Jimmie Johnson is NOT a Top Athlete

T Lamont — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:11:06 +0000

I read a disturbing article today. I read that NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson is today’s top athlete.

Every now and then, there comes a figure who transcends his particular sport. For years it has been Tiger Woods. Now with the recent popularity increase that NASCAR has enjoyed, Jimmie Johnson – winner of four straight Sprint Cup championships – is the latest to garner consideration as America’s new top athlete.

We’ve now entered a society which is obsessed with political correctness and recognition of all activities. ESPN programming includes championship poker, billiards – they even have the Madden challenge which pits football video-gamers against one another for ultimate bragging rights. Are there endeavors considered to be ‘athletic?’

But before we walk down that road, exactly what is an athlete?

Online dictionaries define an athlete as “a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill.”

The word that stands out to me in this definition is “physical.” Physicality would imply that there is some kind of contact between competitors or contestants. Surely, race car driving requires an inordinate amount of skill. That skill encompasses the ability to control a dangerous machine as if it was one of your own limbs.

But does that skill translate Johnson into being a better athlete than Kobe, Brady or Tiger? I would think not.

Let's see Jimmie Johnson do this...without a ladder...

Jay Busbee seems to think that being head and shoulders above the competition in your genre qualifies you as being a candidate for being the top athlete across all genres. We can assume this from the following passage written by Jay:

And don’t even start the whole “the car’s the star, not the driver” nonsense. Equipment is a key element of every sport. When’s the last time you saw a baseball player succeed without a bat, or a football player succeed without pads?

This is absolutely ridiculous. But it is also what you should expect from a NASCAR blog. This is a terrible example of a biased writer defending his favorite sport. Busbee’s examples of baseball and football equipment are weak because the athletes that use them supply the power behind their effectiveness.

To the contrary, drivers aren’t required to power their equipment. While their requisite skill must enable them to maneuver their vehicles, the cars provide all the power required for success. There is also a discernible distinction in the level of physical conditioning required by the competitor. Who knows if NASCAR drivers can slam dunk a basketball? Or run a 4.5 second 40-yard dash? Or track down a fly ball at the warning track?

Jimmie Johnson is undoubtedly brilliant at what he does. But please leave it at that. Let’s not insult all of the performers that we see on the gridiron and the hardwood by claiming that Johnson is a top athlete.

He’s not even close.

Ball or Nuthin' » Jimmie Johnson

Jimmie Johnson is NOT a Top Athlete