Here's the deal. It is HIGHLY unlikely that Danica Patrick will even sniff the winner's circle at this weekend's Indy 500.  If I were a betting man with discretionary income, I would bet BIG against her.  The only race that she did win was one of those quirky fuel situations that you see from time to time, most often in Nascar, where EVERYTHING falls PRECISELY somebody's way and it allows a driver who otherwise would not have had a realistic chance of winning to grab victory from the jaws of defeat.  If you look at the young talented driver's on the Nascar circuit today (Think Kyle Busch and yes I hate him too!)  BUT he and driver's like him have accomplished FAR more in their chosen sport in the SAME amount of time, or in some cases less, than Danica has during her stint in open wheel racing.  A typical male driver with Danica's accomplishments over a similar period of time would BARELY be a blip on anyones radar screen!  As to her "Killer Bod", as Ian O'Connor put it, if she was NOT an Indy race car driver and Danica just looked like she does, she may generate a modest amount of attention based only upon her physical attributes.  However, she would NEVER rate an appearance in a publication like FHM.  An average woman, graced only with the looks of Danica Patrick, WITHOUT her accomplishments and notariety in the world of auto racing or some other highly publicized endeavor, would never be asked to be a "Go Daddy Girl", based strictly on the merits of her appearance.  She is NOT Pam Anderson in her prime, she does not have a real Killer Bod, like say Jennifer Love Hewitt at her peak, she couldn't hold a candle to Halle Berry, she would NEVER garner the attention, based only on her body, of say an Alyssa Milano, Elizabeth Hurley, Brooke Burke, Salma Hayek, Carmen Electra, Jenny McCarthy, Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson and on and on.  Let's look at Jessica Simpson for a moment.  I think it is now abundantly clear at this point in her career(s), that she can neither sing, nor act well.  However, she simply looks good enough (because she really does possess a "Killer Bod") that people, mostly men, want to look at her anyway.  If Hef saw a woman who looked like Danica walking down the streets of Chicago, he would not stop in his tracks and offer her the opportunity to be the next Playmate.  She just doesn't have it like that.  She is a good enough driver to generate SOME attention based solely on her driving abilities but she's not a Foyt, Unser, Mears or Andretti type talent behind the wheel and she likely never will be.  Danica is attractive enough to be noticed simply because of her appearance but were it not for her fame in some other arena, in this case Indy Car racing, she would NEVER be afforded the opportunity to grace the covers of such publications as FHM and the "Go Daddy Guy" would most definitely NOT be knocking on her door about becoming a "Go Daddy Girl".  Danica Patrick is a very capable race car driver, who has achieved alot (for a woman) but if she didn't have breasts, her accomplishments on the track  would be MUCH less celebrated than they are.  Danica Patrick is a relatively attractive young woman who has taken advantage of her fame as a race car driver and parlayed that recognition into an opportunity to do things such as appear on the Letterman Show or be photographed for men's magazines like FHM and to be a "Go Daddy Girl" in provocative Super Bowl commercials, things which clearly she would not have been able to do were it not for her participation in Indy car racing.  For my money she's played it just about right!  She's living the American dream!  Danica has been smart enough (and maybe that's really her best asset that we SHOULD be touting, not her driving OR her body) to make her 30 seconds of fame last and last, all the while bringing much needed interest and attention to her chosen sport, which it so desperately needs.  Danica, the real triple threat, good driving skills, in an attractive enough package, all being powered by a big brain!  

Since I am, unfortunately, a lifelong fan of the Pittsburgh Pirates I can honestly say that I have followed the soap operaish career of Barry Bonds since the very beginning.  Even when I lived out of state in the late 80's and early 90's I would have friends buy playoff tickets and I would travel home faithfully to watch the post season games in person to see the "pre-steroid" Barry Bonds and his teammates underperform.  Basically, Pittsburgh hasn't had a winning record since Barry left town.  However, I am a realist and I am objective and I don't hold that against Mr. Bonds.  In fact, since that time I have turned my focus to following several very good Cup winning Penguins teams and some very good Steelers's teams including the recent Superbowl winners and a perennial top 20 Panther's basketball squad.  On balance, Pittsburgh sports will be just fine.  So, please do me a favor and don't insult my intelligence by trying to say that I have the opinions I do of Barry Bonds because I still hold a grudge agaianst him for abandoning my beloved Pirates.  This is more like score one for all the little people out there who quietly go about their business always trying to treat people fairly and do the right thing EVERY DAY, who are just sick and tired of seeing people with money and priviledge get away with their multiple transgressions and infractions.  I have observed and digested both first hand accounts and media stories of how Mr.  Bonds has consistently treated, or should I say mistreated his teammates, fans and members of the media.  He is often times rude, selfish, ignorant, disrespectful, indifferent, arrogant and angry when it comes to dealing with the public.  His affair(s) are well documented.  His lies are now finally being well documented and exposed.  I have great respect and admiration for the accomplishments of players like Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Frank Robinson and Willie McCovey but I have nothing but contempt for guys like Barry that #### all over America's National Pastime, a game that has allowed him to lead and live a charmed life.  I hope he is convicted on EVERY count,  I wish Major League Baseball had the stones to set a good example and strip this guy and the others (Mark, Sammy, Roger, Rafael etc.) of their records.  Players like this have cheapened the game for us all and diminished the accomplishments of all those who preceeded them.  What performance enhancing substances did Babe Ruth or Mickey Mantle or Hank Aaron utilize in their illustrious careers?  Barry Bonds consistent disregard for the game and the players who came before him in the form of his high tech cheating which we all know took place for a period of several years SHOULD be enough to keep him out of the Hall of Fame forever!  He has tarnished not only his name and reputation but the game as a whole.  Sadly though, I fear that his actions will NOT be enough to keep him from being enshrined and this should trouble us all deeply.   At this point, Barry richly deserves whatever bad things happen to him and probably more.  After all, it couldn't happen to a nicer guy!

 

P.S.  -  Roger Clemens says "Thank You" for getting him off the front page of the sports section!   

I really never thought that I would see the day when another major league baseball player might actually make the likes of Barry Bonds, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Rafael Palmiero look good by comparison.  Roger Clemens appears to be determined to do just that.  What, with all of the "mis-remembering",  alleged affairs with nubile teenage country music stars, ex wives of fellow screw up and drunk, John Daly, New York bartenders, real estate agents etc .  You would think that a man as wealthy as Roger, who has been surrounded by the media for his entire career, would have invested some of his millions in a good public relations firm and then LISTENED TO THEIR ADVICE!   He has become monumentally successful at assassinating his own character.  Roger Clemens was one of the most beloved and feared competitors in the game before this train wreck began to unravel.  Now he will forever be linked with every facet of this ugly episode even convincingly implicated by his good friend Andy Pettitte.  Mark McGwire, coward and liar that he is, at least had the decency, when testifying before congress, to say nothing and then to very, very quietly go away and stay away.  Sammy Sosa, when testifying, suddenly "mis-remembered" how well he spoke english and utilized a translator deflecting some of the negative attention away from himself.  Rafael Palmeiro, after being discredited and implicated as the result of a positive test had the sense to leave the game as gracefully as possible and did nothing to make himself a target of even more potentially damaging accusations by concocting ridiculously difficult to believe tales of his innocence.  Raffy seemed to be aware that as much as he may have wanted to indulge himself and loudly proclaim his purity that it would only serve to tarnish his reputation and diminish his accomplishments further still.  Even Barry Bonds, the previously undisputed poster child for steroid and human growth hormone use and abuse has handled his messy predicament in a much more self serving way than Roger Clemens has managed to do.  I bet Barry wakes up every day, drops to his knees and thanks his God for distracting the public's attention which had previously been so focused on him.  Thanks in large part to Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds is now out of the spotlight.  The media, fans of the game, legislators and the public at large now seem to have set their sights firnly on Roger Clemens and deservedly so.  The longer and the louder that he protests, the more scrutinized Roger will become.  The end result is that even more unflattering stories from his past will continue to surface and undermine his dwindling credibility.  So much for dodging this debacle Roger.     

 

When will it all end?  How much is too much?  More importantly, how much is enough?  How much is enough to get the couch potato Monday morning quarterbacks out there up and out of their comfy chairs actually doing something about anything???  Where is the outrage?  I was out Saturday evening with most of my family (Mother, Step Father, three children, Brother and his family and my sister) trying to enjoy a meal or at least hoping to enjoy a meal when they finally got around to seating us which took quite some time considering we had made reservations well in advance, but I digress, as is often the case.  Anyway, as we waited impatiently, we found ourselves surrounded by several flat screens all tuned to the NBC sports coverage of the 134th annual running of the Kentucky Derby.  I believe they refer to horse racing as "The sport of Kings".  I watched in disbelief as the tragic events unfolded immediately following the conclusion of the race.  I am outraged and puzzled and saddened by the world we live in today!  I'm no tree hugger!  I'm no bleeding heart liberal!  I drive a gas guzzling OUCH! Chevrolet Suburban.  I have nothing in common with anyone I have ever met that supports the ACLU.  I am not now, nor will I ever be a card carrying member of PETA.  I eat meat and in fact I did on the night in question. I am as politically incorrect as they come!  BUT, how can we support, patronize, accept, enjoy or even tolerate the so called sport of horse racing when it all too often has such sickening and tragic results???  I am an animal lover who trusts and enjoys the company of most animals more than I would trust ,or enjoy the company of, most of my fellow humans.  I sincerely believe that God, in his infinite wisdom has placed these animals here on this planet, such as the beautiful and majestic Thoroughbred horse, both for our benefit and enjoyment .  However, I am unflinchingly convinced that these animals were entrusted to us and that we need to be much better stewards of such a precious natural resource.   It was heartbreaking for me and I might add genuinely disturbing for my sensitive 11 year old son to witness the unnecessary demise of such an awesome creature.  Surely the pursuit of wealth, notariety and fame is a far less worthy endeavor than the protection of an animal that unlike the pompous television commentators cannot speak for itself.   Actually, I don't believe they speak for themselves either since they are beholdent to corpoprate sponsorship, advertisers, media executives, network censorship etc.   The bottom line is that this "sport" is no more worthy than dog racing, dog fighting (think Mike Vick) and #### fighting.  What is the difference in any of them other than the tax bracket of the participants?  The Kentucky Derby is known for its wealthy patrons, the women's over the top hats, and sipping mint julips.  It should more appropriately be forever linked with the untimely and senseless end to the life of  Eight Belles, a courageous specimen of an abused and brutalized breed.  Big Brown's winning jockey, Kent Desormeaux , actually quipped "Eight Belles showed you her life for our enjoyment today."  I'm sorry but I took no joy in such a spectacle.  What does it say about our society when we allow such travesties to take place, all in the name of sport?  Rest in peace Eight Belles, you were deserving of a better fate.  Perhaps in death you can serve the greater purpose of calling attention to and publicizing the true nature of the pastime that cost you your very life.  Hell's bells are ringing today for anyone that "enjoyed" the sad events of yesterday!