Derrick Rose quickly went from the NBA’s 2009 Rookie of the Year (and the Chicago Bulls’ savior) to the center of an NCAA investigation into allegations that he had someone take the SAT test for him so that he could play at Memphis.

Derrick Rose is currently at the center of NCAA investigation into his academic eligibilty at Memphis.

According to the Chicago-Sun Times, his high school grades were even altered to help him stay academically eligible.

The investigation has once again brought attention to the NBA’s age regulation rule, in which players have to be at least 19 years old in order to play professional basketball.

Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports, asks: “Why the heck did he have to take [the SAT test]  in the first place?”

He makes a good point. Rose could have avoided this scandal altogether if he had simply been able to jump directly to the NBA from high school instead.

As Wetzel argues effectively:

“No one cared when Danica Patrick went pro as a race car driver at 16. No one tried to prevent Shawn Johnson from winning an Olympic gold at the same age or Miley Cyrus from making millions singing and acting with her dad even younger than that. And no one ever required them to recognize analogies before doing so. So why do we make Derrick Rose?”

Why, indeed.

Image: Zuma

I really admire Dara Torres, so I hate to see her in a dispute of any type, especially this one with Danica Patrick. Danica was interviewed by Dan Patrick and he asked her: “If you could take a performance-enhancing drug and not get caught, would you do it if it allowed you to win Indy?”

And she replied, “Well, then it’s not cheating, is it? If nobody finds out? Yeah, it would be like finding a gray area.”

Dara Torres sees the interview, and gets all bent out of shape, saying:

“As an athlete that has been tested a thousand times whether through blood or urine samples – I’ve even offered DNA samples to prove that I’m clean – I really can’t ever imagine saying if you don’t get caught that it’s not cheating.”

Now, I’ll admit I haven’t been a huge fan of Danica Patrick, but even I got that she was kidding. When an interviewer like Dan Patrick asks you questions, you know part of the interview is about play and joking around. I really believe Danica was joking around. I suppose if she would have said something REALLY outrageous in response, then it would have been crystal clear that she was joking around.

So, after Torres hears that Danica was joking around, she still wasn’t laughing. She said:

“Just by reading it, you hope that she was just kidding. After her great performance in the Indy 500 this past weekend, it was so impressive what she did, it just kind of spoils it a little bit. As the strong role model that she is, I would encourage her to rethink what she said.”

Is she now implying that Danica actually took drugs to get that great showing at Indy? I think this whole thing is being blown out of proportion, and Torres really needs to let it go. Like I said, I’m a fan of hers, but she needs to simmer down on this one.

What do you think?

Image: Zuma Press

What would racing be without the occasional Danica Patrick temper tantrum? It looks like she had another one (albeit, a small one) when she crashed in the 31st lap of the Honda Grand Prix.

Apparently Danica was “running ninth in the 22-car field on Sunday when rookie Raphael Matos tried to pass as the two went into one of the tightest turns.” Danica patted Matos on the helmet as they walked away. A little condescending tap to let the world know the crash could not have possibly been her fault.

Image: splashnewsonline.com.

I would like to thank John Beamer, one of the writers for F1 Pitlane, for contacting me recently to do an interview over at the site … to which, of course, I happily obliged. John is a great guy and they do a fantastic job over there, so I encourage you all to go give it a look and while you’re there, take a look at the interview.

A Stateside Perspective - NASCAR and F1

Ryan Briscoe earned his second IndyCar Series victory of the season for Penske Racing on Sunday, but the real story of the weekend was the controversy between Danica Patrick and Milka Duno. The previous day during practice, Danica tried on several occassions to get past Milka, whom had fallen off the pace, but Milka was apparently putting a block on her. Though Danica was finally able to get around her, the altercation on the track spurred another altercation off-the track as Danica visited Milka’s pit area following the practice session. Here’s some video footage of what took place:

Image details: 2007 ESPY Awards - Arrivals served by picapp.com

The annual 2008 ESPY Awards will air live on ESPN on Sunday, July 20th at 9 pm est / 8 pm cst, and keeping with their tradition of including outdoor sports and motorsports within their equation, NASCAR will be represented with nominees in three separate categories this year.

Every year, the ESPY’s select from a pool of nominees for their racing-specific athlete category for “Best Driver“. A NASCAR driver has won this award in 9 of the 15 years, and 4 of the last 5. The most recent winners of this award were Jeff Gordon in 2007 and Tony Stewart in 2006. Representing NASCAR this year are 2006 and 2007 Sprint Cup Series champion, Jimmie Johnson (whom has never won the award), current Sprint Cup points leader, Kyle Busch, and Dario Franchitti (though Franchitti was nominated for his win in the 2007 Indianapolis 500 and for winning the IndyCar Series championship last season). They will compete against Lewis Hamilton, Tony Schumacher, and Scott Dixon.

Kyle Busch’s surge to 7 wins this season in the Sprint Cup Series and 14 altogether in NASCAR’s top-three series has also earned him a nomination as the “Breakthrough Athlete of the Year“, but he’s going to be looking at some pretty stout competition in this category, particularly as he goes against Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings. Also nominated for this award are Stephen Curry (basketball) and Ana Ivanovic (tennis). Devin Hester of the Chicago Bears won the award last year.

Much to his own surprise, Jamie McMurray is up for an award himself. He’s been nominated for the “Best Finish” award for his 0.05 second victory over Kyle Busch in the 2007 Pepsi 400 at Daytona International Speedway. He will be up against Western Kentucky’s 3-point buzzer shot to advance over Drake University in the NCAA Tournament; the San Antonio Spurs’ victory over the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals in double overtime; and the Pittsburgh Penguins triple overtime win against the Detroit Redwings in Game 5 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals.

Additionally, IRL star, Danica Patrick, is nominated for the awards of “Best Moment” and “Best Female Athlete.”

Go here for a complete list of the 2008 ESPY Nominees and go to ESPN.com for listing information on the event itself.

Image details: 92nd Indianapolis 500 served by picapp.com

Making her fourth Indianapolis 500 appearance this past Sunday, Danica Patrick started the race from the fifth position, but was taken out of contention on lap 171 of the 200 lap event when the no. 6 Team Penske car of Ryan Briscoe got into her as they attempted to exit pit road. The damage that the incident left on Danica’s car was too extensive for her to continue on, and she was left with a 22nd place finish after running up around the top-ten for most of the day.

Following the accident, Danica stormed out of her wrecked race car and immediately went looking for Briscoe’s pit as she proceeded to remove her gloves. The confrontation was stopped short by track security, and eventually cooler heads prevailed before it could progress any further.

“I was ready to take it all off, my helmet and everything, because it’s hard to talk through the helmet,” she said following the race. “It’s probably a better idea that I didn’t make it all the way down there anyway because, well, as you guys know, I’m a little emotional.”

After watching the replays on video, Briscoe remains adament that he left Danica plent of room, and was unwilling to offer up any sort of an apology. This could be a feud to keep an eye on as the series heads to the Milwuakee Mile on June 1st. After four attempts now, Danica’s best Indianapolis finish remains to be her fourth place run in her rookie season back in 2005.

Recommended Reads:
- Wrapping the Weekend That Was (Full Throttle)

Image details: Goody’s Cool Orange 500 Qualifying served by picapp.com

The Sprint Cup Series was off this past week while the Nationwide Series took to the streets of Mexico City for the Corona Mexico 200 as Kyle Busch cruised to his third consecutive Nationwide Series victory. That, however, was not the headline that the sports world took away from auto racing on that day because while Kyle Busch was debating whether or not to dump Scott Pruett, Danica Patrick was out in Japan making history en route to winning the first IRL race of her career, as well as becoming the first female driver to ever win a race in that series.

In a pure incident of coincidental timing, just days before Danica broke down the barriers for females in racing, Chrissy Wallace inked a deal with Germain Racing that will have her competing full-time in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2009.

Chrissy made her NASCAR debut just a few weeks ago at Martinsville Speedway in the Truck Series’ Kroger 250. Despite starting that race all the way back from the 35th position, she was able to find her way up to 18th by the final lap of the race. Her run was impressive enough to force the hands at Germain Racing to offer her up a contract, and they finalized the deal this past Wednesday. Chrissy will run another six races this year in the no. 03 Toyota Tundra – the first of which will be on June 20th in Milwuakee, and from there she will begin to prepare for her 2009 rookie campaign.

Regarding her signing with Germain, Chrissy stated, “I’m extremely excited. This is a big deal for us. When I saw my name on that contract, I almost couldn’t believe it. But, I’m thrilled about this opportunity.”

Chrissy comes from a long line of racers in her family, to include her father Mike Wallace, and uncles Rusty and Kenny. She has spent the majority of her amateur career racing late model stock cars, and became the first female driver to win at Hickory Motor Speedway in 57 years.  She has also earned herself the backing of the unofficial NASCAR spokesman himself, Tony Stewart, and that just simply can’t hurt matters.

The official signing of Chrissy Wallace is a huge step for NASCAR as they continue to work on building diversity within their garage areas. In recent years, the sport has added a number of drivers with foreign backgrounds, to include such names as Juan Pablo Montoya, Dario Franchitti, and Patrick Carpentier. They have also created and contributed to a multitude of diversity programs in an effort to help this cause. Although Chrissy certainly is not the first female to dawn a NASCAR firesuit, it certainly appears as though that she may potentially be the first to have the necessary combination of talent AND proper equipment afforded to her that it takes to win at NASCAR’s highest levels.

DYN Imposes:
This week, Do You Nascar also asks its readers …

1) Do you think that Chrissy Wallace will be successful in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2009, and will she win Rookie of the Year?

2) Are female drivers often given some of their driving opportunities simply because of their market value as women?

3) Have NASCAR’s diversity programs been successful, and is the diversity they’ve added been good for the sport?

4) What could NASCAR do to expand their diversity programs?

Racing in her 50th career start in the IndySeries this past Sunday, Danica Patrick won the Indy Japan 300 for Andretti Green Racing, and in doing so, became the first female in IRL history to win a race. The race came down to a fuel strategy decision, and by staying out, she was able to move up to second place on lap 197 of the 200-lap race. On lap 198, she took the lead from polesitter Helio Castroneves and was on her way to a victory lap moments later.

Danica is certainly no stranger to the history books since the 26-year-old made her debut to professional racing back in 2005. That year she became the first female driver to lead a lap in the Indy 500 en route to her fourth place finish in that race, and last year she finished 7th overall in the points standings.

When asked about being the first female to win a race in the IndyCar Racing League, Danica said, “I’m glad it finally happened, but I would be lying if I told you I didn’t think it would be me.” She also stated that the best part about the victory was that she would no longer have to answer questions about when she would win her first race.

In Other News:
- Former Indy 500 winner and current NASCAR Sprint Cup Series rookie, Sam Hornish Jr, has recently squashed rumors that he may be replaced by David Stremme at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in May so that he can run in the 2008 Indy 500. Last Friday, Hornish said that it’s just not feasible for him to drive in both the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 in the same weekend, and he reiterated his commitment to piloting the no. 77 car for Penske Racing and attempting to make his rookie season in NASCAR a success.

GoDaddy.com has been made famous in the racing world – or, perhaps notorious is the word best used to describe it – for their affiliation with Danica Patrick in the IndySeries. However, recent statements they’ve made concerning the fact that NASCAR dwarfs the IndySeries in viewership comparison, coupled with them signing a Nationwide sponsorship deal with Hendrick Motorsports this year, could give Danica plenty of reason to feel unnerved. GoDaddy.com will be the primary sponsor on six Nationwide events for the #5 Junior Motorsports car, as well as an associate sponsor in 29 others, not to mention that they were the tv sponsor this past weekend at Bristol.

For the complete story, the rundown of what events they will serve as the primary sponsor, which of those events will be run by Dale Earnhardt Jr himself, and some other interesting information pertaining to their advertisement deals with Junior, please click here.