On the rag

I really wanted to be mad at Ed Carpenter for his comments about Danica Patrick. Really I did.

Then I read the whole article, and I realized it's the producer who reduced Carpenter's comments to a sound byte I should be targeting.

Taken in context, Carpenter's suggestion that Patrick might be a more aggressive driver at the "right time of the month" sounds less like a misogynistic slur and more like some good-natured ribbing from a competitor who clearly respects Patrick as a driver.

Let's face it: If women want to play with the big boys--and I happen to believe we're more than capable--we have to remember what the big boys are like. They are not nice, not to each other, and not to anybody else. Most of the time they're the least nice to the people who are beating them, so the better Patrick gets, the more potshots she's likely to get.

Based on her reaction to the whole hullabaloo, I think she can take it.