What makes her so special?

The same can be said of Michelle Wie.

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I have the utmost respect for Michele Wie nowadays. Yes, she was annyoing about 6-7 years ago, but she was a kid and doing amazing things for her age. Everyone wanted a piece of her, which is why she was offered exemptions to every tournament under the sun. Nobody would turn down those offers.

But when she stopped being cute and stopped appearing at the top of the leaderboard, she took some time off and then went through Q School to get her LPGA card. There's no shame in that, whatsoever.

 

I have the utmost respect for Michele Wie nowadays. Yes, she was annyoing about 6-7 years ago, but she was a kid and doing amazing things for her age. Everyone wanted a piece of her, which is why she was offered exemptions to every tournament under the sun. Nobody would turn down those offers.

But when she stopped being cute and stopped appearing at the top of the leaderboard, she took some time off and then went through Q School to get her LPGA card. There's no shame in that, whatsoever.
[/quote]

Sorry, just realized I went off on a completely different subject.

 

Auto racing is about sponsorships. You can't win if you don't have a car. You don't have a car without sponsors.
There are other drivers who have been racing for longer that haven't been as successful as Patrick, but they stay in cars because they keep the sponsors happy.
If you know who sponsors Patrick - she has done her job.

 

Both. You want to win, but as others pointed out, you also have to be able to get attention to attract the sponsorships necessary for you to keep driving. There are plenty of good drivers left out in the cold because they can't scare up sponsorship money. Heck, Jeff Gordon went to NASCAR because he couldn't get the sponsorship money necessary to run IndyCar.

 

You're right. Danica hasn't won a race she hasn't started. Good call.

The luminaries who HAVE won the Daytona 500: Ward Burton. Derrike Cope. Jamie McMurray.

Sure do hope Danica someday lives up to Derrike Cope's career, indeed.

 

I met Derrick Cope once. He was signing pictures, coffee mugs and such at an Exxon station in town. One of his career highlights, I'm sure.

 

Those guys have won it TWICE?

 

She races because she loves it, because it's what she does best and because it pays her more than anything else she could be doing.

Same exact reason why I work at a newspaper. Because I love it, because it's what I do best and because it pays me more than any other job I could get.

So what's the problem? It isn't HER; it's the attention OTHERS give her.

Starman says "start winning or hang it up."

Why? When most people look at IndyCar results or channel surf and happen to see a race being run, the FIRST thing on their minds is "Where is Danica?"

And as long as that's the first thing on most people's minds . . . nothing will change.

There will ALWAYS be some people who get more hype than they "deserve". Whether it's John Daly or Terrell Owens or Allen Iverson or Tim Tebow or Kim Kardashian, that's just the way things are.

 

Well said.

 

Yes, indeed.

 

I would hit it, and then I would make a t-shirt to wear saying that I did hit it.

Hell, I may even get a Judah Freidlander hat as well.

If I was still single...