Wimbledon: Analysis of Day 3

What a shocking day at wimbledon today! Novak Djokovic (pictured right), tipped to tip the balance of power and the serial domination  of wimbledon by second seed Rafael Nadal and first seed Roger Federer has lost in straight sets to Marat Safin - former world number 1-. The final score: 6-3 6-4 7-6(3). Throughout the game Djokovic struggled with his serve, as have many players to day- may be there was something in the water- and overall did not play his best tennis. Marat took advantage of this by playing his best. During the last set Djokovic began to step up again but it was too little too late as he lost the final point in the tie break because of a double fault. Whatever the outcome it was a stunning match but one question is certainly being raised; does Marat Safin have what it takes to win wimbledon? Unfortunately I would say not so as he is too inconsistent and usually lacks the drive that we witnessed todfay.

One man who will certainly be extremely pleased at this news is Roger Federer who's place in the final seems securer than ever before this year. Djokovic was the challenge that Roger may have found difficult, or even failed to defeat, on his path to the final. Unfortunately that match was not mean to be. As expected Roger federer succeeded in winning his match in straight sets 6-3 6-4 7-6(3).

I almost feel disappointed that Ana won, as she was saved by a lucky groundstroke that barely managed to clip the net and -some how- dropped onto her opponent, Natalie Dechy's side. Impossible to reach in time. At that point Dechy (FRA) had been a set ahead and in possession of two match points. This mammoth match,the duration 3hours and 24 minutes- 20 minutes away from breaking wimbledon's record for the longest women's match- was then eventually won by Ana 6-7(2) 7-6(3) 10-8. Long rallies superseded this match, the last set was especially rallied and fought over, constructing an amazing match to witness.

Serena, Amelie and Marion - last years surprising finalist- both defeated their opponents in straight sets. Serena took off her coat for this match. Amelie Mauresmo will be facing Serena in the next round, without a doubt a match worth seeing and I think the outcome could tip either way as both players are eeceedingly strong, skillful and former champions.

That's the end of my summary for day 3 of wimbledon so i would like to wish you a good night and Nadal, Sharapova, Murray and Eaton good luck in tomorrows matches.

Wimbledon: Analysis of Day 2

I apologise for the late analysis but I was unable to write this post yesterday so instead you have the joy of two posts today!  Yesterday was a prolific day at Wimbledon with feature players such as Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal playing.  There was certainly never a dull moment!

7^th seed and defending champion, Venus Williams defeated Naomi Cadavay (GBR)  7-6(5) 6-1. Cadavay put up amazing resistance in the first set but unfortunately came away empty handed and was crushed in the second set. It is never easy to challenge the defending champion especially one as formidable as Venus Williams, I offer a round of applause to Naomi for her admiral efforts and hope she gained some experience from the match. I look forward to tracking her progress next year.

 Murray also defeated in beating his opponent Fabrice Santoro (FRA) in straight sets although Murray played magnificent tennis he battled for every point he won. The final score was 6-3 6-4 7-6(5)

 Rafael Nadal dominated his opponent using his superior strength and skill. I personally think that Nadal has a good chance of winning the tournament this year. Maria Sharapova did likewise against her opponent Stephanie Foretz (FRA)- 6-1, 6-4. I also think that Maria Sharapova has a good chance of challenging the Williams grip on the championship. I’m also backing her as my favourite to win.

 Finally I must congratulate Chris Eaton for his amazing victory over Boris Pashanski. The wild card entry wielding his incredulous serving power to knockout Boris in a straight set match, 6-3 7-6(6)  6-4. this pleasant surprise has wowed the nation as few expected Chris to beat his opponent,  over 500 places superior to him in ranking.

Wimbledon: Analysis of Day 1

Hooray! It's the return of the eagerly anticipated time of year for Wimbledon! I have decided to cover this in my blog and give a general review of the day and maybe a more detailed view on prolific matches. If you would like to see a list of all the scores of the day visit wimbledon.org.

Today was a mixed day for Britain as we received the loss of  Bogdanovic to the Italian Simone Bolelli in a four set game; the final score being 7-6(4) 4-6 6-3 7-6(4).

On the other hand Elene Baltacha succeeded in defeating Aqelique Kerber.  Although the match tightened, after she won the first set 6-3, as she lost the second in a disappointing 6-2. Drawing on her fighting spirit, during the last set she continually battled with Kerber ending the game on a close 7-5. The winning shot, luckily, clipped the net giving it a very small bounce making it impossible for Kerber to return - ending a match that could have waged further-.  

Predictably Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Federer won their matches in straight sets. Serena's fashion sense causing quite a stir as she has decided to play in a coat, fashion or a joke at the expense of British weather? Moreover, could this choice affect her gameplay as she faces tougher opponents?  

Hewitt -former number one -battled, ferociously to beat Robin Hasse. The final result was 6-7(4) 6-3 6-3 6-7(1) 6-2. Hasse put up a tremendous effort and only just left empty handed, it was almost saddening to see him go after the match.

Novak Djokovic won his match against Michael Berrer. He won the first set 7-5 but was annihilated by Berrer in the second set, 6-2, as Berrers power shone through. After a terrible second set Djokovic -seeded number 3- managed to win the final two sets 6-3, 6-0 by using his amazing placement and recent development of net-play. Doubts have been suggested, by tennis legend McEnroe on Djokovic's ability to win Wimbledon this year. However I believe that he shouldn't be ruled out completely and may turn out to be the dark horse.

Tomorrow we can look forward to astounding matches played by the like of Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal. Weather providing, of course! Good luck to all competing!

Chickens!

Most of you will think I've lost my sanity (or even more so than prior to this post). I haven't - or at least I don't think I have- but the subject to this is chickens. This post was inspired by t.v. programs I recently watched presented and driven by t.v. chefs Jamie Oliver and Hugh Fearnley-whittingstall (names this long should be illegal!) which were devoted to improving the life of batter hens and since then I decided to write a matticle further promoting it as I believe it a worthy cause. 

KIND, HUMANE, WELL TREATED, RESPECT FOR LIFE.

All the basic attributes any DECENT human being would provide. Alas the producers can't take complete credit, it's also the fault of the supermarkets and YOU! What gives us the right to compact a living creature in a small space, accelerate it's growth, take away and hygiene, stop it ever seeing the light of day or even GRASS. European laws state that these conditions are acceptable, I disagree. What has given us the right to take a creature form the SUN, what have we become if we allow this to happen? 

A typical chicken shed contains 40,000 chickens, who will never see day light, and will be contained in a space smaller than an A4 piece of paper (sometimes less if caged - as above-). They will be forced to live in their own feces; burning their hocks - skin on the the back of their feet. The harsh conditions mean that many die and 5% have to be culled prematurely. They have been bred by poultry scientists to grew twice as fast as regular, free range chicken; reaching adulthood in a mere 39 days. The disgusting conditions and lack of capability to exercise cause 1/3 of the chickens to have pain walking and the stress on their hearts and lungs is astronomical, often causing failures.

BUT THAT DOESN'T MATTER... It's cheap isn't it?  Does that excuse you? What are the benefits? that's it, it's cheap. The battery hen isn't high in protein but fat as protein takes time and exercise to be produced. It isn't high in Omega 3 as they need to be nourished with grass and the resident insects. Make the switch. Make yourself kind. Stop the TORTURE.

Support nature and freedom, let the chickens out! For more information and to join the movement go to the Chicken out hompage

Get a life you morons!

As you can see I like to begin my articles with a quiescent title that doesn't give anything away about the article. Moron; an idiot, there are many different types but in this article I'm berating a more particular group (or 2). 

     On saturday i went to play tennis and we found that one of the new nets had been set alight. Not just with a lighter, I'm assuming the morons must have 'ligitimately' found some petrol that happened to be lying around near the net and then poured it over then net. The netting was a pile of black ash under the blackened plastic that had set in a long line following from pole to pole.  Mindless vandalism. I postulate to know what the reason. As they did it the group were probably guffawing and enjoying it. How funny... you set a net on fire... that was really really funny. What would possess a people to do this, it really makes me angry that someone would be so idiotic. Of course that means we've got to put up with a missing net now because they thought it was funny to urn the other one, why should we!!! It's not just that a net is now dysfunctional  but it's the ideology behind it what is the world coming to?? I don't mean to generalise -as there are lots of brilliant people around- but it does seem the moron trait is far too common.  

          Annoyed thoroughly already but I began to despair as a new group rode on their bicycles up to the net. I was completely exasperated when they found it funny, they were all probably about 11/12 and morons in waiting. I seriously considered confronting them when they began to destroy the remains of the net further, the metal cord that ran from the two poles that supported the deceased net was still intact. They were putting the front tyre of the bike on the cord and pressing forward. Morons! Being 6"3' I had few qualms about confronting them, even if they were on bikes and outnumbered me. I regret slightly that I didn't but the net fought back and a moron-to-be slipped and banged his head on the handle bar. He wasn't hurt much but still I found it hard to conceal my slightly vindictive smile. Cruel, harsh maybe but something has to be done to destroy the destructive mentality we face in many people today.

                On a much brighter note have a good weekend and remember fight the morons!

Green

Purple, blue? No this isn't an elaborate game of word association! Now, being serious, I think that looking after this planet is an important issue. Even from a selfish point of view, if we don't, we're screwed!  It's immoral and cruel for humans to be the cause of so much death and destruction, even if the victim are what some call 'lesser beings'. Do they not live as we do?  Shouldn't we be using our brain to help rather than hinder? 

I don't understand how humans have come so infernally far from nature, to become the only animal to have nearly caused their own extinction! Maybe we were to  kind to ourselves, are we really mammals, or does our behaviour - as a whole- betray that maybe we should be classed as parasites? What would possess us to try and destroy the beautiful planning we were bestowed?

 Personally I find it extremely annoying when people say that humans are not damaging the environment in any way. Cars, power plants, the list goes on, are releasing carbon dioxide that has been latent since the time when the atmosphere wasn't apt for human survival. How can this not be rocking the finely balanced ecosystems of the world? Action needs to be done but the discussion of what and denial is causing dawdling. 

Deforestation is also one of the controversial issues of today's post. Right or wrong? I'd say uncontrolled wrong and controlled okay but still how can we deny countries access to their own natural resources when we've already flogged our own and become rich?  Yes it is destroying the homes of many animals, an act of definite evil, but it also creates many jobs in poor countries and feeds the high demand for paper. 

These are my very green opinions - pun intended- and I do not want or expect a revolution and humans to regress into living in powerless huts. Though these are issues which I feel strongly about but are also very difficult to tackle without damaging the little man. Yes, as you're probably screaming, what does he do for the environment? Honestly very little. I try to recycle as much as I can but apart from that practically nothing. I'm going to pledge, now, that I'll try to do things that will in the end benefit nature, however small. In a way this is what this post is about. Making a stand by increasing awareness.

Why can't I like that?

Wow, yeah, this blog actually does get updated! The new week has started and I'm not feeling particularly well but we can't be healthy all the time right? I wish! Actually, that's just inspired another blog entry! Maybe next time, but for now we'll focus on the current one. Looking at the title the first thing that probably enters your head is what is this all about? Well I was thinking about peer pressure and how you are pressured into becoming the modern day 'clone'.

The modern day 'clone' is someone who is too afraid to stand out and just copies the group's likes and dislikes because they are afraid of being laughed at. Maybe not absolutely, strictly but doesn't this describe most of us? Where ever you are and at what every stage in your life I think people are too afraid of what others may think. Isn't it DIFFERENCES that make us UNIQUE!They should be cherished and welcomed for the variation. If we were all exactly the same nothing interesting would ever happen.

We are all afraid to step out and say I don't care what you like but I like this! It annoys me deeply when people try and impress their opinion on you, leaving you no breathing space to express your own, instantly denoting your's as wrong. In the end does it really matter it's only TRUE friends and family who will accept you for what you are and who cares if someone doesn't like exactly the same as you! A person who makes you feel bad for liking something is nothing but a bully and should be ignored. I can easily type this but of course it's not as easy that. Unfortunately I can't offer any advice, although I think the best thing is to try not to let that person taint your own taste.

If your true friends don't accept you and laugh at you for one of you interests can you really call them TRUE friends? When I make this blog I want to be clear that I mean laughing at not the occasional -constant- teasing from friends. teeasing is light, friendly and not serious laughing at someone's interests is bullying.

Thanks for reading this weeks blog and let's all try to make the step from the dark. Proclaim your interests and don't let anyone stand in your way! Matthew.