Boo This
Indy 500 finish aside, Danica Patrick — the Stephon Marbury of auto racing — isstill one of sport's biggest cry babies
Danica Patrick thinks the world revolves around her.
Danica Patrick is almost as wacky as former NBA guard Stephon Marbury.
Though it's unclear if Marbury — self glossed as Starbury —ever posed like thisin a swimsuit.
Danica Patrick's been given so much and returned so little.
Patrick is one of the most famous race car drivers in the world, though she's not close to one of the best. She is held up as an example of female power, even though she hasn't come close to changing anything for any female except for herself. (This is no Venus Williams making Wimbledon pay equal prize money to women through the force of her crusade for example). Danica Patrick isn't a trendsetter as much as an individual operator.
In short, she's like former NBA player Stephon Marbury — a spoiled, petulant, slightly (OK, more than slightly) loopy athlete who's come up through a system that's fed her sense of self entitlement.
Only nobody's noticed with Patrick because she looks good in a swimsuit and draws long lines of autograph seekers.
That's changing though. Patrick couldn't even completely save her false image with that gutsy sixth-place finish at the Indianapolis 500. As nice as the run was, it's not what people are going to remember from Patrick's 2010 Indy 500. No, the most important race of her year, will be known as the time that Patrick finally heard some boos.
She's likely still in denial about it, but it happened — after another typical Patrick whine. A poor qualifying showing — one that really gave her no chance to win Sunday's race long before it started — triggered this latest bit of Danica self pity. In an interview after the run — which was played over the track's public address system — Patrick put the blame on an "absolutely awful" race car and added, "It's not my fault."
Really, nothing new from Patrick — who's had a number of silly feuds with fellow drivers during her career and never thinks she's the cause of any problem. But this time, even Patrick's people hit their limit.
The boos rang down from the grandstand.
"I've had boos over the years, but not like this," Patrick told the Los Angeles Times. "It doesn't make me feel good, no."
It also probably won't change anything. Danica Patrick is 28. She's been in 87 races now. This isn't some young kid who needs time to find her way.
With Dancia Patrick, you get what get: A egotistical athlete with little sense of that there's a world outside of herself. That hardly makes her unique in the ranks of professional sports. In some ways, it's a sign of progress that a woman athlete can get away with being as much of a jerk as one of the men.
But let's not pretend Patrick is something else.
