Hamilton: I blew Alonso away

[xpensive]

Reminds me of Ali when he beat Sonny Liston, "I shook up the world" "I must be the greatest of all time" all at the age of 22... and he proved every word of it to be true.

Xcuse me, but wasn't that Cassius Clay who beat Sonny Liston?

[jac]

This mindless banter on this thread is quite hilarious,
But let's look at facts for a minute.

I quote from the interview:
"My first season in Formula 1, alongside a World Champion - a double World Champion - and I blew him away. I beat him"

I beg to differ with that, Lewis DID match his team mate in every sense possible, no doubt, but I would not go as far as saying that he "blew Alonso away", sure, he did beat Alonso on occasion, but at the end of 07 BOTH finished the season on 109 points, racking up 4 wins each - pretty much even stevens to me.

One thing's for sure, Alonso certainly DID NOT expect his rookie team mate to win races, let alone match him for pace, which surely rattled him, psychologically at least.

To my mind Lewis was every bit as good Alonso that season, BUT "that" much better?? Surely not.
Thus for him to make such bold statements in the face of statistical fact is nothing short of boasting. I do admire the guy's confidence, but THAT statement was just milking it.

[ISLAMATRON]

Nope, It was Ali, The very next day he let the rest of the world know he had changed his name, but it had been changed for some time.

But many racists chose to continue to call himm clay long afterwards, and even to this day it seems.

[xpensive]

Sorry to disappoint you there, but at the time of the first fight, afterwhich those "shook the world.." words were uttered
on February 25th 1964 in Miami, he was still Cassius Clay.
He even denied being involved with the Nation of Islam, of fear for the event being cancelled.

At the second fight however, May 1965 in Maine, he had officially changed his name to Muhammad Ali.

[bhall]

"His mama call him Clay, I'ma call him Clay!"

[DaveKillens]

I'm sure you would have prefered Lou to say that yea Alonso was so much better then him... or even better yet just keep his mouth shut as all black people should.

It appears someone is playing the race card in attempt to stir up more anger and turmoil. Shameful. You would think this person enjoys throwing gasoline on fires.


Getting back to the topic, the timing of this interview makes sense of it all. This is the off-season, the time when the drivers train and prepare themselves physically and mentally. That includes lots of trips to sports psychologists and motivators to instill confidence in the driver. So in the last few months, Lewis has been replaying all the positive aspects of his career, part of the confidence-building process.

Without a doubt Lewis Hamilton is a very quick driver, worthy of a ride in Formula One. He was as quick as the best, out of the box. During his rookie year Lewis was spectacular, but he was a rookie, and did make mistakes. And how you look at the picture is determined by what numbers you select. Alonso out-performed Hamilton 10 times, versus Lewis' 7 times versus Alonso. And at the end of the season, when true mental toughness was required, Alonso out-performed Hamilton 5 of the last 6 races of the season. Lots and lots of cannon-fodder for fanboys and their emotion-fueled arguments.

Lewis, despite his amazing talent and accomplishments, is still not the complete package. Right now, the level of his maturity is of concern. If he thinks he's playing some kind of pre-season mind games on Alonso he's very mistaken, this kind of stuff is nothing to Fernando.

That kind of talk is going to deliver nothing but hard times on the track for Hamilton, other drivers will not be gentle or forgiving with him.

Now that next year's season is firming up, the drivers are starting to examine their competition, and trying to lay the groundwork for success against them. Not only to improve their own personal position (physical training, mental conditioning), but to interfere, or even sabotage the other drivers. Not sabotage as in cutting brake lines, but the kind of sabotage that distracts a driver, takes him off his game plan. For instance, IF I was was going to mess up, let's say, Jenson Button, I would get a handful of people to launch and maintain a vigorous public relations campaign for Jenson to run in the London Marathon. He did it last year, and it would be difficult for him to decline. It's one week after China and two weeks before Spain. So to the ordinary citizen, it appears do-able. But of course for Jenson, it would be a needless distraction in his campaign for a WDC. And if he declined, then it would make him look bad in the British tabloids. That's the kind of stuff you can do.

Oh well, we will just have to see how this first shot in the trash talking wars plays out.

[ISLAMATRON]

After winning the championship from Liston in 1964, Clay revealed that he was a member of the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) and the Nation gave Clay the name Cassius X, discarding his surname as a symbol of his ancestors' enslavement, as had been done by other Nation members. On Friday, March 6, 1964, Malcolm X took Clay on a guided tour of the United Nations building (for a second time). Malcolm X announced that Clay would be granted his "X." That same night, Elijah Muhammad recorded a statement over the phone to be played over the radio that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (fourth rightly guided caliph). Only a few journalists (most notably Howard Cosell) accepted it at that time. Venerable boxing announcer Don Dunphy addressed the champion by his adopted name, as did British reporters. The adoption of this name symbolized his new identity as a member of the Nation of Islam.

Many sportswriters of the early 1960s reported that it was Ali's brother, Rudy Clay, who converted to Islam first (estimating the date as 1961). Others wrote that Clay had been seen at Muslim rallies a few years before he fought Liston. Ali's own version is that he would sneak into Nation of Islam meetings through the backdoor roughly three years before he fought Sonny Liston. He was afraid that if others knew he wouldn't be able to fight for his title.

The wiki version of the story is a little bit different than hat I have read, but still backs up my claim.

[Flabbio Fixatore]

-Removed-

[ISLAMATRON]

-Removed-

[Jersey Tom]

In the interview all he's saying is "Oh look at me, I'm sooo good.. I came in and crushed Alonso's performance in my rookie year! No one's ever been so good! No one's ever come in in their first year and beat a double world champion on the track, beat their experience, beat their mental toughness."

And every word of it is true... it just eats you up inside doesnt it

Reminds me of Ali when he beat Sonny Liston, "I shook up the world" "I must be the greatest of all time" all at the age of 22... and he proved every word of it to be true.

I'm sure you would have prefered Lou to say that yea Alonso was so much better then him... or even better yet just keep his mouth shut as all black people should.

Dude, really?

[ringo]

After winning the championship from Liston in 1964, Clay revealed that he was a member of the Nation of Islam (often called the Black Muslims at the time) and the Nation gave Clay the name Cassius X, discarding his surname as a symbol of his ancestors' enslavement, as had been done by other Nation members. On Friday, March 6, 1964, Malcolm X took Clay on a guided tour of the United Nations building (for a second time). Malcolm X announced that Clay would be granted his "X." That same night, Elijah Muhammad recorded a statement over the phone to be played over the radio that Clay would be renamed Muhammad (one who is worthy of praise) Ali (fourth rightly guided caliph). Only a few journalists (most notably Howard Cosell) accepted it at that time. Venerable boxing announcer Don Dunphy addressed the champion by his adopted name, as did British reporters. The adoption of this name symbolized his new identity as a member of the Nation of Islam.

Many sportswriters of the early 1960s reported that it was Ali's brother, Rudy Clay, who converted to Islam first (estimating the date as 1961). Others wrote that Clay had been seen at Muslim rallies a few years before he fought Liston. Ali's own version is that he would sneak into Nation of Islam meetings through the backdoor roughly three years before he fought Sonny Liston. He was afraid that if others knew he wouldn't be able to fight for his title.

The wiki version of the story is a little bit different than hat I have read, but still backs up my claim.

What always bothers me when people use this type of speach is that they are completely pissing on the trauma and struggle that the enslaved Africans endured to the complete betterment of their future generations. If it wasn't for slavery, these same people would be running across the savannah in a loin cloth hoping to catch something for dinner tonight. Instead, the horrid toll was paid for them, so they could become educated people, overfeed their children, and use the internet to bitch about what they obviously do not understand.

And, isn't it possible to dislike just the white half of Hamilton? Why is any dislike automatically associated with his african heritage? In my opinion, those that play the race card are the ones that are uncomfortable with their own race, because those that are comfortable completely overlook the fact that they must politically modify their words for the uncomfortable, or be labeled.

(read current US politics)

What happened has happened. By the same reasoning Britain would not be the wealthiest nation at the time without free labour. You can look at it that way, slavery wasn't exactly baby sitting, it was exploitation.

How can someone dislike a Half of a person? Most black people in the UK, USA and Caribbean have some white mixture in them anyway, we can't split them into portions.
As it is with Lewis, I don't know what part of his character is attributable to his mother, since he spent most of his time with his dad. His name Lewis Carl, says something though, Carl Lewis, the runner, was one of the cockiest sprinters of all time.
Black athletes are also very cocky before a big fight or match. Mike Tyson, Floyd Mayweather, Maurice Green, Ali, Chad OchoCinco, Roy Jones Jr., just to name a few.
I am not being racial either it's just the truth and what sells in sports. Tiger Woods fist pump was considered unsportsmanlike when he was new, now everyone is doing it and Woods is now golf itself.
Maybe in the future "i blew him away" would be the new catch phrase for the drivers in the post race interviews.

[Flabbio Fixatore]

What always bothers me when people use this type of speach is that they are completely pissing on the trauma and struggle that the enslaved Africans endured to the complete betterment of their future generations. If it wasn't for slavery, these same people would be running across the savannah in a loin cloth hoping to catch something for dinner tonight. Instead, the horrid toll was paid for them, so they could become educated people, overfeed their children, and use the internet to bitch about what they obviously do not understand.

And, isn't it possible to dislike just the white half of Hamilton? Why is any dislike automatically associated with his african heritage? In my opinion, those that play the race card are the ones that are uncomfortable with their own race, because those that are comfortable completely overlook the fact that they must politically modify their words for the uncomfortable, or be labeled.

(read current US politics)

Conceptual, this is the stupidest thing I've ever read on this forum, of all the dumb --- you've ever posted this is the dumbest, please go back to being banned and taking whatever excess of prescription drugs that you admitted to previously.

Its only dumb, if you can actually name your enslaved ancestors. If you don't even know who they are, they you really have no right to bitch.

And, since this is the second time, do I remind you of someone else?

[bhall]

This thread is an excellent example of the foolishness of racial politics. As soon as someone plays the race card, all hell breaks loose.

Someone please close this.

[PlatinumZealot]

No don't close it.. why are people afraid of talking about race? No need to be feel uncomfortable.. Hamilton is obviously something different.. It's part of his story anyway.. no need to turn a blind eye to it.

Any I found this on youtube.. I like it!

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5f37DwOS0kc[/youtube]

Here are the lyrics..

Well I told you when it started,
I would never be betrayed,
Words are cheap to the cold hearted,
Still there's a price you have to pay.

AND IT'S ALL OVER NOW,
YES IT'S ALL OVER,
LOVE LIKE FLESH AND BLOOD
SOON TURNED TO DUST AND
BLOWN AWAY.

There have been so many changes,
Good and bad, they fade away,
Burn the pictures, shred the pages
I never cared much anyway.

AND IT'S ALL OVER NOW,
YES IT'S ALL OVER,
LOVE LIKE FLESH AND BLOOD
SOON TURNED TO DUST AND
BLOWN AWAY.

Kiss me Judas, I'll see you later,
I'll be waiting down by the gate,
Torn and crying in the bushes,
Far from the path you sure have strayed.

AND IT'S ALL OVER NOW,
YES IT'S ALL OVER,
LOVE LIKE FLESH AND BLOOD
SOON TURNED TO DUST AND
BLOWN AWAY

Yup.. this confirms it..

[ringo]

Keep it open, atleast until the cars are unveiled.

We all are mature people here, we can have an open conversation without shying away from certain topics. Flabio and Islam are both used to each other, i guess both are immune to the others posting style and find no offense to what the other says.
My previous comment is not racial, I am a Jamaican, so i wont be stereotyping black athletes to offend myself or anyone. That was a true observation.
But the cultural thing is a good point. Some like their sportsmen to be jovial or have a don't care attitude. Frankly some athletes, especially American, South American and Caribbean don't always prescribe to those attitudes. There are a few who do, but mostly they rather chose over confidence and hot air blowing.
It adds mystique and anticipation. It may not even be so much racial as it is cultural.
I prefer hamilton to do trash talking, than behaving all reserved and go with the flow like other drivers. When he speaks in his PR facade, it's boring.
"this track is my favourite... I like pushing here, giving all i got....fantastic"
like those dolls with the string at the back that talks when you pull it.
There are no outspoken drivers on the grid now beside Webber, Massa and Alonso.
If and when the others do push there necks out, it's some weak innuendo not worthy of going in the F1T racing quotes thread. [-X

Now if Hamilton said this:
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWeD5KXx5WI[/youtube]

2010 season would be epic