No doubt the water-cooler chatter today in offices all over America, if not all around the world, today will be dominated by excited reflections on last night’s final episode of The Sopranos. But, with TV critics having already screen-tested scenarios for the climactic scene – with each of the show’s main characters being variously featured as the one who gets whacked, the finale was inevitably anti-climactic. (Talk about ending with a whimper, not a bang….)
And if anyone tells you that he thinks it was a brilliant twist that the show ended with no one getting whacked, tell him to…fuggedaboutit! Because he’s probably the kind of guy who’d prefer to see NFL players play touch instead of tackle football….But who would’ve thought that – after enthralling fans with signature mob violence for 8 seasons – writer David Chase would sign off with an episode (which he also directed) that leaves us with an impression of him that can best be summed up in the name he gave one of his most-beloved characters: Big Pussy!
Good riddance Sopranos! (And listen here Chase, if you spared your cast just to milk this franchise as a Godfather-type movie trilogy, fuggeda…!)
Meanwhile, if you’d really like to get under the skin of the loud mouth who will still insist on regaling the office with a dramatic re-enactment of every boring scene, just interrupt him by asking: Did anyone happen to see that black guy make history at the Canadian Grand Prix yesterday?
In fact, against all the odds and racist naysaying amonsgt his detractors (including fellow racers), 22-year old rookie Lewis Hamilton, an Englishman of Caribbean (Grenadian) heritage, became the first black man to win a formula one race. And if you think this was a fluke, bear in mind that this guy has had unprecedented top-three finishes in all of six races to date as a professional driver. But if you don’t know formula one from Formula 409, please take note:
Formula one car racing is a sport that requires the steady nerves of a surgeon, the daring skill of a jet fighter and the physical stamina of a marathon runner. And, no sport can match the sustained thrill, nail-biting anxiety and death-defying excitement one gets from watching those drivers navigate the zigs, zags and hairpin-turns of a gand prix race track – jockeying for position at speeds exceeding 200 mph!
Now, when one considers the uncanny similarities in racial background and precocious talent between Hamilton and Tiger Woods (complete with fathers who managed their respective careers from birth), it’s easy to see why the barons of Formula One racing are salivating with grand expectations that Hamilton will do for his sport what Woods has done for golf.
Traditionally, it is difficult enough for a driver to win a race in his first season. Yet so great has been Hamilton’s impact, so impressive his results, that now the unthinkable seems possible – he could do what no-one has ever done before, and win the world championship as well. [Andrew Benson, BBC Motorsport editor]
So, here’s to Lewis Hamilton for racing through one of the few remaining racial barriers in sports. And, in doing so, it is noteworthy that he’s continuing the historic trend that Jackie Robinson began 60 years ago with his spectacular debut in Major League Baseball.I’m just having a fantastic day….This is history. [Hamilton’s modest reflection on his historic achievement]
Lewis Hamilton, Formula One racing
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