Danica Is Hot . . . I Mean Mad

Sports by the Numbers Stat of the Week

171 Danica Patrick completed (171) of 200 laps at Sunday’s running of the Indianapolis 500 and was among the top ten drivers when she was involved in an accident in the pit lane. Ryan Briscoe swerved out of his pit and touched wheels with Patrick, causing her rear suspension to snap and ending her race. Patrick came out of her car literally looking for a fight, saying later, after being restrained by track security, “It’s probably a better idea that I didn’t make it all the way down there anyway.”

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Honorable Mentions

7 No team in NBA history has ever started the post-season by losing seven straight games on the road – but the Celtics were in position to do just that up against Detroit in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals last Saturday. Boston lost Game 2 at home, after beginning the post-season with a 9-0 run on their home court – so a win in Game 3 was a must. Well, they got it – and there still has not been an NBA team to start a post-season with seven consecutive road losses. Kevin Garnett scored 22 points to lead Boston to a 94-80 victory, and Celtics coach Doc Rivers said, “I think our guys just assumed we would eventually win on the road.”

30 The Spurs are not dead yet – Manu Ginobili took care of the Lakers in Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals to cut San Antonio’s deficit to 2-1. The Spurs won the game easily at home, 103-84, led by Ginobili, who scored 30 points and was good from outside the three-point arc five times. Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said, “He is such a competitor – he’s got a lot of confidence in what he can do, and so when he has these games, it is really not a surprise anymore.”

34 Phil Mickelson won at Colonial this weekend after a miracle birdie on the final hole – it was win number (34) in his career, and it was also his second victory on tour this season. The victory means Mickelson is the only player on tour with at least two victories in each of the last five seasons. Mickelson set up the winning birdie with a wedge shot that went under one tree and over another – clipping branches along the way – and yet it ended up 140 yards away on the green just eight feet from the cup.

115 Scott Dixon won the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday after leading the race seven different times for a total of (115) laps. He won the race with the fastest car, after all he did start from the pole position – but team owner Chip Ganassi beat him to the first gulp of milk. Ganassi took the bottle from Dixon and chugged away, later saying, “It tasted pretty good. When you’ve been in this business as long as I have, there are a few things you get out of the business – one of them is trophies, one of them is rings, and one is a sip of milk.”

600 The Tampa Bay Rays have a (.600) winning percentage after posting a 30-20 record through 50 games this season – and in case you missed it, that happens to be the best in baseball. No kidding. Tampa is 15-8 in May, and has now spent 11 days in first place in the A.L. East – the same division that houses Red Sox Nation and The Evil Empire.