I Didn't Know Indiana Had A Wine Industry

Or is that a "whine" industry? There sure are a lot of sour grapes coming out of Indianapolis in the wake of Danica Patrick's wonderful 4th place finish in the Indy 500.

It seems a lot of the male drivers think Danica has an unfair advantage. She is so tiny that her car weighs less than theirs, which means she gets better fuel mileage and can run faster . . . so somehow her record-setting performance is not fair.

Right. I'll bet not a one of them ever complained about a smaller MALE driver having an unfair advantage. Besides, the race rules specifically take into account that drivers' weights will differ: the required maximum weight for the race car is specifically to be measured WITHOUT fuel or driver on board.

Furthermore, cars are not horses. I doubt we need a system to install lead weights into Indy cars to "equalize" the field. If we really wanted to make the field totally equal, we'd insist on all the cars being identical and all the drivers being of equal weight, age, experience, and so on. Silly. Variables are the entire point of the sport. Who squanders his/her advantage? Who overcomes his/her disadvantage? Those are the ingredients of competition. Those are the elements of the stories that make the events worth our time.

Besides, her being smaller makes for Danica having fewer physical resources on which to draw, which means she by definition will have less stamina . . . which should make the other, male drivers happy. The Indy 500 is as much a test of driver stamina as anything.

Let's face it: a lot of the male drivers are embarrassed and feel threatened by the fact that Danica did so very well in her first Indy 500 . . . better than most of them. When Anika Sorenstam competed last year in a male PGA event, a lot of the male golfers carped about her presence there, too.

And yet the Women's Pro Bowling tour has ceased to exist as a separate entity, and now the women compete directly against the men. And have even made the TV finals. I haven't heard the male bowlers griping. Egads! Does that mean that they are more enlightened than some of their fellows?

There is no real way to make the playing field perfectly level for everyone at every time. But when a sport relies more on skill and brain power than on brute strength, even though strength can be a component, there is no reason NOT to let the women compete at the same time on the same track.

So I say, "way to go, Danica!" Illegitimi non carbundum!