Monday, August 15, 2005

So...did anyone catch Rusty Wallace, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Petty and Kasey Kahne on Larry King Live? First of all, I'm really glad that someone who has an inkling about NASCAR is interviewing these guys but you know, I'm really tired of broadcasts showing mostly wrecks. I do not attend races or watch races to see wrecks. Now, I have to admit that when it is a spectacular wreck, Tony Stewart flipping end over end in the back strech of Daytona or Ryan Newman's car catching the air and flipping until it completely came apart at Daytona or any number of wrecks like that...when I see those I am truly amazed to watch all of the safety features taking hold and keeping the driver safe. Me? I cheer when the wreck is over and I see the driver get out unhurt. But I digress.... Bob Costas, please, will someone wake this guy up out of the time warp! If you stood at a ticket gate and watched the people coming into the track you could easily count over 50% are women. It doesn't take a rocket scientist but it does take someone other than an man doing statistics to see that women make up a huge part of the crowds at the tracks. Bob, you even made some stupid remark about how all the calls that you took were from women. Do you really think we don't know that there is a producer who is monitoring who gets on air? Please. I am a woman but I am not stupid. So you threw in a call from a man for good measure, so what. While I'm on the subject, if you were going to push the woman side of the sport why not talk about the women who actually drive in NASCAR? Kelly Sutton, Debra Renshaw, Erin Crocker, and while she may not be in NASCAR (yet) how about Danica Patrick? Women know how to wheel a car just as well as men can. I remember years ago having a discussion (with a man of course) about how the college scholarships and TV time is so much better for male dominated sports. He kept insisting it was because men were better. I kept insisting that women would be better if they had all the years of time, money and exposure that men had through the years. Of course, he didn't get my point, and frankly, I didn't think he would. So what does this mean? Women in motorsports is not new (just ask Janet Guthrie). What is new is that they are finally get TV exposure and some money. Given time, women will equal if not surpass men in motorsports capability. Okay, I'm finished on my soap box. Next?