0000" size="+1"><I>You Can Read Other Articles By Rebecca</I></font></b></a> <BR> <BR> <p style="border:1px solid #FF0000;padding:5px;font:11px verdana;"> The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.</p> </font> </TD> </TR> </TABLE> </center> <P> <!-- BEGIN INLIVE CODE -- Inlive need of AddFreestats button code! 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