Hewitt-most important athlete?

[sunshine]

For us atcaste, LleytonHewitt in my mind is currently the single most important athlete in the world!!! Why? Now an argument can be made for Roger Federer who is lightening quick and arguably the best athlete in the world today. But I nominate Hewitt because unlike Roger he doesn't have as many weaponsso his speed is accentuated even more.Hewitt has generally been regarded as the fastest man on tour or amoung the top 2 or 3. His speed is his most known quality and due to tennis being an enoumous international sport that reaches the far corners of the world it makes sense to mention Lleyton..Hewitt ,after his recent run at the Aussie Open not to mention reaching the 2004 US Open finals seems like the best choice at this time as a flag bearer for caste and an athlete who can display his incredible speed for all the world to see and enjoy. It is a shame he lost the Aussie final but I still belive he is currently the best caste flagbearer at this time.


He has an edge over say the Michael Owen's of the world(Owen is with Real Madrid and should have stayed with Liverpool where he was the rightful centerpiece). And Scott Podsednik's 70 SB's is certainly a historical moment here at caste but he has been relatively speakingunder the radar so far in his career. There are some T&F people to considerand perhaps the World Championships in Helsinki this August will pushhe or she to the forefront but right now in my mind it has to be Lleyton Hewitt. The guy is as quick as a bullet and we need more white athletes like him challenging thesickly notion that white athletesare not blessed with superior speed.We desperately need white speed to come forward!!

 

[white lightning]

I agree with you that he is the fastest player on Tour!
He also just got engaged of court to a beautiful soap
opera star from Australia.I can't remember her name.I
hope she doesn't wear him down to much.He is a blast to
watch him cover the tennis court like he is on roller
blades.He can flat out fly.

 

[jaxvid]

You may be overestimating the public's ability to translate speed on a tennis court to foot speed in other sports. In tennis you don't have to run very far. Anyway the announcers will still say Yannick Noah or Venus Williams are faster but complement the white athlete on their "desire". Because as you know white people are "sneaky fast" or "deceptively quick" or "faster then they look" but never, ever, just plain fast.

 

[JD074]

I don't think we have a clear-cut most important player, in the
context of the caste system, at the moment. In America, the
areas where we need a "Caste buster" the most are mainly
football and track, and also basketball (to a lesser degree since
we're making better inroads there.) Other sports are
important, too, but we really need white athletes to excel in the
"running and jumping" parts of those sports.

We're very close in basketball, particularly with Kirilenko.
(Ginobili is also great but people may think he's Latin.)
Unfortunately he got sidelined this year with an injury, but he
still has to be one of the top two or three caste busters right
now. I know I'm biased because I'm a basketball/ Kirilenko fan,
but there just aren't other players like him, black or white, and
some people are picking up on it. (Even Stuart Scott felt
compelled to say that "he's the most underrated player in the
NBA." Woah. And he said it while someone else was doing the
highlight, so I doubt it was scripted.) A couple issues with
Kirilenko is that he's not American (not a problem for me, of
course,) and he plays for the rarely televised Utah Jazz. Not
many basketball fans, let alone people in general, get to see
him play. At any rate, he needs a few more seasons of
excellence to solidify himself as one of the most athletic, tough,
and versatile players in the league. My hope is that he is
eventually widely acknowledged as the best all around
defender in the league.

Drew Bennett had an excellent season at WR, but he'll need to
string together a few more exceptional seasons like that to
make a significant difference in how people perceive white
players at his position. If it's just this year people will say it's a
fluke.

Jeremy Wariner has already been great for us, being the first
white American male to win an Olympic sprint in 40 years. If he
could excel in the 200, that would be huge. But even if he
doesn't, winning a handful of gold medals at 400 would be
phenomenal. If he could get two more individual golds, and
two more relay golds, he would have six golds. How awesome
would that be?!

Any white athlete who could excel at running back, cornerback,
100 meters, or 200 meters would definitely be the most
important one in the world. Nobody is doing that yet,
unfortunately.

 

[white lightning]

It will happen in track first simply because the times
don't lie.If they run the times,they will get a lane in
a race.It is not like football where they can keep you
from playing.I would love to see more white kids start
running track at a early age.If nothing else,it improves
their speed for all other sports.You will see a white guy
go sub 10 within the next 2 years.After that,a few more
will come and rise up to the challenge.I'm not holding
my breath for any starting running backs soon.They just
don't want it to happen.I hope I'm wrong.

 

[Don Wassall]

I understand what you're saying about Hewitt, but I don't think tennis is popular enough to be ground zero of the battle to enlighten sports fans about the caste system, and the point about the short distance tennis players have to run is valid.

Football is far and away the most popular sport and the caste system is firmly entrenched there. The good news in football is that whites are more than holding their own at quarterback -- which was supposed to be majority black by now -- and at least aren't noticeably losing ground at other positions. The longer whites can maintain overall dominance at that position when I-A colleges, the NFL and the media are bending over backwards to do everything possible on behalf of black quarterbacks, the more people will begin to question why whites can't play other positions in greater numbers. After all, popular wisdom now is that the day of the "unathletic" quarterback is over, yet 25 of the 32 NFL teams start whites at QB. It's the same logic that led to the demand that blacks play quarterback, except in reverse.

As was been mentioned by JD and WL, real gains have been made in basketball, boxing, and in sprinting with Wariner. If anyone right now is the most important athlete in the world as far as smashing barriers and stereotypes it would have to be Jeremy. Track times indeed don't lie, and besides Wariner there are three other world class white American sprinters in the 400, plus Stamer and quite a few other short distance sprinters both American and international who have earned their own threads on our board now.

I'm not as negative about the overall situation as some, though I certainly have my gloomy moments. I truly don't see blacks making gains in any sports these days. What hasn't changed is the media propaganda and indoctrination; that's worse than ever. We're in a prolonged fight when it comes to the caste system whereby little will change quickly, though the overall situation of this country with its many deep-seated problems could certainly change a lot of things virtually overnight under the right circumstances.

2004 gave us Wariner, Klitschko, Kirilenko, Nowitzki, Nash, Podsednik, Manning, Bennett and Stokley. There were no new black stars in any of the countless sports that whites dominate. The glass isn't completely empty.

 

[sport historian]

Regarding Don's comment about how QB was supposed to be majority black by now, I can recall predictions in this vein back around 1974. It was being said then that more than half of NFL QB's would be black in 10 years, meaning by the mid-80's.

 

[sunshine]

From a purely overall american viewpoint tennis does take a backseat to football and basketball etc...But I am more interested in the purity of speed within sports rather than the perception because history will be on the side of the pure athletes rather than what the media and fans deem athletic at the time. And make no mistake the likes of Hewitt and Federer are two of the most gifted athletes in the world today.For caste the fact they display blazing quickness and speed makes them even more important. While it is true that when comparing sports we run into apples/ oranges discussions we should keep in mind that each sport has special features. A tennis court may be small in comparison to football and baseball fields but Hewitt plays rugby on the side and Federer was intially a soccer player. Also keep in mind tennis requires and incredible degree of fitness, agility and quick reflexes. Like soccer and baseball, tennis is an extremely difficult sport to master at the high levels of play. You put a star 6'4 basketball player on a tennis court and he will likely look like a clumsy ox. Imagine Safin if he was a basketball player? He would probably be terrific.In hockey just as an example take Pavel Bure in his prime. There is no denying the fact that the man was speed and electricity personified and perhaps the best athlete in the world at that time. And Michael Owen the brilliant English soccer player possess world class quickness, explosiveness and speed. My overall point is we do certain blindingly brilliant white athletes who play sports other than football and basketball a disservice if we somehow rationalize that they are of less quality due to the nature of the sport. Football players as a whole tend to be a touch overrated in overall athletics prowess. A good example is when football players try and cross over to baseball. The scouts will tell you it takes time and a lot of work to loosen up their bodies to enable them to perform in baseball. In otherwords they come in stiff from muscle work in football training. While trying to place a certain athlete as standard bearer for caste was me kind of just hoisting something up for fun I will try and stay on top of sports on an international level first and foremost. Besides our world continues to get smaller. Thanks for the interestingposts.

 

[Don Wassall]

Lots of good points, Sunshine. Tennis players are incredibly fit and athletic.

I'm glad Caste Football keeps gaining knowledgeable people who are increasing our knowledge of great and potentially great athletes in many sports. We are a unique clearinghouse for information and views on white athletes and the obstacles and negative stereotypes facing the world's all-around best athletes.

 

[JD074]

Tennis is an extremely demanding, grueling, and athletic
competition, and those who are good at it certainly deserve our
respect. I certainly wouldn't want to minimize the
accomplishments of white tennis players, soccer players,
hockey players, cyclists, swimmers, etc. Nor would I want to
minimize the accomplishments of whites who play non-speed
positions in the popular American sports. Roger Clemens,
Randy Johnson, and Peyton Manning are easily three of the
best athletes in the world in terms of their prowess in their
respective sport. (And ultimately that's all that matters: how
effective you are in what you do.)

In regards to the problem of whites being discriminated against
in speed positions in American sports, it makes sense to give
the players who are talented in those areas extra emphasis.
So it's a matter of the problem of the caste system, not
whether a white running back is "better" than a white tennis
player, or whether a white sprinter is "better" than a white
pitcher. So, as far as the problem of the caste system goes,
the running back and sprinter are more "important" because
enormous success in those areas would be more deleterious to
the caste system than enormous success in tennis or pitching.
But they're not "better" athletes in a universal sense.

The squeaky wheel does indeed get the grease.

But white athletes in other sports are absolutely just as worthy
of our admiration. If I had to pick the best all around athletes,
I'd be tempted to say wrestlers. Strength, endurance,
quickness, technique, determination, work ethic... those guys
have it all. Male gymnasts are up there, too. Strength,
flexibility, precision, also great work ethic, etc.

 

[sunshine]

I would agree with the idea that sprinting, for us here at caste is far more important than pitching, offensive lineman,kickers,etc. In fact I will list in the track and field section events in order of importance as it relates to caste. As for hockey,soccer and tennis speed I think these areas are just as significant as football, baseball and basketball speed. For me it is the universal idea of white speed that is of importance. And for sure the situation in football is glaring and painful. But as we see things unfold we have to keep in mind that time does not stand still. In otherwords 3 to 5 to 7 to 10 years down the road we may be looking at a different sports landscape. As the Williams sisters have demonstrated blacks can turn things around in so called white dominated sports in a very short time. If say the rising black contingent of youngtennis players bears fruit and start dominating tennis sometime in the future we will longingly look back at a time when whites like Hewitt and Federer were the stars. The same holds true for soccer where blacks have significantly increased their presence the past decade plus. Indeed most of the speed players in the recent MLS Draft were black. Not good news. Basically my notion is to fully enjoy and savorwhite athletes who display the speed etc.because we never know when and ifit will all end . Granted hockey if it sticks around is more likely to remain white dominated for some time. But hockey provides a good argument for those who believe white athletes are stiffs. Say you have Jon Entine or someone of his ilk facing you in a forum on race and sports. Throw out a name like Pavel Bure and watch an Entine type screw themselves into the ground. Which is what I aim to do..Completely discredit the notion that whites are inferior athletes.

 

[JD074]

I agree that just because white athletes have a "stronghold" in
a sport now doesn't mean they'll have it in the future. Look at
how black QB's are now the "trendy" thing. As fans of all
talented white athletes, we all want white athletes to be
competitive in every sport, every position, every event. We
can't have too much success.

But it is human nature to focus on the most glaring problems
first and foremost. It's extremely easy to focus on the worst
aspects of what's happening in sports today, more than even
our best successes. I'm sure we all do it to a certain degree.
You made the interesting post about how the baseball
prospects at speed positions are all black. It's human nature to
focus on that because it's one of the more obvious problems.

Blacks may eventually dominate soccer, tennis, etc. They may
not. We should appreciate what we have in those sports now,
because we may not always have it. But at the same time, it's
theoretical, it's something that could happen in the future.
What we see in football (and baseball and basketball and track
and boxing) is something that's already happened. It's terrible,
it's been terrible for a long time. I was very frustrated when
Williams beat Sharapova, but we see black dominance in
football and basketball, and the ever-growing Hispanic influx in
baseball, everyday.

We're not disagreeing. I'm just saying that, for the moment,
there are a handful of areas that are worse than other areas. I
don't mean to be short-sighted. There are problems all over.
The worst case scenario would be non-whites dominating all
sports, or at least the speed areas of every sport. So tennis
and soccer and other sports are very relevant indeed.

 

[Colonel_Reb]

All of you have good arguments. We need to keep all sports open to whites, and try to get the truth out about what has happened and what is currently happening in some of them. If we fail to recognize it and do something, we may lose out in the areas we dominate in.

 

[sunshine]

Fair points JD. I agree. Thanks for all the replies. Is it me or is caste arguably the smartest sports web page going? Refreshing to hear real ideas.