Criticism of Patrick unfair

Danica Patrick is getting a lot of flack for her show of temper. Oh, in case you didn't know, she was one of three women competing in the Indy 500 race Sunday. She was one of the few women to have such an honor and, in my opinion, the only one to have ever had a real shot at winning the race.

In fact she pushed her Andretti Green team car all the way to sixth place after starting in the second row. Then with 29 laps left, she was hit on pit road, by Australian driver Ryan Briscoe and her racing day was over.

Well, I've got some questions about what transpired afterward.

First, should she have been mad at Briscoe? Of course! Should she have been mad at her crew who she kept radioing all race that her car was "Running slow?" Maybe! Have there ever been cases of when male drivers showed equally bad attitudes? Absolutely! And finally, did those same drivers get as much negative exposure as Patrick? You be the judge.

Anyone who was watching the event or the sports news afterward saw her stalking down pit row toward the Briscoe camp. At just over five feet tall, she wasn't exactly the most imposing of figures, but she was still a force to contend with as she will be in the future, both on and off the race track.

But, a final question. Does she deserve the criticism she's been getting for her display of temper? Maybe some, but not as much as has been thrown out. But that seems to be the double standard all women have to deal with in virtually all sports.

For some reason, people write womens' temper outbursts off as petulance, female hormones, PMS or some other chauvinistic thing. And that, in my humble opinion as a male, is completely unfair.

It's almost as if people think women aren't supposed to have any competitive attitude at all. But why?

Just go to any pee wee softball or soccer game involving women and you'll see parents driving them just as hard as any boy's team. Then when they get to high school, we expect the girls to fight just as hard to win as any other team, male or not.

And clearly, with those expectations, why shouldn't girls and women be just as fanatical about winning. Even to the point of going off when they feel they are being mistreated or treated unfairly. And I feel they have the right to do this without being lambasted additionally simply because they have different expectations of them because of their gender.

And that's the key. There shouldn't be different expectations because of gender. If they get on the same field or track competing nose-to-nose with the guys then treat 'em the same in all ways. Don't baby them or give them special treatment, but don't be overly critical of them either.

But that's just my opinion this week, for what it's worth.