Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Milk Mustaches

Ladies and Gentlemen Start Your Engines

I got to see about forty laps of Danica Patick's coming out party, or so we should believe. I still don't love Indy Racing but the way those cars work is stunning. Back to Patrick who of course I wanted to win, she was nearly the only familiar driver. Familiar only by about a week. I wanted her to win because it would have been one of those watershed moments that change sports for the better, and it would have been broadcast during one of the greatest sporting events of the year.

Had Patrick won it would have been as big as the US Women winning the World Cup on PK's. Certianly that event was overshadowed by the celebration, but nonetheless it was a gargantuan moment for women's sports, simply because they found an audience for several weeks of that summer.

It would have been on a level of greatness as Annika Sorenstam winning The Masters as a PGA Rookie. That's not just any old race, it's Indy. Everyone's life changes after winning, hers is destined to change by leading it and finishing fourth. I figure Serena Williams in her prime could have beaten a top thirty ranked man in tennis, could she win the US Open, probably not. Is racing different than tennis, absolutely. But I can't compare Diana Turasi and Steve Nash. She would get abused by NBA players. But Golf and Racing I think are fairly comparable. Team events where only an individual competes, and the course can be 1/4 of the challenge, your equipment is your tool, and your physical abilities, and the opponents can comprise the remaining 3/4.

I have an interest in next year's 500 simply to see if she can do it, just like many will watch the US Open to see if Rick "Tiger" Woods can win. People that don't follow golf look to the sport for that familiar face, now Indy Car has one that isn't a miniature Italian millionaire. Soon enough we won't be watching golf to see how good the white guys did, we'll tune in to see how that saucy Asian chick finished.

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