Fast women and the media

While I usually follow the sports news pretty closely, I don't follow auto racing that much. But I can't understand all the buzz about Danica Patrick, who is one of the rookie racers in the Indianapolis 500 today (green flag less than two hours away, as a matter of fact).

Patrick is a woman. Well, there have been (three) women racers in the 500 before. What makes Patrick the subject of this media hype, though, is that she is 23 years old, and she's driving a really fast car--she's got the fourth position in the starting grid, which is really good.

Here's how the CBS Sportsline.com blurb describes it:

"A rookie. The field's lone woman. The sport's possible savior. Danica Patrick bears a heavy burden in today's 89th Indy 500. (1 ET). But Robby Gordon says she has a sizeable edge."

In case you're wondering: The "sizable edge," as it turns out, is that she weighs about 100 pounds--about 100 pounds less than the average Indy driver. So her car weighs less with driver on board, which helps with gas mileage.

So in the runup (a cricket term) to the 500, I'd guess 75% of the media coverage has centered squarely on her. People are saying that if Patrick wins, she could be give open-wheel racing (where the wheels are exposed, unlike the NASCAR hot rods) a major boost in the public eye. You know--a curiosity for the general public.

Patrick, for her part, speaks with great conviction and determination, that she plans to win. By all accounts, she has a very powerful car--she was the fastest driver on Friday, the only day the drivers could give their cars a workout in the final week before the 500.

So I expect to see feature upon feature about Patrick, this race's media darling, and very close attention to everything she does, for however long she does it.

It's way too much media hype for any rookie driver, male or female, but that's just how it is with televised sports nowadays. It seems the coverage is tailored to the very casual fan or to the merely curious, while the hardcore fans are basically taken for granted. I don't like being taken for granted.

That's the way ESPN has evolved in the last five years or so. Fact: The "E" in ESPN stands for Entertainment. While the E has always been before the S (Sports) in the network's name, for the last few years they have given giving the entertainment aspect of a sports event more importance than the event itself. ESPN SportsCenter nowadays seems more like a sports-oriented version of "Entertainment Tonight."

And that's too bad. I remember when ESPN SportsCenter was really, really good for sports fans. It wasn't that long ago, either. Those were the days!

See? I'm getting nostalgic again.

As for Danica, you go, girl. Hope you're able to ignore all the hype, focus on your driving, not get too aggressive (the pitfall of many rookie drivers), stay out of the wrecks and that your car's engine holds together. Have fun!