tbh i didn't expect things like this from you ben, and you wrote more bshit then me :/
And I said my personal opinion, and your arguments are no where strong enough to make me change my mind.
I'm a Hamiltion supporter for one reason. I'm British!
It's because he's come in. He's full of talent, he is with one of the best teams and is winning.
Everyone 'Hates' (I think thats a strong word to use) because they are jelouse of his possision and see him as a threat to their drivers performance thus making their driver look bad being beaten by a young new driver.
I also think in some aspects, for a small minority of people, is because he's black.
Then how come this same thing didnt happen with jacques villeneuve back in 96/97? he was in the same position but nobody really disliked him as much as hamilton. Attitudes can count for a lot.....
I don't think they're bad reasons, tbh. They're good reasons, I reckon. I was going to write a long post about why, but in the end you got this one-liner instead.
theyre the worst reasons... both completely arbitrarily assigned at birth completely irrelevant to a persons character or achievements ie the things worth liking or disliking someone for
Well, I've seen Hamilton on the post race interviews and honestly, all I can say is that he's paid an awful amount of money to say shit.
"It was a good race. I went the right way round the circuit, the team did a good job setting up the car, I didn't crash and I'm a rich kid so all is well".
The other view is that right now, Britain could do with a bit of something positive to focus on. We don't have a good economy and all the food prices are going up, none of us can afford our mortgages all of a sudden and we're worry about losing our jobs. Some predictions have us topping 3 million unemployed before we see an up-turn. We're turning into a nanny state and we feel like we're suffocating thanks to a left-wing big brother government that would like nothing but to brand us with some indelible mark for easy identification, like cattle. Hamilton represents something that is GOOD about Britain. It may just be a veneer but that's not what's important. With Hamilton comes the implication that Brits are good for something. It is a powerful and valuable illusion, especially at a time like this.
20 years ago, it was inconceivable that a black guy could achieve a position at the pinnacle of motorsports. My generation grew up learning and/or knowing that racism was a bad thing, but forced to grow up with it anyway. We were an intermediary generation.. aware of bad things and tasked with changing them. Hamilton represents an aspect of that struggle for freedom from an archaic, ignorant and paranoia-exploiting political undercurrent - the same national socialist movement that Germany suffered from in the 30s was a genuine and tangible threat to Britain from the mid 60s to the late 70s. Hamilton in many ways represents victory over that racist mentality and, to those of us who remember those times, he represents an aspect of progression for British society. It's something that I imagine would be difficult for a young person to perceive today (and it's why I didn't bore you with it initially), but to me it's very poignant. Not Hamilton as an individual per sey, but an ideal and a measure of how far we've come so far, collectively, as a nation.
Perhaps it would only make sense to someone else about my age who was as politically active as I was in their youth and who REMEMBERS how things were, I dunno.
I do agree with most of what you have said but honestly, to say its irrelevant that from karting through to now he's had the best kit isn't right. It's had a huge affect on where he is today and the backing he has been given my McLaren.
Yes, he has done fantastically well using that kit to win as he has in every series but having the best kit definately gives him a competitive advantage over his rivals!
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As said, will be good for British Motor Racing to have a F1 Champion
It almost sounds like you are saying patriotism is as bad as racism.
Scott Speed wasn't any good and he was never my favorite driver, but I still wanted him to do well out of a sense of nation pride. I don't see how that is stupid.
and if youre lucky the effect of hamilton winning the championship wont even wear off for a whole 2 days
technically hes not fully british so you cant claim him all to yours
from that perspective i find that about as insipid as cheering far a team of international football players because theyre paid for by someone from your town... especially in your country it takes all the fun out of penalty shots
if i were to be cynical id say you just characterised all brits as sheep
sounds to me like youre trying to make him into something he really isnt
the cynical me thinks youre clutching at straws to get past how much of a cock he is
it is... possibly even worse
many of the wordls problems are caused by people who are able to gather a large group of sheep round them (eg all of the worlds leader who arent democratically elected... yes that includes bush) and patriotism is a very effective tool for that as is easy to show with the example of your own country
I'm fine with people having some national pride in Hamilton, but don't shut up about him and pretend nothing happened when he does stupid stuff, or pushes people wide at a track for no reason. It's awfully childish to only cheer about a persons good traits and ignore their bad ones in discussions, even on the internet.
And what happened to Jenson Button? He was quite popular during his entry into F1; was going to be the next champion and all that... and he got dropped harder than a brick as soon as people figured out he wasn't going to be in a position to win races. Does he have any fans left?
If you only cheer for a person because he's from your country and winning, then you're not a fan of the sport or the athlete, but a fan of your country's success. And I'm not going to be a big hypocrite and say that's a bad thing (I cheered for a whole bunch of Dutch athletes I had never heard of during the olympics!) but you're going to have to do some self-reflection and maybe come to the conclusion that you might not be cheering for Lewis Hamilton the person, but Lewis Hamilton the success-story instead.
that makes me chuckle and grimace at the same time!
There are a lot of people on here booing and attacking Hamilton based on media misrepresentation and lies about things he is supposed to have said - they hate the 'success story' and the way ITV and other media present it...
Surely if you can only justifiably be a fan of Hamilton as a person and not a fan of 'his story', you would have to spend some time with him to get to know him? and likewise to 'hate' him as so many here seem to, you would also have to know him personally ?
This whole thread is completely depressing.
It's sad that if you are from the UK and you support Hamilton (for any reason) you are ridiculed as a 'fanboy', and yet if you 'hate' Hamilton, it seems to be perfectly acceptable to back that up with a bunch of media bull, exaggeration and logical fallacy.
For the most part the 'fanboys' seem reasonable people who do acknowledge the stupid things Hamilton has said and done but are willing to forgive him those in exchange for the great racing and attacking style.
On the other hand the 'Hami Haters' are a much more hysterical group, there seems to be very little justification for the level of vitriol aimed at Hamilton and his fans by these people - you'd think he was a rapist or something by the level of hatred there seems to be here.
(There are a minority of exceptions on both sides)
You have to accept that people choose to support(or not) sports stars based on their 'story' as portrayed in the media because that's as close as you are going to get to them.
On the other for a person to develop the level of hatred and resentment that exists towards Hamilton based on the same media representation seems to me to be very unhealthy - my level of respect for some of the members here has gone down a long way as a result
I Critise Hamiltons attitude and i get called an idoit, i give an example and then i need to grow up it seems.
I mean, im an Aussie and yes one of my favourite drivers is Webber, but i will happily critise him if need be.
I am not saying Hamilton is untalented here or anything, as I've said before he is up top, I just dont like hes character the way he drives contridicts the words that come from hes mouth.
Maybe dawguk and you are among the 'minority of exceptions' I noted in my post ?
oh, maybe you're not an exception after all - how can you know the guys character... unless you've spent time with him personally... maybe you have ? if so, my apologies. EDIT:
dawguk is definately not an exception either - looking back through this thread, there is nothing he has said that is in any way extreme or unreasonable, on the contrary going by his posts in this thread he seems aware of Hamiltons faults and defends him using calm language and sound logic.
If you think he has been in some way extreme in his posts in this thread, you really need to go back and look at his them, then rethink your point of view.
Just like many top sportsmen... they sometimes say the wrong thing, and sometimes do the wrong thing... seems like Hamilton is just like many others. Most of the time he does the right thing and says the right thing... it's just a shame that those times are ignored by the haters, who prefer the times when he's got it wrong.
Most Hamilton fans either don't mention or try to blame others for Hamilton's mistakes like the last two races last season or Canada this year. Probably because they are too busy saying how he will certainly become a "legend".
On the other hand most Hamilton "haters" do acknowledge his impressive performances like Hockenheim or Silverstone this year. They just also see that he apparently breaks under pressure and doesn't have the best attitude.
Glib response. They're all glib responses, and I can take it from your responses that you do actually see the points I am making and you accept them. Only your fingertips and some grim determination fires you on to retort, but your heart isn't in it and that's why you can only muster glib counter-retorts.