Please! Time to give Danica the respect she truly deserves

Ah, message boards.

You have to love all the bad grammar, misspellings, crazy comments, hair-brain ideas and downright venom that you can find floating in cyberspace.

I decided to check out a few racing-related message boards to see what fans were writing about in the wake of Danica Patrick's historic victory last weekend in Japan.

By winning the Indy Japan 300, Patrick became the first female driver to ever win an IndyCar race.

I knew I was bound to find some intriguing entries -- and I was right.

As expected, some "fans" were downplaying, even chastising Patrick's victory because it was a fuel strategy race. She came from behind -- as far behind as eighth place on the 189th lap -- to beat out lead cars that pitted late in the race to re-fuel.

"I'm not at all impressed with Danica's win," one message board scribe wrote. "Winning on a fuel mileage race is luck, in my opinion."

"The only way she can win is if everyone else runs out of gas," wrote another.

I could list many more messages just like this, and if you could see me at my desk typing this, you'd see me rolling my eyes and sighing emphatically.

Is this really where we are in 2008?

Still with the chauvinism?

Isn't winning just … winning?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I just assumed that managing your car -- the parts, the tires, the fuel, the engine's performance -- is as much a part of racing as the strategy behind the actual driving itself.

I'm pretty sure that's the case since many other drivers, including Jimmie Johnson in last week's NASCAR Sprint Cup event in Phoenix, have won on fuel mileage.

But Danica doesn't get her due. Why? We all know why. Because she's a woman.

You know what dominated the message boards I looked at even more than the venomous chides about the fuel mileage? Posts about how "hot" Patrick is -- some even from those who were also mouthing off about the fuel mileage.

Frankly, I'm sickened by it. Are you?

Tiger who? Perhaps overshadowed by Danica-mania last weekend was the amazing accomplishment of golf sensation Lorena Ochoa.

She earned her fourth title in four consecutive weekends by winning the LPGA Ginn Open in Florida.

This is Tiger Woods-like dominance here.

Actually, Woods has never won four titles in four weekends. And the 26-year-old Ochoa, the No. 1 ranked player in the world, has also won the last two majors -- the Women's British Open and the Kraft Nabisco.

Here we go again: It's the story that just won't die: the Pat vs. Geno feud.

During the basketball season, it was well documented that Tennessee women's basketball coach Pat Summitt elected to cancel the much-hyped and long-running annual series with archrival Connecticut, coached by Geno Auriemma.

Reporters asked and asked again what was at the root of this decision, but both coaches said little if anything.

On Tuesday, while speaking with reporters, Auriemma finally spoke publicly and said that Summitt "doesn't have the courage to say it publicly."

Summitt has received some criticism for not explaining why she canceled the 12-year-old series, which had been the crown jewel of the regular season in women's college basketball.

"Pat knows … so she should just tell you why instead of saying, 'Geno knows,' " Auriemma said. "I do know. She accused us of cheating at recruiting. She doesn't have the courage to say it publicly. So yeah, Geno does know. And I've said it."

It had been reported months ago that Tennessee had contacted the Southeastern Conference, which then informed the NCAA, about a recruiting violation involving Connecticut and Maya Moore, who is now a freshman at Connecticut.

A national high school player of the year who also seriously considered Tennessee, Moore toured ESPN's studios while on a visit to Connecticut. That visit was arranged by the basketball office, a secondary violation.

Until Auriemma's confirmation, it wasn't certain whether that was the reason the series had been canceled or whether it had something to do with the ever-rocky personal relationship between the two coaches, which has been deteriorating rapidly in recent years.

Tops in tennis

Northwestern continues to dominate the Big Ten, and the country, in women's tennis.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 1 nationally, finished the regular season with a 23-1 record, including a 10-0 mark in the Big Ten. That gave NU the conference crown for a record-breaking 10th consecutive season.

The Wildcats, led by Russian freshman Maria Mosolova, have won 60 consecutive Big Ten matches, dating to April 2004.

On Thursday, Mosolova was named the Big Ten's Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year -- just the fourth time in history the same person has won both awards. She went 18-2 overall and 10-0 in Big Ten play.

Meanwhile, Northwestern coach Claire Pollard was named the Big Ten's coach of the year for the fourth time in her career.

NU's Lauren Lui was also named first team all-Big Ten, as was Megan Fudge of Illinois.

Softball star

Congrats to former Palatine standout Nicole Pauly, a second baseman at Northwestern. She was selected the Big Ten softball player of the week.

In wins over Indiana and Purdue last weekend, she maintained a .538 batting average and drove in a team-high 8 runs.

Granny ball

"And now...Granny Basketball!"

Former Bulls announcer Ray Clay will be on hand as the voice of the first Granny Allstar Leagues, which will feature women over 50 playing basketball.

Five teams will be playing games from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday at Homan Square Park District, 3559 West Arthington, Chicago.

Admission is $10 for adults and $1 for children age 12 and younger, with all proceeds going to the Chicago Special Olymipcs.

For more information on Granny Allstar Leagues, which caters to women over 50 "with passions for sports, the arts, charity, camaraderie and life," visit www.GrannyAllstarLeagues.com.

-- Patricia Babcock McGraw