Jim O'Donnell: On a weekend all about valor, Danica, Caitlin and a prep runner boost the edges
THE ORIGINAL INTENT WAS to sing a simple song about a trio of athletes who have never appeared together.
They are Danica Patrick, Caitlin Clark and Lily Ginsberg.
Patrick and Clark are familiar names navigating new straits. Ginsberg is the remarkable prep runner who willed herself to help lead the Prospect Knights to an unprecedented state team track title last weekend.
Then Memorial Day kept nudging the main frame.
Memorial Day is the one American holiday when the pursuit of fresh profundity is within all boundaries.
Meaningful words hardly seem unreasonable when the commemoration of close to 1.5 million military lives lost in 10 conflicts ranging from the Revolutionary War to the ongoing “War on Terror” is considered.
A MEMORABLE SUMMARY WAS imparted years ago by a gentleman named Pete Romanowski in the Cleveland airport suburb of Brook Park.
He fought honorably in World War II. He later reveled in the camaraderie of mates at the local VFW and American Legion. He prayed his son would never have to endure an overseas experience such as his — and the son didn't.
Talking about his service and the meaning of Memorial Day, Romanowski once told a young lad, “Hate the war but honor the warrior.”
The words have never been forgotten.
THE SPOTLIGHTED TRIO is light years from battlefield valor. But they are nonetheless warriors pushing the honor of the human spirit.
Danica Patrick returns to a prime starter's row Sunday when she will once again serve as studio analyst for NBC's coverage of the Indy 500 (10 a.m., also Peacock and Universo). Her setmate will be Mike Tirico, a ubiquitous host these days who deserves the rainbow entrance tune, “Begin the Benign.”
Patrick's professional driving career has been in her back pages since 2018. But she has steadily been making her mark in a very different channel.
The Rockford-area native is closing in on the 250th edition of her podcast “Pretty Intense.” She has more than 300,000 subscribers. Since first dropping in August 2019, the Patrick presentation has shown a consistent flair for spark and the discussion of a vast array of topics far removed from any pit row.
In one-on-one settings, “Pretty Intense” has drawn an impressive roster of guests. They've ranged from astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson to reformed kill-all-men pop savager Alanis Morissette to UFO-ologist Dr. Steven Greer.
The shows — normally about 90 minutes long — are driven by Patrick's impassioned curiosities and conversational style. They seldom touch on sports or politics.
She has a rare gift for a celebrity interviewer and that's the restraint to stay out of the way of a guest's answers. If the 21st century is to have a new-mill Oprah, Danica Patrick is on the short list.
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CAITLIN CLARK FINALLY GOT the WNBA monkey off her back Friday night when Indiana hung on for her first victory as a pro over the Los Angeles Sparks.
A record women's basketball crowd of more than 19,000 at L.A.'s Crypto.com Arena watched Clark overcome a chilled shooting night to nail two 3-pointers late. The favorable Fever final was 78-73.
The dissection of Clark as her WNBA career opened at 0-5 reached ludicrous outskirts in recent days. Some socially muddled were expressing resentment over the “facts” that Clark is too white, too straight and too green to be deserving the tens of millions of dollars corporate America is guiding her way.
The vacuity and undeniable racism of such rush-to-judgmentalness is astounding. From “A League of Their Own” to “A League Only of Our Own Kind,” perverse WNBA flamethrowers are trying to undermine the most uplifting rookie since Naperville's very own Candace Parker.
Clark will find her game in the WNBA. If she doesn't, she'll merely have to reinvent herself as a wealthy young lady. That will be with a forever-iconic status as one of the most positive high-wire influencers in the history of women's basketball.
Despite the fall that the meanies may be wishin' and hopin' for, Caitlin Clark isn't exactly working without a net.
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THE INCLUSION OF LILY GINSBERG alongside Patrick and Clark may seem excessively provincial. But that's what happens when legions of joggers and 'lopers from the Prospect High sports teams have been running below the home office window for years.
Ginsberg entered her senior season at PHS with over-the-moon expectations for coach Pete Wintermute. In three previous spring campaigns, she had been a key member of state champion 3,200 relay teams.
Then in March, bridge out. Ginsberg sustained a stress reaction in a femur. The main Rx was rest and that could have meant a premature end to her high school track trajectory.
Instead, moving forward with a champion's heart, Ginsberg was allowed to resume running in late April.
As terrifically reported by both John Bumbales of the Daily Herald and Mike Berman of WMAQ-Channel 5 Sports this week, Ginsberg's resolve paid off last Saturday at the state meet in Charleston.
Along with 3,200 partners Mary Laba, Veronica Znajda and Meg Peterson, the Knights once again won the event. Ginsberg became the first girls runner in the history of the Illinois High School Association to sweep the same relay in all four years.
She's headed for the University of Missouri. Her legacy will long linger at PHS.
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A MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND to honor individual military valor cast against the calloused challenges of ceaseless organized inhumanity somewhere in the world.
Along with an alive salute to three very different achievers, each representing the possibilities of independent thought, changing times and the human spirit's boundless capacity to push onward and conquer.
Ain't that America?
Or at least what it's all supposed to be about?
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.