Professional golfers and NASCAR drivers would possibly play their sports activities at an elite stage, however that’s not sufficient for Stephen A. Smith to name them athletes.
Smith just lately mentioned the place LeBron James ranks as one of many best athletes ever when it comes to longevity. The dialog prompted listeners of his Mad Dog Sports Radio show on SiriusXM to name in with different nominees, however when one particular person prompt Richard Petty, Smith appeared appalled on the thought. After dismissing Petty, Smith clarified the nominees must be athletes, which he believes ought to exclude golfers and NASCAR drivers from consideration.
“Come on, man. That don’t count. You driving a car!” Smith ranted. “I’m being honest, it’s a great sport. But come on, bro. Getting behind the wheel of a car is not the same.”
Smith then requested whether or not a NASCAR driver is an athlete, and whereas many individuals would argue the reply is sure, he was asking the query rhetorically. And instantly after negating NASCAR drivers from the athlete dialog, Smith started to disparage professional golfers as nicely.
“You can be behind the wheel of a car in your 60s and 70s for crying out loud. A golfer is not an athlete. A NASCAR driver is not an athlete,” Smith insisted. “Just because you gotta walk the course for 18 holes for four days, that don’t make you an athlete.”
“They’re skilled players, they’re elite at what they do. But athletes? Athletes? Are you kidding me?” Smith continued. “Is walking the latest sport that you want to turn into an Olympic sport? Because I guess that would make them athletic, right? Because they can walk. If you’re out there doing stuff that grandmas and grandpas can do, I’m not gonna look at you that way. You’re skilled, you’re phenomenally skilled as a golfer…but that is not an athletic sport.”
According to Stephen A. Smith, if it’s one thing folks can do of their 60s and 70s, then they’re not athletes. And as a result of a 60-year-old can drive a automobile or stroll a golf course, Smith believes that proves NASCAR drivers and professional golfers are not athletes. But Smith seemingly ignored the truth that a 60-year-old can nonetheless throw a baseball, dribble a basketball, elevate a weight, and do nearly every little thing {that a} 25-year-old athlete can do, which by his definition, means there is no such thing as a such factor as an athlete.
“A golfer is not an athlete,” Smith maintained. “NASCAR is a sport, are they athletes to because they can get behind the wheel of a car and drive 100 plus miles per hour around the track 500 times, you trying to tell me they’re athletes too?”
Stephen A. Smith repeatedly leaned into this take all through his two-hour present, wildly dismissing the energy, psychological and bodily stamina required by golfers and NASCAR drivers. Smith did, nonetheless, cease in need of definitively claiming Tiger Woods is not an athlete, admitting some golfers may be athletes, nevertheless it wouldn’t be resulting from their golf skills. Meaning Smith would possibly take into account Tiger an athlete as a result of he’s bodily match, however not as a result of he’s one of many best golfers of all-time, which is an absurd take.
