Years ago an off-hand comment on an observation resulted in a heated debate that really shouldn't have went that way. The observation was that we, as a society, pay the most money to the people that are least important. Athletes, musicians, and so forth can get paid millions of dollars, but while people love what they do it isn't technically critical to the survival of the species. If every football player on the planet suddenly dropped dead, society and humanity would still go on just fine as if nothing happened. If, however, every doctor on Earth suddenly vanished, people would be in trouble. If every farmer spontaneously dropped dead, most people are going to starve to death.
This didn't go well with a particular fan of sports, who took personal offense and responded with illogical ad hominem attacks. They argued that video game designers don't deserve millions of dollars, which was a silly response considering that literally nobody had suggested otherwise, but the attack came because the person that made the topic-starting comment happened to like playing video games. That person completely agreed and would never have proposed otherwise.
At one point, though, the ball fan tried suggesting the importance and value of athletes, and suggested that they do something not everyone can do, whereas other occupations can be done by anybody. This is more than a little ignorant because anybody can play sports, too. There's kids all over the world playing sports in their back yard, at the park, in school, and so forth right now. They're just not getting paid a fortune to play a game.
"Okay, but athletes do it better than anyone else can."
Alright, but the same can be said for a lot of other occupations and skills. You can hand anyone a paint brush and anyone can slap colors onto a canvas but not everyone can paint the Mona Lisa no matter how much they try or how many years they practice. Not everyone can be a good author writing compelling literary works, no matter how much they type away at a keyboard ot typewriter.
Alright, so athletes are people that play ball games better, more professionally than other people, but what about race car drivers? Do they count as athletes? I've seen this debated, too. Obviously the argument against it is drivers are just sitting in a car, which anyone can do, and that doesn't require athleticism.
Assuming that us driving a car to work, to the store, to school, and so forth is an indication of what it's like and what it takes to be a race driver is like assuming that walking is a good representation of running a marathon. Auto racing requires a quick mind, swift reflexes, and sharp instincts. A driver has to process a lot of information very rapidly and make quick, good decisions. It's not just mental work, however, as it's also very physically demanding on the driver.
Let's play a game. Below are a few pictures of some people. One is a race car driver. One plays football. One plays baseball. Can you guess which one is which?
The top image is of Cody Ford, guard for the Cincinnati Bengals. The second image is of Rhett Lowder, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. The third is Lewis Hamilton, Formula 1 driver. How accurate were your guesses? Admittedly, some crude editing was done to the backgrounds of the photos of Ford and Lowder to hide their origins. We apologize for the poor image work. Hamilton's photo is undoctored.
I had once done a podcast in which I discussed some data, regarding the G forces that drivers endure during a race. I had also acknowledged the forces ball sport athletes sometimes take, especially in full-contact sports, and those figures are indeed larger, but also infrequent. Drivers don't normally take huge G-forces unless they're in a crash, though that does happen. The relevant part here and now is that the physicality is definitely there in motorsport, and this requires that drivers be up for the punishment. They don't need to endure a lot at once but rather persistently for pretty much the full duration of a race, which can be multiple hours, depending on the series.
"NFL athletes endure hits for hours."
Hold up there. They run for five seconds, take a big hit, then they're on the ground for a while. Everyone gradually gets up and saunters around for a bit. There's nothing going on while some commentators talk and the camera watches a referee. Then all the players casually wander in the general direction of where they're going to eventually line up for the next play. Then they huddle around a bit while pondering their next move. Eventually, after several minutes of inactivity, there's another five seconds of action. That's not quite what I had in mind when I spoke of enduring it for hours. I meant like basically every moment, not just a moment every five minutes.
"Real athletes subject themselves to injuries, sometimes severe, sometimes for life."
I appreciate that, but they're not the only ones. Drivers can suffer injuries, including breaking multiple bones. I don't think too many football players have ever been burned alive on the field or decapitated, but drivers have.
"I don't get how you can be an athlete if you aren't even working up a sweat."
I get that it might seem like drivers don't work up a sweat just sitting in a car, but they do. Remember, racing isn't at all like driving to Walmart. Race cars don't waste weight on creature comforts so there's no air conditioning, there's no cozy interior buffering you from the heat and noise of the engine, et cetera. They get very hot in the cockpit.
I remember watching I believe a Grand-Am race and after the race a driver was being interviewed, during which he pulled some aluminum foil out from behind his seat. He had some hamburger wadded up inside the foil. He opened the foil to find the meat had been cooked inside the cockpit during the race. F1 drivers typically sweat off around five pounds during a race.
"Real athletes fine-tune their bodies for peak physical fitness."
Professional drivers do, too. They can have personal trainers, fitness coaches, strict diets, and extensive workout routines. Even during the off season it's not unusual to stay busy with swimming, bicycling, cross-country skiing, climbing, and of course weight training. Weight is bad, though, so they need to be strong but lean so the right types of workouts and low body fat are key.