It's the greatest time of the year for sports fans as a variety of games and events overlap. College and professional football games fill up our weekends, and for the National Football League (NFL) our Mondays and Thursdays.
Pucks have dropped in National Hockey League (NHL) arenas. The National Basketball Association (NBA) preseason will give way next week to match-ups that count.
And, of course, four Major League Baseball (MLB) teams are facing off to determine which two will make it into the World Series.
So naturally, I've run across a sports story with a tax reference that involves mostly-European motorsports and boxing.
Cross-sport tax trash talk: Formula 1 (F1) superstar and seven-time series champion Lewis Hamilton, or as he's formally titled in his native England, Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE, and his countryman Tyson Fury, reigning World Boxing Council (WBC) heavyweight champ, recently got into a war of words.
It seems Fury, pictured at left with his WBC belt, is a tad upset that Hamilton gets more media attention. Specifically, the boxer is not happy that he was not included in Queen Elizabeth II's New Year's Honours list last year.
"Unlike Lewis Hamilton I live and pay taxes which went up to £9 million last year," Fury said during a recent interview with Mail Online, in which the boxer slammed Hamilton's knighthood.
Hamilton, like many F1 stars from various countries, has officially made the tax haven of Monaco his home. He also came under scrutiny of United Kingdom tax officials over the purchase of a business-related private jet that he based in Isle of Man, another tax haven.
No worries for Hamilton: Such attention and criticism, be it about tax or sport, doesn't appear to bother Hamilton, who's in a close fight for a record-breaking eighth F1 championship.
Sir Lewis ducked Fury's tax jab and even praised the boxer in an Instagram post.
OK, maybe the exchange wasn't as heated as Fury's victorious defense of his title last weekend in Vegas, baby, or Hamilton's recent wheel-to-wheel-and-over racing in Italy with a young F1 star gunning for his title.
But since it involves, even peripherally, taxes, the coverage earns this weekend's Saturday Shout Outs. Read all about the cross-competition contretemps in:
- What did Tyson Fury say about Lewis Hamilton? at The Focus
- Tyson Fury takes swipe at F1 star Lewis Hamilton over tax affairs at The Mirror
- Lewis Hamilton has 'huge respect' for Tyson Fury despite tax comments at ESPN.com
- Tyson Fury fires ‘I pay taxes’ dig at Lewis Hamilton as he questions lack of UK honours at Joe.com
- Tyson Fury blasts Lewis Hamilton after being 'let down' by honours snub: 'disappointed' at The Express
- Lewis Hamilton forgets Tyson Fury feud to pay classy tribute "no matter what he's said" at the Daily Star
Now I'm off to enjoy the sports being televised here across the pond this Saturday. Here's hoping your teams win … as long as they're not playing mine!
You also might find these items of interest:
- F1 champ Hamilton avoided millions in private jet taxes
- Estate owes luxury, gas guzzler taxes on McLaren F1 race car
- No surprise, but some details, on how billionaire sports teams owners use their teams to avoid taxes
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