Every guy can tell you some stories about how as a teenage boy they would look forward to that blessed day when the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue hit newsstands, or was cautiously folded to fit into your mailbox. Guys play sports, and girls wear swimsuits, right?Move over guys, because women are busting onto the field of notoriety, and it’s not because of their looks. Let the beauty shop talk begin.
Danica Patrick, who was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, was a phenomenon, a rare combination of attractiveness and skill. She also did something that Anna Kournikova never was able to do, she won.
Danica Patrick’s breakthrough victory in the Honda Indy 300 in Japan silenced the skeptics who thought “Danica Mania” was more hype than substance, that it was based on her beauty rather than her bravery.
The hype that surrounded Patrick all started when she burst onto the “sports scene” following the 2005 Indianapolis 500. The expectation levels rose to what most people thought were unrealistic proportions. Looks like she just cleared one road block.
Unlike IndyCar, where Danica Patrick is the face of the whole organization, professional golf is cast under the huge shadow that is Tiger Woods. That might be the reason people are still in the dark when it comes to Lorena Ochoa. Could someone please turn on the lights so that we can take a closer look at what Ochoa has been able to do?
In her first six starts this season, Ochoa has won five of them (including four straight). With Tiger on the shelf due to a knee surgery, there should be no argument as to who the best golfer is currently (comparatively to the competition, of course). Since the beginning of 2006, Tiger Woods has won an incredible 18 tournaments. Ochoa has won 19 times during that same stretch. For a Mexican-born, soft-spoken player having no intentions of playing with the guys, Ochoa’s play could possibly get her out of the Tiger shadow and into the light of that beloved “sports scene.”
Lorena and Danica have been competing on the professional level for a couple of years, but there is a new lady that is about to experience life as a professional. Consider if Lebron James actually went to college for three years before turning pro, and you have Candace Parker.
Parker was a highly recruited, highly regarded high school player coming out of Naperville, Illinois. She chose to play for the powerhouse Lady Volunteers at the University of Tennessee. She’s the first ever female to dunk in an NCAA tournament game, as well as the first female to dunk twice in a game. This past season, Parker led the Lady Volunteers to an NCAA national championship.
What’s most impressive is that Parker played the final two games of the tournament with a severely separated shoulder. After back-to-back national championships, Parker announced she was leaving Tennessee a year early.
Like James in the NBA Draft, Parker was taken number one
in the WNBA Draft. Lebron
was instantly known as “King James.” Well, “Queen Parker” or “Princess Parker” has a certain ring to it.
With Parker, Patrick and Ochoa all being age 26 and under, this won’t be the last we hear or read about them. Women play sports. Women wear sports gear, they drink sports drinks, they drive cars and they also eat. Ever think women just don’t want to be like Mike? Maybe, just maybe, they want to be like Candace, Lorena or Danica.
