>>>>>I know most of you wouldn't give a hoot about this, but...
>>>>>
>>>>>I shot a 77 saturday with no muligans.
>>>>
>>>>good grief your talking golf! < smirk > I had to get a 2nd cup of coffee to figure that out. If it doesnt have an engine, it's not a sport. =D)
>>>>
>>>Car racing a sport?!?! Shouldn't you be living south of the Mason-Dixon Line :-)?
>>>< snip >
>>
>>Larry,
>>
>>I use to feel the same way until I started watching it when I moved here from Chicago. Given the stress, the hand/eye coordination, reflexes, etc. required to drive one of those things around (I think that they run about 3,500 pounds), at speeds up to 200 MPH with little if any margin for error, it's a sport alright.
>
>Well Webster (dictionary) seems to think road racing is a sport but I still have my doubts. While drivers are atheletes because of the things you mentioned (this we can agree on), any racing that involves locomotion generated by non-human power (e.g. car, horse), I just don't see it as a sport.
>
>And yes, downhill ski racing is a sport in my mind because the navigation is done by human power and unassisted by hydraulics *s*.

Well, without a skilled driver, having the fastest car doesn't mean a thing. This last Sunday was an example. Some of it was luck, some of it was smart decision making by the race team. How successful a driver is depends on a combination of things, including good teamwork. Pits stops often determine the outcome. Four tires, fuel, and adjust the car in under 16 seconds. The pit crew needs to be atheletic too to do that. It's not just one guy riding around in a circle.