...Too bad it takes 800 to win the Indy 500. I feel bad. Dude has the shot to win the biggest car race in the\world as a rookie and on the final turn of the final lap he puckers his rear and hits the wall in what very well could be the biggest choke job in the history of sports.
Dan Weldon wins the race. Weldon seems good guy and a real gentleman, but I think it would have been nice if he admitted he won through luck -- his good -- choke guy's bad.
Of course, all we will hear about on the local news is the the over-hyped and over-rated Danica led 10 or twelve laps near the end. I was sitting in the garage listening to the race (see post below) when the wife came out to see who was winning. I said Danica. The wife asked "What, everyone else pit and she didn't?" Hah, my wife, who hates racing, gets it. She knew the score without even asking. Of course the only way Patrick was leading was because everyone else stopped for fuel.
I listened to much of the race. I did fall asleep for a few laps in the middle, sitting in my lawn chair in the garage. That sounds a bit pathetic, doesn't it? Even more so when I tell you no alcohol was involved. I did walk four miles just before the race started.
The whole ceremony leading up to the Indy 500 still brings tears to my eyes. It is amazing to hear how 300,000 people can be dead silent when Taps is played. Gomer never fails to bring a tear to my eye when he belts out Back Home Again In Indiana. admittedly his voice is getting a bit weak and warbly. The same can be said for Mrs. Brady. But tradition lives on in Speedway, IN.
Considering the lead he had, you would think his team would be all over reminding him (on the headset) to ease up in the final turn since he had it won. The kid is 23 after all.
ReplyDeleteIt would have been fantastic if he somehow won it crossing the finish line as a wreck. He almost did.
Well, at least you're consistent.
ReplyDeleteShe started 25th, finished 10th, and led a goodly part of the race in spite of having a not-so-great race car and an obviously bone-headed crewchief. (And the only reason she even lead was because all the other crewchiefs screwed up and brought their cars in for fuel!
But yeah, she's good looking and that's the only reason she gets the coverage.
If she hops over to NASCAR and doesn't come to Indy next year, we can pick on Pippa Mann, right?
Good race... what a shame Hildebrand didn't remember driving on marbles is like driving on ice.
Still, second isn't bad.
Tenth isn't either.
Common Greybeard -- you do no tseriously believe 7 laps is a "goodly part of the race"? She was th elas tto pit on the cycle -- her crew knew her ONLY chance was to stay out and hope for a yellow.
ReplyDeleteI will say this -- Danica responded with a lot of clas in her post-race interview.
I searched yesterday for the actual number of laps she led and couldn't find the number. If it was only seven then no, you're right, it wasn't a "goodly part of the race.
ReplyDeleteStill, she led more than Dan Wheldon, didn't she? (Yes, she did!!!) And you can shout from the rooftops what a mediocre racer she is...
It still doesn't erase the fact that lots of first-class racers tried and failed to make the field where she succeeded in starting in the 25th position.
Didn't someone mention Anna Kournikova here, or was that an argument posed by someone somewhere else?
Face Anna on the court and try to return her serve, then let's talk about what a "mediocre" tennis player she is. That she's a knockout draws attention to the fact that she's not at the absolute pinnacle. There are lots and lots of folks at that level of competition in ALL sports that end up looking mediocre because the rest are at 10/10ths while the majority are only at 9...
Some years back, I recall the entire Penske team failing to qualify for the race. Were they "mediocre"? Hardly.
Danica is actually pretty damn good. To say otherwise just makes me shake my head. That she is also good-looking enough to appear in photos sans most of her clothing is just icing on the cake.
And the fact we are even having this conversation says volumes.
You mistake my complaint. She is talented, she can do things in a race car few can. But the level of hype does not equal her accomplishments. I will use the New York jaunt I mentioned before as a perfect example. There were several drivers in the field tha tqualified in front of her, have won far more races, finished higher in points, etc., yet Patrick went. We both know why.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to send the best drivers then Scott Dixon, Tony Kanaan, Will Power or Weldon (who has now won twice and fished second twice at Indianapolis since Patrick was a rookie) and many others are far more successful drivers.
My complaint is not about Danica, but rather the over-hype and attention she gets. Both far outweigh her actual accomplishments. My beef is with the media and the IRL for constantly pushing her. A male driver with similar accomplishments would be an unknown except to the hard-core fan.
Of course I can not drive like her. Nor could I return a Kornikova serve. I could not hit a pitch thrown by jennie Finch. This is about comparing an athlete's accomplishments against media attention.
Gomer's been dead a while. AIDS, I suspect...Judging from that little "surprise surprise surprise" that he, Ernie Borgnine & Jim Reed had kept under wraps for so long.
ReplyDeleteWhen people make much ado about nothing, as the leftist propaganda community does of DP, there's usually money or agenda involved. Likely both, in this case.
Makes you wonder what they are ignoring in order to waste so much airtime on the KHAZAR-istocracy's newest darling.
So Joe, why do you think that Danica gets the attention? It can't just be her gender, because Sarah Fisher never generated the publicity. So, it's either her VERY good looks or she seems to be a more serious racer.
ReplyDeleteI think it's most likely a combination of both. Although I shouldn't, I still like Tony Stewart. Yeah, he's a bad boy of racing, but he takes the sport seriously. Danica seems to exhibit close to that amount of intensity, maybe it's a case of anger management.
But I still have to respect that more than someone like Sarah Fisher. She just seems like those women I have met in business that shake your hand with some version of a cold, wet dishcloth. I always want to wipe my hands after shaking theirs.
I think Danica has a great publicist that knows how to take advantage of her great "assets".