Filippo Pozzato is one fast wop. The guy has some big wins under his olive oil stained chamois. And he knows it. He also has an interesting column over at cyclingnews. It's chock full of awkward babblefish translated english and smack talk. My favorite bits....
I'll try not to be boring in the blog because I hate anything that is bland, but hopefully via this blog you'll gain a better idea of what I'm really like as person as well as a bike rider.
During the Tour of Qatar you might have seen a photograph of my back showing my tattoos. I'm in the middle of having a huge carp done, because in eastern culture it's a fish that's supposed to bring good luck.
I didn't know that Pozzato was from China. Why doesn't anybody these days get symbolic tattoos that utilize the language of their mother tongue? Why is it that drunks walk into tattoo shops and immediately point to the Japanese "ichiban" symbol and say, "Yeah, stamp that fucker somewhere my parents won't see it!" Pozzato doesn't stop there, though. He goes on and on...
The writing across my shoulders says: "Only God can judge me". I had it done as a message to all those people who like to judge me without ever having really gotten to know me. It's easy to be judgmental but the truth is there's only one person who can judge us.
If people judge me on my hairstyle or the colour of my shoes, then they're the ones who are superficial because they judge me on how I look, not on who I really am.
I know that some people think I'm the David Beckham of the peloton, but since Beckham has played for AC Milan, he's proved he's a great athlete as well as a global sports star.
Huh? All that fast and you can't come up with something more original than that? No wonder Rome fell.
Pozzato's column reminded of another well inked cyclist. One who's still pushing the pedals after a couple of decades of trash talk.
The difference between Palmer and Pozzato, of course, couldn't be any more obvious. Palmer didn't bother with babblefish and he wouldn't have compared himself to David Beckham. No, Palmer compared himself to himself. Shaun Palmer, like him or hate him, was an original. Maybe he was a world class asshole. But he was a Rock Star of an asshole. Pozzato not so original. Not even very rock star. If you're going to smack talk, tattoo lame shit on your back and start calling home runs when you get up to bat, you better be batting a thousand.
