Judgment will be swift for Patrick
Today, many fans, pundits and naysayers will pass judgment on Danica Patrick, dubbing her the next Serena Williams - a potent blend of sex appeal and skill - or the next Anna Kournikova - a sad case of style over substance.
It isn't really fair, either. Patrick is a 23-year-old rookie driver in today's Indianapolis 500, but she has been the focus of what little media hype there has been leading up to the once-great race.
That spotlight - and a second-row start - has generated unrealistic expectations for Patrick, complete with speculation about the significance to open wheel racing if she wins.
Patrick may indeed win today, but odds are she won't. That doesn't mean she's the next Kournikova, but in our instant-gratification-obsessed culture (which in some parts still clings to outdated notions of women's involvement in sports) she'll likely be vilified.
And that's too bad, because a little perspective would show that Patrick is a talented driver who doesn't have a ride because she's hot, but because she has proven she can beat the boys with regularity in the open wheel minor leagues.
This week's top 10, on sale at 50 percent off during the huge Memorial Day Weekend blowout sale!
5. Big 12 on the replay bandwagon. The Big 12 joined the SEC, Pac-10, Big East, Mountain West, and ACC in adopting instant replay for the 2005 football season after the Big Ten introduced it last year.
In 1999 Dennis Erickson, who had just taken over at Oregon State after getting fired by the Seattle Seahawks, said he thought college football would never go to a replay system because of the cost involved. Now, six years later, every major conference in Division I-A will use it. You have to wonder where the money is coming from.
4. Lacrosse update. It's Johns Hopkins and Duke in the Division I lacrosse championship on Monday. Yesterday, Johns Hopkins allowed the go-ahead goal to Virginia with 15 seconds to go in regulation, won the faceoff, raced down and scored the tying goal with 1.4 seconds left.
In overtime, both teams had chances, but the Blue Jays scored in transition for the winner. You've got to love sudden death (or sudden victory, as the ESPN2 announcer called it), which leads us to …
3. No more home for hockey. ESPN announced over the weekend that it would not pick up its option to broadcast NHL games next season (assuming there are NHL games next season).
So how is that lockout working for you, NHL owners? An entire year of TV and gate revenue lost, and now no national cable deal in the states, all because you can't exercise fiscal responsibility without it being the law of the league.
How these people ever made enough money to afford a team in the first place is staggering.
2. Back to the great outdoors? New Minnesota Vikings majority owner Zygmunt Wilf (is that a great name, or what?) suggested last week that he'd like to see his team playing outside again in the near future.
Both the Vikings and Detroit Lions should be ashamed of themselves for playing indoors in the first place, but at least there is hope in Minneapolis (the Lions are stuck inside for at least another 20 years after moving into Ford Field).
It's no coincidence that since Detroit left Tiger Stadium for the Pontiac Silverdome in 1975 and Minnesota went inside to the Metrodome in 1982 that neither team has made it to the Super Bowl. (Of course, the Lions haven't made it while playing at ANY stadium, but I digress.) The ghosts of George Halas, Bud Grant, Night Train Lane and Vince Lombardi won't allow it.
(Note: Bud Grant is still alive, but there aren't any dead Viking hall-of-famers yet.)
1. A perfect quote. Craig Finberg resigned as boys basketball coach in Dillon last week. The story in the Montana Standard made it pretty clear that it was the unreasonable demands and expectations of parents and boosters that led to the resignation.
"I think the best coaching job in the world would be in an orphanage," Finberg said.
The man speaks the truth.
Andrew Hinkelman is a sports writer for The Daily Inter Lake. He can be reached at hink@dailyinterlake.com