Regardless of the outcome, the 100th running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday would've been historic. There were countless story lines going into the race; from Helio Castroneves trying to become only the fourth racer in Indy history to win four Indianapolis 500 races, to the story of Sam Schmidt, the former driver who was paralyzed in a tragic accident and now had the chance to become a winning owner at Indy. No matter what story line you were looking at, there is always one that remains, and that is the story line of whether or not Danica Patrick can become the first female driver in the history of the event to cross the finish line in first place.
Throughout the years, there have been a few women, eight total, who have attempted to become that first female driver to win the Indy 500, none as high profile as Danica Patrick. There are many people, myself included, that feel that the only reason for her status as a "high profile" driver is the fact that she is...let's just say it...hot. Not counting the 2011 Indianapolis 500, Danica has had a total of 103 professional races in the seven years she has been a professional driver. Out of those 103 races, she has only one victory, and only seven total Top Three finishes including that victory. For the math wizards out there, that's only 6.8%. Less than 7% of her races have resulted in a top three finish. To put this into perspective, each of the last three winners of the Indianapolis 500 have won no fewer than 15 races each: Dan Wheldon in 2011 (15 wins/129 races), Dario Franchitti in 2010 (17 wins/99 races), and Helio Castroneves in 2009 (19 wins/139 races) So, is Danica "high profile" because she's good, or just because she's a pretty face in an otherwise male-dominated sport?
I don't think anyone questions the fact that, in order to drive an open-wheel race car (or a stock car, for that matter) at speeds in excess of 220 miles per hour, you have to have some level of talent. With that said, there's no question Danica has talent in the field of racing cars. Her level of notoriety, however, stems more from her physical gifts than her actual driving talent. Along with those talents, she's also developed somewhat of a "diva"-like quality which has begun to overshadow her on-the-track talents. She has been known to shift blame from herself onto her crew. She's been known to call out many of her competitors during times she's crashed out. She's also been known to walk up the pit lane to physically confront a driver for a mistake she believed he caused. These types of actions have actually started to have a negative effect on the overall perception of Danica Patrick. Yet, she still remains one of the biggest story lines each time she races.
On Sunday, it was almost as if the race gods began to pay her back for some of these "sins". Twice during the race, as she was coming in to pit lane, yellow flags came out, thus altering her pit schedule, which eventually led to a lack of fuel toward the end of the Indianapolis 500. It couldn't have come at a worse time, either. Danica took the lead of the race on the 179th lap and led for the next 10 laps, until fuel, and a slower car, became an issue and she was forced to pull back. Somehow, I don't think many people were actually disappointed with that.
What's even more baffling to me is the fact that, despite the mediocre success she has actually had in the IndyCar circuit, there is almost no doubt that beginning in 2012, Danica will, in the immortal words of LeBron James, "take her talents" to NASCAR on a full time basis. But the question is...what makes her think that she's deserving of that jump? With only one victory in 103 professional races, and being overshadowed by her fellow competitors when it counts...on race day...what makes Danica believe that moving to NASCAR is the best thing? The way I look at it, she needs to actually prove herself as a driver, and not as a model or spokeswoman, before she can take on a new challenge. In a time where Danica wants to be seen as just a race car driver and not as a female race car driver, it would seem logical that proving yourself as a driver would be the utmost priority. For whatever the reason, however, it seems she's still more interested in proving herself to be the worst Go-Daddy.com spokeswoman there is, rather than the most successful race car driver she can be.
Showing posts with label IndyCar. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IndyCar. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Is "Dancing With The Stars" A Sport?
For the first time since I began this little blog-writing venture, I'm about to delve into the world of reality television.
The hit TV show, "Dancing With The Stars," has just finished its 12th season, with Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward winning the competition on Tuesday Night. The premise for this show was to have non-dancers paired with professional dancers to compete in a competition to determine which non-dancers could improve the most over the course of the show. The idea that these "non-dancers" would be a little awkward was part of the intrigue of many that decided to tune in. That was all fine and dandy, until ABC decided to start casting athletes, most still active in their sports, in each season. I'd like to say that the game has changed, but unfortunately, it's been that way from the start.
The first season of the show debuted back in 2005 with only six pairs competing. One of those six competitors was former World Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield. Holyfield was eliminated after the second week, but his appearance paved the way for the future athletes that would appear. To me, bringing professional and/or amateur athletes into the mix seemed to be an unfair concept. I personally wouldn't have watched the show consistently anyway, but when I first heard about the show back in 2005, I was under the impression that the contestants would actually be those people with little to know athletic ability, in order to see what weeks of training with a professional dancer would do for them. What America has seen is slew of athletic competitors making it nearly impossible for anyone else to compete.
In the 12 seasons that "Dancing With The Stars" has been on, six of the twelve winners have been athletes, whether they be professional (Ward, Emmitt Smith, Helio Castroneves) or amateur (Apolo Anton Ohno, Krisit Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson). That might not seem so bad, only having 50% of the winners be from the world of sports, but when you look at the top three finalists from each season, you can add another seven people from the sports landscape. Since this blog is about sports, I don't want to dive into the rest of the casts...however, of the other six winners that weren't athletes, three were performing artists in bands or groups that danced, and another starred in the movie "Dirty Dancing." Sure seems to be that the winners seem to have a distinct athletic advantage over other competitors.
I'm probably in the minority here, but for some reason, I'm irked by the fact that athletes are taking part in this competition. In a few cases such as Hines Ward's, the athlete is still competing in their sport while they are on the show. What this brings into the equation, especially for professional athletes, is the injury factor. Fortunately, there have not been any professional athletes under contract that have injured themselves as of yet. In 2008, volleyball star Misty May-Treanor ruptured her achilles tendon during practice and had to withdraw from the show, but that is the only serious injury that any athlete performing on the show has endured. The fact that it happened, however, probably has many owners and general managers concerned.
When a show such as "Dancing With The Stars" becomes as popular as it has, it brings a certain following to some that may not have much of one. In 2007, Indy Car driver Helio Castroneves won the "Dancing" crown, which brought a man, otherwise unknown outside the race world, a huge boost in popularity. The following year, in 2008, the Indianapolis 500 saw it's ratings rise. That ratings boost could almost directly be attributed to the prime-time appearance of one of IndyCar's best drivers. So, is it a bad thing that certain athletes are partaking in the show? Not always. However, being an IndyCar driver is a lot different than, say, playing wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals. Other than being an attention hog, people like Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson don't have much need at all to be on the show. He, like other professional athletes, already have plenty of notoriety from their sport that they shouldn't need the extra attention of a prime-time show like "Dancing." And really, is the prize money and the trophy worth the potential injury looming out there?
All told, the show will remain one of ABC most popular. The ratings continue to be huge and it doesn't seem to be slowing down soon. You can also be assured that athletes will continue to be featured. I guess I would just find the competition more interesting if the people dancing had almost no athletic ability whatsoever. That, to me, would be impressive. I mean, seriously, what would've been a better story for this season: Hines Ward winning the trophy, or Kirstie Alley? You could almost be assured that if Kirstie had won, she would be plastered on just about every magazine cover in the checkout line at the grocery store. Ward, though? He might be lucky to get a mere mention in Sports Illustrated for his new championship.
The hit TV show, "Dancing With The Stars," has just finished its 12th season, with Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward winning the competition on Tuesday Night. The premise for this show was to have non-dancers paired with professional dancers to compete in a competition to determine which non-dancers could improve the most over the course of the show. The idea that these "non-dancers" would be a little awkward was part of the intrigue of many that decided to tune in. That was all fine and dandy, until ABC decided to start casting athletes, most still active in their sports, in each season. I'd like to say that the game has changed, but unfortunately, it's been that way from the start.
The first season of the show debuted back in 2005 with only six pairs competing. One of those six competitors was former World Heavyweight Champion Evander Holyfield. Holyfield was eliminated after the second week, but his appearance paved the way for the future athletes that would appear. To me, bringing professional and/or amateur athletes into the mix seemed to be an unfair concept. I personally wouldn't have watched the show consistently anyway, but when I first heard about the show back in 2005, I was under the impression that the contestants would actually be those people with little to know athletic ability, in order to see what weeks of training with a professional dancer would do for them. What America has seen is slew of athletic competitors making it nearly impossible for anyone else to compete.
In the 12 seasons that "Dancing With The Stars" has been on, six of the twelve winners have been athletes, whether they be professional (Ward, Emmitt Smith, Helio Castroneves) or amateur (Apolo Anton Ohno, Krisit Yamaguchi, Shawn Johnson). That might not seem so bad, only having 50% of the winners be from the world of sports, but when you look at the top three finalists from each season, you can add another seven people from the sports landscape. Since this blog is about sports, I don't want to dive into the rest of the casts...however, of the other six winners that weren't athletes, three were performing artists in bands or groups that danced, and another starred in the movie "Dirty Dancing." Sure seems to be that the winners seem to have a distinct athletic advantage over other competitors.
I'm probably in the minority here, but for some reason, I'm irked by the fact that athletes are taking part in this competition. In a few cases such as Hines Ward's, the athlete is still competing in their sport while they are on the show. What this brings into the equation, especially for professional athletes, is the injury factor. Fortunately, there have not been any professional athletes under contract that have injured themselves as of yet. In 2008, volleyball star Misty May-Treanor ruptured her achilles tendon during practice and had to withdraw from the show, but that is the only serious injury that any athlete performing on the show has endured. The fact that it happened, however, probably has many owners and general managers concerned.
When a show such as "Dancing With The Stars" becomes as popular as it has, it brings a certain following to some that may not have much of one. In 2007, Indy Car driver Helio Castroneves won the "Dancing" crown, which brought a man, otherwise unknown outside the race world, a huge boost in popularity. The following year, in 2008, the Indianapolis 500 saw it's ratings rise. That ratings boost could almost directly be attributed to the prime-time appearance of one of IndyCar's best drivers. So, is it a bad thing that certain athletes are partaking in the show? Not always. However, being an IndyCar driver is a lot different than, say, playing wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals. Other than being an attention hog, people like Chad "Ochocinco" Johnson don't have much need at all to be on the show. He, like other professional athletes, already have plenty of notoriety from their sport that they shouldn't need the extra attention of a prime-time show like "Dancing." And really, is the prize money and the trophy worth the potential injury looming out there?
All told, the show will remain one of ABC most popular. The ratings continue to be huge and it doesn't seem to be slowing down soon. You can also be assured that athletes will continue to be featured. I guess I would just find the competition more interesting if the people dancing had almost no athletic ability whatsoever. That, to me, would be impressive. I mean, seriously, what would've been a better story for this season: Hines Ward winning the trophy, or Kirstie Alley? You could almost be assured that if Kirstie had won, she would be plastered on just about every magazine cover in the checkout line at the grocery store. Ward, though? He might be lucky to get a mere mention in Sports Illustrated for his new championship.
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