Ed Hinton has gone on record with a Glowing Tribute to Danica Patrick. Witness the flowing praise:
"You may see a side of Danica the American public and media have never seen before: the grit, the grim determination, the work ethic, the ultra-thick skin that Bobby Rahal found in England when she was 16 and living all by herself across the Atlantic from her family … slugging it out in the "schooling formulas," banging wheels with wealthy male candidates for Formula One … fiercely enduring the insulting, demeaning coldness of British mechanics who "thought I should be at home cooking and cleaning the house" instead of racing, she once told me."
That's a 94-word sentence filled with Danica love right there. (Note: adding in the "she once told me" is a reporter trick for subtly letting readers know you are tight enough to talk directly to the celebrity.)
Danica as Plucky Underdog never rang true with me. Sure, she had difficulties over in England that shouldn't be minimized. But since then it hasn't exactly been a Janet Guthry-level fight to get on the track in the IRL.
The truth is Danica has used reasonable talent and above-average hotness -- which she has no reluctance to exploint -- to get what she's gotten, including any future shot at N-word. Free country. I have nothing against Danica at all, but let's not over romanticize The Struggle.
You can the rest of Ed's flowing soliloquy HERE.
A new patsy for the revisionist history. Ed is not exactly the most reliable of news reporters as it is. He can make Robin look like Tom Brokaw or Peter Jennings.
Posted by: Sue | September 07, 2009 at 05:35 PM
Wow, Ed really likes Danica....
Posted by: dylan | September 07, 2009 at 05:57 PM
Above average hotness???? Have you been to close to too many ethanol fumes this year? If she was Danika from Finance at the Principal Financial Group would you give her a second look if you weren't four beers into happy hour?
Posted by: Duke | September 07, 2009 at 11:33 PM
Apparently, Duke, there's an audience out there that finds Danica hot. I wouldn't call her homely by any stretch.
Posted by: pressdog | September 08, 2009 at 07:41 AM
I consider her hot. If there's one thing I hate it's the boring, platinum blonde, DD Cup porn-star looks that most American men find "hot." She's athletic, great abs, great legs, great smile--I'd qualify her as hot.
And the reason she hasn't won more in Indycar is that she's in a car that can't keep up with the Big Reds. Period. She's better than Andretti, better than Kanaan, and better than Mutoh in equal equipment these days. I don't see how she's doing bad at all.
Posted by: john | September 08, 2009 at 10:44 AM
I'm not sure about better than Kannan, though. He's had a rough season, and been injured a lot. I think Danica's a good driver, I'd say she's probably one of the top-5 or 6 drivers on ovals, though.
Posted by: dylan | September 08, 2009 at 12:04 PM