Danica, what are you doing?!

When I saw this story this morning, I wasn't surprised, but I was dumbfounded. It appears Danica Patrick is looking to join the NASCAR circuit, beginning next year. Her contract with the IRL Rahal/Letterman team expires at the end of the year and Danica's daddy has reportedly been talking with some NASCAR teams. The first thought that comes to mind: What is she thinking??? Besides finishing 4th at last year's Indy 500, she's done NOTHING! She has actually regressed in her performance. One thing that worked in her favor last year is that her team was one of the few teams that used a Honda engine. Now, every team uses the fast Honda engine, negating the advantage the Rahal/Letterman team had. I mean, she hasn't even been close to contending for a victory since last year's Indy 500. What makes her and her dad think they're going to compete and win at NASCAR?

The real reason for this decision: $$$$$$$$$. There's much more exposure in NASCAR, and she'd become a bigger attraction, but she's going to quickly turn into the Anna Kournikova of racing unless she shows some improvement. I'll also admit I'm not going to read the autobiography she's already written? What makes her any different from Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, and Sarah Fisher? One top 5 finish in a watered down Indy 500 field which somehow led the usually smart people at Sports Illustrated to have a braincramp and put her on the cover? Talk about the ultimate SI jynx. If she would've raced at Indy 15 years ago when the Indy 500 and not the Daytona 500 was the premiere racing event, she wouldn't have finished in the top half. Danica, I hope you prove me wrong, but I don't like the looks of this.

Today was a rest day in Le Tour. The sprinters get one more opportunity tomorrow before the Pyrennes begin on Wednesday. Floyd Landis will undergo surgery on his hip after Le Tour. He says he'll be able to continue, it'll be interesting to see how it affects him in the mountains.

And Miami may have stolen a big-time recruit from the big boys. Today, wide receiver Chris Givens, touted by many as the #1 wide receiver in Ohio for the class of 2007, has given a verbal commitment to Miami. Recruits are rated by various services by the number of stars given to them on a scale of 1 to 5. The big-time schools get the 5-star recruits, a school like Miami is just happy to get a 3-star recruit. Currently, Givens is a 4-star recruit. I don't get too excited about recruiting, I want to see what happens on the field before getting excited about someone, but it was hard not to get excited, especially hearing that Ohio State was starting to pursue him.

That is all, g'night.