Federer still effortlessly brilliant!

I was at the O2 Arena last night watching the tennis at the ATP World Tour Finals.

I bought tickets a couple of weeks ago for the Tuesday night session, but I didn't know who'd be playing until after the draw had been made.

Imagine my delight when I discovered I'd be seeing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal playing against each other!

I was expecting another epic battle between two of game's all time greats, so it was quite a surprise to watch Federer totally batter Nadal in under an hour, 6-3 6-0.

With the rise of Novak Djokovic, and fact that Federer hasn't won a Grand Slam for two years, it's easy to think he isn't the player he used to be.

After last night's performance that couldn't be further from the truth. Ok, Nadal was below his best but Federer was sensational - all his shots were played with an effortless grace, it was a privilege to watch.

I've never seen tennis played live before, but I really wanted to get tickets for this event. It's because the standard in mens tennis at the moment is so good, I felt I needed to take advantage of seeing the world's best when they're playing on my doorstep.

Already looking forward to next year. Will Djokovic repeat this year's achievements? Can Federer reclaim his number one crown? Will Andy Murray finally win a Grand Slam?

Whatever happens it's going to be another exciting year for tennis.

I'm back - A news round up!

I've been very quiet on the blogging front in recent weeks but now I'm back.

My journalism studying has taken priority as I prepared to sit my NCTJ journalism news writing exam.

Rather than commenting on the big news stories, my evenings have been spent writing endless practice news reports in preparation for my exam which I had today. Thankfully it's over, and I can return to my blogging.

Well, there's been so much to talk about. Look at what's going on in Europe, we're in an economic meltdown.

The problems with Greece have been well documented for months - but things are getting serious now, with the crisis in Italy.

We're living through a really significant period in European history, but I'm not sure whether people realise this. The entire movement towards greater political and economic integration between European countries is under serious threat.

What's really interested me is we've had changes in government in both Greece and Italy, but there's been no elections, and the people have had no say on the matter. It's the financial markets who've brought about this change.

They've had so little faith in those countries abilities to implement economic reform, that they've forced out the leaders of those countries. My question is: What ever happened to democracy?



What else has been catching my attention - The return of racism in football.

It's like we're back in 70s and 80s. We had the incident between Liverpool's Luiz Saurez allegedly racially abusing Man Utd's Patrice Evra. Then a few weeks later there was the incident in the QPR/Chelsea game in which and I again use the word 'allegedly' John Terry, England Captain, racially abused Anton Ferdinand.

Anyone under the age of 25 who follows English football has probably never thought about racism and football being linked.

For those of us who grew up in the 80's, racism was still a prominent part of the game but at the same time attitudes were changing.

I don't know what to make of this spate of new allegations.


And finally....A story that I couldn't ignore was that death of former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier.

There was a time in sport where to be heavyweight champion of the world was the pinnacle of sporting achievement. You couldn't be a bigger sporting star. The passing of Joe Frazier, reminds you of how far heavyweight boxing has fallen in terms of prestige and significance to the general public.

When you think of Joe Frazier, you immediately think of Muhammad Ali and George Foreman and an amazing golden age of boxing.

Europe in crisis - What's happened to democracy?

I've got a feeling that in 100 years time you'll have history students in universities across Britain and Europe studying the economic and political crisis that's going on at the moment.

It might not feel like it now but we're living in historic times that academics and scholars will be studying in years to come.

A few weeks ago I was thinking about what I was going to say about the Greek crisis and the Euro, but that's yesterday's news - now it's all about Italy!

Not long ago I was thinking about how the Greek people are suffering and how they're having to put up with austerity measures forced upon them not by their own government but by the demands of EU leaders.

It made me think that decisions affecting their lives were being made by unelected leaders from the European Union - hardly democratic!

I've started to notice that this problem of a lack of democracy is being spoken about more and more by commentators.

Over in Italy it was becoming increasingly obvious, that Silvio Berlusconi had no real plans to tackle Italy's debt, but he wasn't kicked out of office by Italian voters. The financial markets did that, after they lost faith that he could introduce the economic reforms needed in the country.

In his place we have the 'technocrat' economist, Mario Monti. He might be the man to tackle Italy's debt crisis, but he's not been elected by the Italian people.

Many Italians will be glad to see the back of Berlusconi. Even as a non Italian you could see he was an embarrassment to the country, but it would still have been better if the Italian people removed him at the ballot box.

I've never considered myself to be a Eurosceptic - I'm generally all for greater European cooperation, but Europe is in a mess and greater economic and political union seems to have made things worse, particularly in terms of democracy.

I think many European leaders have let their voters down over the years, with excessive government borrowing and spending, and now tough decision are being imposed upon people who were unaware of what was really going on.

The problem is that many of these tough decisions are being made by faceless financial investors and European Bureaucrats who have never been elected by anyone.

That's not how democracy is supposed to work.

Joe Frazier - A true boxing legend

On Wednesday night, I was watching a re-run on ESPN, of the classic first fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in 1971.

It was being shown in tribute following the death of Frazier earlier this week.


The name Joe Frazier is just a legendary name within the history of boxing. His status is even greater as his peak coincided during a truly golden age of boxing in the 1960s and early 70s.

If this wasn't the case how do you explain the amount of news coverage his death has received.

Watching the fight, what struck me, is just how far boxing and heavyweight boxing has fallen in terms of sporting significance and popularity.

Not so long ago, to be heavyweight champion of the world meant you were arguably the biggest sports star on the planet, but not anymore. The way boxing is today, it's unlikely it will ever reclaim its former status.

As much as he was a great boxer what really defined Frazier was his rivalries with George Foreman but more significantly Muhammad Ali.

Within all great rivalries you need a clash of styles and personalities and you had that with Ali and Frazier. Ali and the charisma, the charm and the talk.

Frazier had none of this. He was more of your no frills, down to earth, everyman. Dare I say it 'Ordinary Joe'. Having read and heard the comments from boxing experts on Frazier's skill and bravery as a fighter, I've now got an even greater respect for what he achieved, and what he means to boxing history.

Are you part of the 99%

In the last few weeks I've been following the the Occupy Wall St movement that started in New York. The movement began as a response to the economic crisis in America and Europe.

It's now inspired similar protests across America and the rest of the World. Here in London we have our own 'Occupy London' protest taking place outside St Paul's Cathedral.

Last week I was reading more about the protests on the Occupy Wall Street website.

On the home page it talks of the movement representing The 99%. The 99% that 'will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%.' The 1% being the likes of bankers, politicians and multi national corporations.


There's definitely a crisis with capitalism. Three years ago we saw the reckless business practices of the banks almost ruin the global economy, and we've been stuck in near recession ever since.

After ordinary tax payers helped bail out the banks with public money, it's beginning to look as if nothing much has changed.

While the 1% continue to act in their own self interest, the remaining 99% are seeing their living standards fall; cuts in public services, growing inequality and rising unemployment. Look at Greece if you want an extreme example of this!

Some people want to dismiss the protests, arguing there are no real goals or aims from the protesters, but they're missing the point.

You can't ignore the anger and resentment that's growing against the current political and economic status quo.

I've decided to come out and declare that I agree with much of what's being said.

I'm part of the 99%. Are you?

One thing that stood out for me when I watched a report on Channel 4 News was that many of the people on Wall St weren't your typical anti-capitalist/anarchist mob.

Some of those inteviewed had never taken part in any kind of political protests or campaigns before. It's people like this that should make governments and bankers worried.

It's those people that have generally benefitted from growing economic prosperity. They've played by the rules all their lives, but they're seeing those benefits disappear, while an elite minority prosper.

In America, the 'American Dream' is dying if it's not dead already. In the UK we hear about the 'squeezed middle'

It's these types of people that are making these protests so important and relevant.

All this week, I've been following reports on the never ending Euro crisis and the battle to save the Euro.

When you look at the levels of debt that are being talked about particularly in Greece and Italy, it makes you wonder how our political leaders could ever of got into such a mess.

Ordinary people have been let down by their leaders, and are having to foot the bill for their mistakes. I haven't felt compelled to put up a tent outside St Paul's, but if I was Greek, I think I'd be out on the streets myself.

The 99% are having to make sacrifices for the actions and policies of an elite few, and the longer this goes on, the more we're going to see of these protests in the coming years.