always the contrarians
6/03/2005
Add a comment
I have a theory that Slate's headline writers do nothing except flip around "conventional wisdom" to encourage you to click on the link. Headlines are always things like "Is being fat actually GOOD for you?" So today's column by Robert Weintraub, Why Danica Patrick is Overrated, didn't even get an eyebrow raise from me. Of course, I did click on the link, though.
His whole argument is that she's racing in a talentless, watered-down league. And while I agree that the league is diminished since its glory days in the 60s and 70s, that doesn't lessen her accomplishments any more than the value of winning the Indy 500 has decreased over the years, after the split with CART and more talented racers in NASCAR and Formula-One. However, to claim that some woman bowler's achievement was more impressive, as Weintraub does in his last paragraph, is just splitting hairs. Neither of them are real sports!
His whole argument is that she's racing in a talentless, watered-down league. And while I agree that the league is diminished since its glory days in the 60s and 70s, that doesn't lessen her accomplishments any more than the value of winning the Indy 500 has decreased over the years, after the split with CART and more talented racers in NASCAR and Formula-One. However, to claim that some woman bowler's achievement was more impressive, as Weintraub does in his last paragraph, is just splitting hairs. Neither of them are real sports!
Comments