Nascar, Football or Boxing?

Danny Hamlin Wins Sprint Cup Series Race

Today I overheard a guy being interviewed who recently wrote a book about NASCAR.  He was making a strong case for professional racing car drivers being well conditioned athletes.  He said their bodies have to be in shape to withstand the force of the high speed turns and the endurance of many laps.  He also said the focus of having to hold onto a steering wheel for that length of time at that speed takes incredible focus.

He went on to compare a racing car driver to a quarterback driving his team down the field for a touchdown. By then I'd just about had enough but when he finally gave credit to the car, saying "yeah the condition of the car is important, you wouldn't bring a donkey to a horse race," it hit me.  Those involved in NASCAR see the car as more than just a machine.  They believe that driver and car become one during a race and the outcome depends as much on the driver as it does on the car. I suppose you'd have to be a fan of racing car events to decipher that piece of NASCAR wisdom, but I do understand it's not remote control racing and that there's a very human element involved.

To me the vehicle does 85/% of the work while the driver and pit crew split the remaining 15%.  But what do I know?  I've never been to a race, though I'd like to someday.  I've been to many football games and I've never seen a quarterback go to a sideline for new parts so that he can return and finish the game. He might get a numbing shot but that part he numbed is now practically inoperable, unlike a new set of tires that might make the car run better and faster. Gotta give Nascar drivers their due though. They're courageous.

But no sport compares with Boxing.  I've been to one professional night of boxing matches and I challenge anyone to name me a sporting activity that demands more out of a man or woman.  You want focus, try keeping focus while punches are raining down on your face and body.  Endurance? Try standing up to those punches when your legs feel like rubber and your arms as if they're about to fall off.


There are no replacement parts, no backups, no substitutes and no overtimes in boxing.  Two men enter a boxing ring and the one with the better skill, power or speed that evening is favored to win the fight.  But mind you, favored doesn't mean that at any time one lucky punch from the underdog can't score an upset win. Favored is for the oddsmakers, because in boxing the one measure of a man that is unmeasurable is his heart.  


Sure, all athletes have the heart to compete, and racing car drivers have the courage or foolishness of risking their lives to flaming accidents, but a boxer is the only one that does it all by his lonesome, relying simply on his wit and primitive survival instincts.  There's no ball, no racket, no wimpy golf club and no 750 horse power engine under the hood with a crew on standby for servicing.  Just blood, sweat and guts with a screaming tongue-tied trainer outside the ring who's instructions at the time are about as good as having a seeing eye dog in the ring. Oh, and there's a cut-man in the boxers corner with tools that a racing car crew would simply laugh at; get this: 


Vaseline, an endswell and chemicals to clot the bleeding.  Oh there will be blood alright, it's boxing.  (cut-man kit)


So if anyone ever asks you what sport or competition you would participate in for $1,000.00, choose anything but the sweet science of boxing.  Anything, even a spelling bee!  Because when you step into that ring it's no longer a game or a competition, it's brutal truth and a physical battle to survive. Pray you choose wisely.


Nobody Plays Boxing!

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