A distracted Lewis Hamilton used the Japanese Grand Prix press conference to brush off controversy around his Malaysia retirement and reiterate his belief in Mercedes.Hamilton retired from the lead in Sepang when his engine blew 16 laps from the finish, leaving him 23 points behind teammate Nico Rosberg in the title fight. The retirement was Hamiltons third major engine problem of the season and the Britons initial quotes -- someone doesnt want me to win-- caused controversy after the race. He later clarified he had been referring to God.Though it was a key topic of discussion Thursdays press conference in Suzuka Hamilton, who spent much of the session playing with his phone, brushed off the questions about his failure.Ive not been thinking about the last race, he said. Usually when I leave a race I think about a lot of other things going on. I was in Tokyo enjoying my time, it is one of my three favourite cities in the world. [In Sepang] It was good [before the failure], I was happy with it and hope I can continue like that here.Hamilton did not feel the need to speak about the engine failure having addressed the conspiracy theories and outlining his belief in Mercedes on his social media channels in the days since.You can go on my Instagram, Ive put all my feelings on there. They [fans] have the right to their own opinions but as youve seen from my post you see how passionate I am about this team and my guys.One point of note was the world champions Facebook page, which has featured several posts about his team (see one example below) in recent days.?When asked why he and his social media team had chosen this week to share those posts, he said: I had been planning it for a while as we had been building it up for a couple of weeks. It turned out to be the perfect time to do it...Having spent a long time between questions looking at his phone Hamilton -- who posted a Snapchat of himself as a rabbit surrounded by carrots, while sitting in the press conference with the caption This s--- is killing me -- the world champion said he was just trying to pass the time.After a journalist asked what he was doing on his phone, he replied: Huh? Oh, just some funny snaps of us drivers. Hey man, weve been doing this a long, long time and it is the same thing each time so youve got to keep adding new things to it. Toronto Raptors Gear . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. Fake Raptors Jerseys . The players spoke Jan. 13 during a Major League Baseball Players Association conference call after Rodriguez sued the union and Major League Baseball to overturn an arbitrators decision suspending him for the 2014 season and post-season. https://www.cheapraptors.com/ . Roman Josi had a goal and an assist to lead the Predators to a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars on Monday night. Toronto Raptors Shirts .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. Stitched Raptors Jerseys . PETERSBURG, Fla. SALT LAKE CITY -- Bittersweet is how Utah coach Kyle Whittingham described his Thursday night. He certainly wasnt going to complain about a 24-0 shutout of Southern Utah, but the win certainly wasnt as pretty as the 12th-year coach hoped for against the FCS program.The degree of difficulty is going to get higher in the ensuing weeks, Whittingham said. Thats why were kind of bittersweet because we know that performance wont be good enough down the road. Weve got to get better.Troy Williams threw for 272 yards and two touchdowns as fans got their first glimpse of the revamped Utah offense, which included a new full-time starter at quarterback for the first time since 2012. The Utes have new starters at every offensive skill position.It was a little rocky in the first half, but we started to get in a rhythm, Troy Williams said. Just first game jitters, that is all that was. Especially for me. Then I started to get comfortable and went out there and executed and came out of there with a win.I just put it in (my teammates) hands and they made it happen.Williams showed why there is optimism throughout the program for the Santa Monica College transfer that originally signed with Washington as one of the top dual-threat quarterbacks in the country. He put zip on the ball on several out routes and kept his eyes downfield while scrambling. Williams also recognized a mismatch on a 2-yard touchdown pass to Tim Patrick, who used his 6-foot-5 frame to box out 6-0 cornerback Jarmaine Doubs to take a 17-0 lead just before halftime.The Utah defense smothered its FCS opponent like it was supposed to and held Southern Utah to just 158 offensive yards. Safety Marcus Williams shined with an interception, a fumble forced and a fumble recovery.I dont feel like we were up to our potential today, Marcus Williams said. But next week were going to fix some things, tackle better and were going to come out blazing.THE TAKEAWAYSOUTHERN UTAH: The Thunderbirds didnt just roll over despite just not having the athletes to match up with Utah. It was difficult to create much offense against a Utah defense that should be one of the best in the Pac-12. Quarterback McCoy Hill flashed some with his arm and legs despite missing time in the second quarter with an injury.Just proud of the guys, Southern Utahh coach Demario Warren said.dddddddddddd They fought the whole game and never gave up. We made some mistakes. I wish we could have had a couple of plays back and hopefully change that game.But theyre a great football team and you cant make that many mistakes in a game and expect to win. ... I was definitely disappointed in the outcome and some of the mistakes we made.UTAH: A rout was expected, but there were plenty of nerves in the stands when Utah led just 3-0 late in the second quarter. The run game was nonexistent in the first half and the offensive line was far from dominant for a unit with four returning starters and a junior college All-American at left tackle.Wasnt exactly what I expected, Whittingham said. We never really were not in control of the game, but we never really had complete control of the game. It was tougher to score than I anticipated it would be. Credit them -- theyre a good football team.If were going to win next week, weve got to get better. Theres no doubt about that.QUOTABLEUtah has such a good defense, Warren said. You cant block up front too long with those guys coming at you. So then you try and keep the passing game short. But theyve some really good DBs that stick to those shorter routes. Then you try and go long and No. 20 (Williams) is flying around from sideline to sideline making a ton of plays.NEWEST ADDITIONUtah debuted its brand new high-definition scoreboard on Thursday. The $13.5 million project includes the 122-foot wide, 64-foot tall board that contains 2.6 million pixels. The digital surround sound blares from 130 speakers around the stadium.UP NEXTSOUTHERN UTAH: The Thunderbirds now turn their attention to the FCS schedule with Southeast Louisiana traveling to Cedar City, Utah on Sept. 10. The two programs last played in 2014 with the Lions winning 41-14.UTAH: The Utes host their lone true rival next week -- BYU. There were grumbles from both sets of fans when the two programs didnt play in the regular season in 2014 or 2015. The Beehive State football deities corrected that with a 2015 Las Vegas Bowl showdown in which Utah jumped out to a 35-0 first-quarter lead and held on for a 35-28 victory. ' ' '