Bring the smoke back where it belongs

Today, 1st July 2008, it is one year of a smoke-free England.

I am a non-smoker. In 30 years I must have smoked no more than twenty cigarettes. However, I am completely against the smoking ban in public places and I actually think that a law that forbids to smoke in a bar is as much stupid as a law forbidding to have sex in a brothel.

The first issue I have against this law is that, as all bad things, it started in Maastricht. Every single day that passes by, countries lose their autonomy and they follow like sheep whatever the sages of the European Union parliament come up with. The law in fact was applied in many European countries, such as my native Italy, as far back as January 2005. At first I thought the Italians would reject the idea and make a pandemonium, but I was mistaken. Italians are now just like the rest of their European buddies: they do as they are told.

What I always liked about England was that this country never gave a toss about Europe. Europe drives on the right and we keep the left. They get the Euro and we keep the pound. They agree on Schengen and we don't. They cannot smoke in a bar and we bloody do!

But then, things change and because Europe must be right, because smoking is bad, because the society is rotten in political correctness rubbish, we ban smoking in every public place.

Now, many people agree with this law because either they don't smoke or they do smoke but they actually think it's not healthy and civilised to smoke in front of other people.

Being at the same time a non-smoker and against the ban, I am probably a grumpy Neanderthal, a nutcase or probably both. However, controversial it may seem, since the smoking ban was introduced, bars and clubs have lost any soul to me.
I used to like to go in a bar, especially in winter, and be part of a scene where friends and people smoked and drank, with the smoke creating an atmosphere that was as part of the bar as much as the beer in the glasses. To me a bar is where the cigarette was supposed to be enjoyed. Now, thanks to the new law, bars looks like hospitals with drinks and what I also can't stand is to see all these smokers been puked outside bars and clubs like prisoners in their hour of freedom. At the same time though, I see them as being part of a sacred circle. If I was still going clubbing, I will probably become a smoker: now the real excitement is to be out in the street.

Convinced? Probably not.

You see, I was born in very political incorrect times and I thank God for that. When I was a kid and had a fever or was ill, my mother used to bring me to see a GP. He was a big guy with a beard and… he was always smoking. Always. Any time of the year he was keeping the window open and, puffing a cigarette, he used to tell me what I had or didn't have. I grew up with the sight of my doctor smoking in front of me and, forever since, a doctor with a cigarette in his mouth is the doctor I trust the most. I have never met one since and if I do, it will only be in prison.

The other issue I have with the smoking ban is that why cannot people decide if they want a no-smoking pub or a smoking one? Why not let the owner of the pub decide what to do with his own business? People should have a choice, in a free society. I don't see why I cannot decide to be unhealthy, if I want to.

The curse of the (young) white man

The new Equality Bill is a typical example of a sort of good idea in theory that turns out stupid in practice and underlines again the double standards of this Labour government.

The Equality Bill is supposed to tackle discrimination at work, to make sure that ethnic minorities, older people and women get fairly treated as the other members of the public. However, as per Labour MP Harriet Harman, firms can discriminate in favour of female and ethnic minority job candidates.
Basically, if there are two people with the similar experience, skills and ability, firms can choose one of the candidates based on sex, religion, age and race. Therefore young, white, male and atheist candidates are the ones who will pay the price. Well done, Ms Harman, how do you call this? I call it DISCRIMINATION. Exactly what the Equality Bill was supposed to get rid off...

I think it will make more sense to let employers decide the candidates with their own judgement. If then their own judgement is biased and they get the wrong people for the wrong job, their business will suffer.

P.S: Male and white I may be, but luckily I am a foreigner and a Catholic... and age gets better by the day.

Penalties and Shearer

Wasn't the 22nd June supposed to bring bad luck to the Spanish? Well, this time it didn't and Italy is out. Bloody penalties, here we go again like in 1990, 1994 and 1998.

The match was very tense and tactical. Italy didn't play that well, apart in defence, but Spain was not spectacular either. What I am pissed off about is Luca Toni, how can we possibly win a match with a striker like that? I still believe Inzaghi could have saved the day, but all in all, Italy wasn't at its best and losing on penalties doesn't bring us shame. We bowed out fighting but not inspiring.

The thing that pisses me off the most, more than Luca Toni, was listening to the Spanish supporters, camouflaged as BBC commentators. Alan Shearer was the most annoying of them all, kept talking about how Italy was not trying to win the match, how Italy was boring, how Italy was lucky and so on, but I would like to remind to Mr Shearer that Italy without knowing how to play has won 4 World Cups and none of them with the help of a dodgy Russian linesman.

Can't wait for Alan Shearer to become a football manager and put into practice all his wisdom. I hope he will remember that in football defence is the key to winning games, World Cups, or qualifying for Euro 2008.

My favourite two weeks of the year...

... when Wimbledon is on.

This is definitely the best tennis tournament in the world, still played on grass, players wear white and sponsorship is not on every corner of the stadium, just like 100 years ago. For this reason Wimbledon has a touch of magic the other Grand Slams tournaments will never have.

To be honest, I am against the new roof on Central Court, which will be ready by next year. The possibility to play when it rains will help TV coverage and will allow the spectators on Central Court not to miss a ball, but it will take away a very important variable to Wimbledon matches: rain is an unpredictable possibility in a tennis match and sometimes it can be the deciding factor between winning and losing. If life was a tennis match, rain could be called destiny or God.

Remember Wimbledon 2001? Tim Henman, the best English hope in 70 odd years, was cruising through the match with Goran Ivanisevic. The match was going in Henman's direction until... the rain decided to fall. Match suspended and when the two players came back it was a completely different match and we all know how it ended: Ivanisevic won and Henman lost. It was unfair, I agree, but life is unfair too and tennis is a true metaphor for life: you play by yourself, anything can happen (good or bad) and you never know when the end arrives.

Talking about end, I am not so sure Roger Federer will win again this year. He is my favourite player because he plays with style and has amazing shots but I have bet on Nadal at 9-1 a couple of weeks ago (compared to Federer at 2.5-1) and I think Nadal could win the title this year.

Let's see if King Roger will prove me wrong.

Va va voom!

I have never enjoyed Thierry Henry goals... until tonight. The flick of his foot was amazing, just a little touch and De Rossi's free kick went straight into the French net. 2-0 and the Italian victory was sealed.

It has been a very tough match and my feelings had been proved wrong but I am not going to complain. We even got a penalty but so clear that nobody in the world, apart from the French coach Domenech and maybe Arsene Wenger could argue with.

The only bad points of the evening are the yellow cards for Gattuso and Pirlo. They will not play against Spain. We are not going to be the the favourites: Spain have Torres and Villa and we have Toni... how many chances does he need to score a goal? I actually miss Pippo Inzaghi, horrible player to watch but he is the most effective Italian striker after Baggio.

Oh, I almost forgot: thanks Holland! Van Basten is definitely still Donadoni golf-buddy.

Italy, out?

I can feel it... Italy going out tomorrow from Euro 2008. I suspect it will end up in a draw, or maybe a late victory followed by the Romanians beating Holland.

So far Italy hasn't played that well. However, after the goal in offside given to Holland (whatever the UEFA bureaucrats have to said about it... ) and the fantasy penalty given against us in the game with Romania and Toni's goal ruled out (what was wrong with it UEFA? Maybe Italy needed an injured Romanian player outside the pitch to validate it?) I have the sneaky feeling UEFA is not on our side.

I wish I could be proved wrong. Getting a penalty or a goal in offside would be handy.

42 days, I agree with it

I am not a fan of Gordon Brown and I much prefers the Tories on power than Labour, but I do agree with the Prime Minister regarding the extension of the terror detention limit to 42 days.

In UK, as in the rest of Europe, the legal system is too soft and criminals gets away too easily. The police needs more time to do their job properly and I can't see any reasons why to oppose the new law, unless you are a Human Right activist or Tory MP David Davis.

Human Rights activists, not surprisingly, disagree with the policy because their real intent is always to protect the terrorists. They come up every time with some pathetic excuses to stop the police doing their job but then, when something terrible like 9/11 or 7/7 happen, what they do? They blame the police and/or the secret services, of course.

Tory MP David Davis is probably bitter because he didn't get at the time the leadership of the Conservative Party and now he thinks he can get the limelight by pretending to be a champion of Liberty. More like a fool, considering his behaviour will weaken a Tory party that was doing so well in recent weeks.

Holland-Italy 3-0

Losing the first match of the tournament 3-0 against Holland it was not the best of starters for the Euro 2008 campaign. I admit that.

However, as Italian I am not too unhappy with the way Italy played and lost. To cite Abraham Lincoln: "Battles are won with the same spirit that they are lost" and tonight the fighting spirit was there.

First thing first: the first Holland goal, the one of Van Nilsterooy in clear offside was a ROBBERY. Holland played a wonderful match but let's no kid ourselves: the first goal changed the match and that goal was never a goal in the first place.

Italy tried to score in various occasions and Holland was deadly in the counter-attack but Holland did not walk over Italy and the final score could have been very different indeed. Toni, Del Piero, Di Natale e Pirlo had plenty of chances. The ball didn't go in, at least no tonight.

The first thing I did after the match was to go and bet on William Hill for Italy to win the tournament. Before this match Italy was 5-1 to win and now 12-1. Italy can still win Euro 2008 as much as they could before this match.

Holland will now probably win the group and I hope they will celebrate in style this great victory against the world champions. Tonight everything went well and it doesn't happen every day...

Jose' at Inter

It doesn't happen every day that the best football manager you can think of, join the team you have always supported. It happened today: Jose Mourinho has joined Inter Milan.

Mourinho has won a lot with Porto and Chelsea and if Abramovich had not fired him last September, I bet Chelsea would have won the Champions League and maybe the Premiership title this year.

Mourinho style of play is not always the most spectacular but always effective, winning for him is what football is all about and he's right. But more than his style of football, what I like about Mourinho is his personality with the media: he has a cool image, sense of humour, a charisma "leader of the pack" type that reminds me of a James Dean or a Maximum Decimus Meridius. Some people consider him arrogant and full of himself and maybe he is, but he has the guts to give no toss about what other people think of him. I much prefer a sincere arrogant like him than a fake modest such as, come to mind, Arsene Wenger or Rafa Benitez.

I am also curious to see the reaction of the Italian media. Sports journalist in Italy are too serious about football and they always miss the funny side of the game. I am not sure they will appreciate Mourinho's sense of humour or his mind games towards rival teams or comments on the referees. He will, I am sure, come up with some new metaphors, remember the one about of the good and bad eggs and the omelette?

Mourinho relationship with president Moratti will be crucial for his success at Inter. The problem with Moratti is that, just like Abramovich, he has plenty of money but doesn't understand football and he wants to have a word in who to buy or how to play. Mourinho on the other hand is very stubborn and proud, he likes to manage in his own terms and at Inter it will not be easy. Saying that, this is definitely a tough job, who else can fill it other than the Special One?

Bruce, almighty?

Last night I went to the library, I mean... I went to see Bruce Springsteen at the Emirates Stadium.

I am a big fan of his music (but not his political views) and I have seen him four times in concert. The best one was in Paris during "The Rising" tour in 2002. I was standing a stone away from the stage and I met lots of fans like me and it was exciting. I felt like one of the few "chosen ones", able to enter the small circle of people with the wristbands, the ones who can say "I was there he winked at me, ha ha ha".

This time, being a bit older, and less fanatic about Bruce, I decided to buy a seating ticket because I couldn't face three or more hours of queuing outside, considering that I was going to the concert by myself. But I thought it was going to be ok, because I had in the past bought a seating ticket for one of his concerts and everybody, from the first tune to the last chorus, was standing anyway. At least that was 10 years ago but this time... with my bewilderment, everybody was instead glue to the seat and the only movement I could spot was was the hammering of the feet or the nodding of the head... depressing indeed.

I must admit the majority of the crowd was over 50 years old of age and I can understand a more moderate approach to a rock concert than youngsters in their 20s but hey, Bruce himself is 58, if he can jump and sing for more than two hours, the supporters can at least stand up and punch the air a little bit, can they? No, apparently.

It was weird to watch the concert that way. I felt a bit bored, the music was not that loud, the view not that great and it seemed to me Bruce himself was not as able as before to carry the crowd with him. It was also the fact that a concert in the stadium, is not, in my opinion, as good as the concert in a closed space. There is a lack of atmosphere in this type of concert and Bruce at 35 was able to step up to the challenge but at 58, I am afraid not.

Another thing that let me perplex was that some people left three quarters into the concert, what's the point of that? I have paid for all the ticket! That remind me an Arsenal-Sunderland match I saw a few years ago. Arsenal was up 2-0 and many Sunderland supporters were leaving the stadium with I think more than 20 minutes to play. I was surprised to see them leaving so early because they were coming from miles away to see their team and then you never know... in fact Sunderland scored 3 goals in a blink of an eye, won the match and went to the next stage of the Carling Cup. I could painfully imagine what the Sunderland supporters that had left early had to say to their wifes when they come back home: "Hi honey, took a day off work, travelled all the country for a silly Carling Cup 3rd round match, spent £££ to watch my team going 2-0 down at half-time and I left before my team amazing comeback to victory. Priceless!"

The best part of the concert was when he performed Badlands. The song beat is very catching and lots of people including me started to clap their hands along with it. Lots of people around me dropped out but I carried on, listening Badlands without clapping? No way!

Thanks God the last three or so songs, including Born to Run, everybody was standing and shouting but all in all I felt the atmosphere at the Emirates was way below my standard for a Springsteen concert.

Out of the stadium, I overheard a couple's conversation, they were both in their 50's and the wife was complaining to the husband that tonight there were too many young people to the concert... Blimey rock is dead for sure, bring on the mazurka!