The biggest sports story of the past week was Danica Patrick's rookie run at the Indy 500. Television ratings were up 40% over last year's race as viewers tuned in to see the female racing phenom. She finished fourth. She is on the cover of this week's SI.

Ron Sirak compares Danica to Annika, and bemoans the obstacles that women still face in sports.

So far, however, Patrick hasn't shown much interest in being a girl power icon. She's just a great young racer trying to revive interest in a fringe sport... and trying to make a buck.

She and her management team have engaged in a relentless promotional effort. She started off her campaign with a soft-porny photo shoot for FHM, and last week she gave about a million interviews. Look for huge sponsorships and Danica bobbleheads in the near future...

Yesterday, SportsNation ran a Danica-inspired poll and asked: "Who is the most influential female athlete on the American sporting scene?"

Taurasi finished a distant fifth behind Annika, Serena, Danica, and Sharapova.

Sports rise and fall with popular individuals who grab the national attention. The WNBA has not yet found its Tiger, Michael, or Serena. We had hopes for Holdsclaw, then Bird, then Taurasi, but so far, they haven't been able to play that role. We can look ahead to Augustus or Young or Parker... but maybe there's just something about our game that isn't conducive to that kind of stardom.

UPDATE: Eric is tired of the W's feminism.