Dan LeBatard Doesn't Think Tiger Woods Is an Athlete, Golf a Sport

I like Dan LeBatard. He doesn't take himself too seriously, he's a solid writer, and he seems to annoy the hell out of Mr. Tony. But while chatting it up with the The Big Lead yesterday, he gave quite possibly the most ridiculous answer to an honest question since Phil Mickelson insisted he's grown an inch in the last year.

Q: LeBatard, what's your views on Tiger and whether or not he's an athlete and if he is, where does he rank among other greats?

LEBATARD: not an athlete.....what he does is a skill, not a sport....it is like being a brain surgeon or a seamstress.....golf isn't a sport....you can't be eating an apple during key moments of athletic triumph.....that said, he's a better athlete than everyone else doing that.....but it isn't a sport when someone carries your stuff and the most grueling thing you do is walk

Wow, that's short-sighted. Maybe LeBatard was joking (Mr. Tony plays golf!), but let's assume he wasn't. What makes an athlete? That's kinda tough to answer, but does anybody consider Dmitri Young more of an athlete than Woods? And is baseball more of a "sport" than golf? I mean, didn't Manny take a water bottle with him to left field a few years ago? Is that any better than eating an apple (or in Young's case, a pizza)?

Look, I get it: golf has caddies, and players wear their Sunday School outfits to compete. But that doesn't make it any less a sport than, say, heaving a shot put, another "activity" populated by chubby dudes that doesn't involve running.

Labels really don't matter, though; whether golf's a sport, or entertainment, or whatever, Tiger is better at it than anyone who's come before him. And there's a good argument that he's the best athlete (performer?) of this generation.

And if you need more proof: Lee Janzen once said he saw Tiger dunk a basketball. And everybody knows that only athletes can pull off such feats of, um, athleticism. Right, J.J.?