Mario Balotelli refuses Journalist Questions

I was told about this press conference and found it interesting. Mario Balotelli a famous footballer has changed teams and doing the usual press Q&A. When one journalist identified himself as from The Sun Newspaper, Balotelli told him based on all the horrible stuff they wrote about him whilst in England he would not take any questions from them.

I do not wrong him at all. You cannot continually slag someone off and expect they support what you are doing. At the same time he could try give them less to talk about too.  Let us hope he continues to flourish in his career

Jamaica gets 123 in 200m final

I am so proud of Usain Bolt and his fellow athletes of Team JA, Blake and Weir.  Usain Bolt has now won both 100m and 200m Gold at two consecutive olympics. I actually thought it would be a tight race between him and Blake but he excelled. There were no new world records but Jamaica and her diaspora are truly celebrating the 50th year Independence anniversary with a whole new sense of pride. Jamaica may be a small island in comparison to the UK and America but they love sports and truly have been excelling. Many people may complain about Bolt non-serious pre race antics but I love it. It makes the sport exciting and less boring. If you cant have fun in what you do why bother. 

Olympic worker shows her Brit dry humour

The above video is of an olympic worker at London 2012 games. She has a megaphone and is basically giving some British dry humour. You can hear the people in the background suggesting she should do stand up. I saw this on the national news and apparently she was not being a fed up worker just being her normal self. Worth a watch.

Fabrice Muamba Carries Olympic Torch

Fabrice Muamba (source)

I saw this pic on Twitter and it made me smile. Fabrice Muamba carried the Olympic Torch as it continues it's journey. He has made an amazing recovery from months previous when he collapsed on the football pitch having suffered a cardiac arrest. He continues to make an amazing recovery that only God can explain. 

Usain Bolt getting ready 2012

Usain tweeted this video today. I guess he is getting ready for big things in 2012.

Starr Andrews whips her hair on ice

A I am doing my usual browsing of World Star Hip Hip I came across this video of an up and coming ice skater. Her name is Starr Andrews and judging from what I could see on YouTube she has been skating for a few years. Could she be the new Surya Bonaly?

Check out her choreography to Willow Smith’s Whip My Hair and also an older video when she was just six years old.

I do not blame Bolt

For a while now I have been hearing about Usain Bolt not wanting to compete in the UK in athletics events. This includes Diamond league events were the top athletes travel around the world and race against each other. They can earn huge sums for taking part and if they break any records they are paid more.

I watched the event in Paris and Colin Jackson asked Bolt if he would change his mind to come to the UK. He politely explained that to come to England would mean that he would be taxed by the British tax man (otherwise known as HRMC) more than he would earn than taking part in the event. Therefore its not worth it as he does need to provide for his family and his self. Think about it, unless you are volunteering your services, you would expect to get paid. Why should he come to England for the greedy tax man to take more than what he earns from him in tax. The tax man also will demand 1/6th of all money he gets from his worldwide endorsements for the year. He is not even a citizen here.

HRMC knows this is a problem in attracting top athletes to compete in the UK. As they have already agreed to lift these rules for the Olympic 2012 games coming to East London. Surely HRMC can make more money by having tax laws that make participating and adding to the UK  tax pool (surely they have enough and just need to manage their funds better) more inviting. Oh well, even though Bolt is happy to pay 50% tax HRMC is sticking to their greasy palms. It would have been nice to see Bolt, Gaye, Powell all compete together in the UK.

So I do not blame Bolt at all for not coming here to the UK. I also understand more why Lewis Hamilton change his residency. UK tax system does not encourage anyone to earn serious money unless you earn enough that your interest makes up the difference from what the tax man has taken.

Read more Usain snubs Britain and Usain predicts a new best

Dustin Brown Tennis player

I cam across Dustin Brown whilst reading some tweets by @Jamaica . Having told my FB friends that Jamaica needs to come along and turn tennis on its head as we do in athletics this is an interesting find or rather stumble upon.

Dustin is a Jamaican tennis player who was born in Germany. He is said to be the 1st Jamaican to play at Wimbledon for 40years. Although he lost his debut game to someone seeded above him. It may be worth knowing his world ranking is 55 places above that of the British number 2. So Mr Brown has a skill and talent that just needs tweaking. If tennis could gain such a high standing as athletics and cricket in Jamaica I am sure he would have had the pick of coaches. Let us hope he makes it happen.

Please read more on Dustin Brown in the Telegraph Article and check out his website .

Whilst searching for more info on this tennis player I cam across wonderful blog that showcases current and up and coming Black Tennis players including those making their ways through the tennis ranks from Junior to professional. Its called Black Tennis Pro's and is worth a browse or two.

Elegance on Ice

Is it me or do Black figure skaters need to come from anywhere but Britain to do well or achieve a high degree of excellence. I know I am so late with discussing this pair of Black figure skaters. The pair skaters are Vanessa James and Yannick Bonheur who represent France.

Vanessa James is British in origin but now has French citizenship. I have not seen a Black figure skater for a while unless they were American. Do you remember Surya Bonaly. She was so fierce on the ice doing back flips and all sorts of exciting stuff. I so admired her grace on the ice. She was also French and achieved great things.

I hope to see more from James and Bonheur. They may not have the skill set as Bonaly but she was single skater and they are a pair. Plus France would not put them forward for major comps if they did not feel they were up to it.

Miss England 2009 Rachel Christie

Introducing the 1st ever Black Miss England 2009. Her name is Rachel Christie and just happens to be the niece of Linford Christie.  Just like her uncle,  she is an athlete and aims to compete at the 2012 Olympics.

Wimbledon is back 2009

I am so happy to be able to come home and watch a sport on TV that I actually enjoy. I ought to watch more tennis year round but Wimbledon is the business. You get the best players in the world come to battle it out on that beautiful lawn. The William’s sisters are still going strong.

Earlier this year Serena opened a school in Kenya. Which seems to be the celebrity in thing. Though you can never look down on education. Serena has made it through to the 2nd round at the all England club. Cannot wait to see her play more. Of course I want to see Venus play as well.

As for the British number 1 Andy Murray if he won this tournament the press say he will be Scottish not British not English. Which may be why he does not get the crowds going the way Tim Henman did. The British public may warm to him as they see more wins come his way. You just cannot be British one day and diss the rest of the union the next.

Anyway not really a fan of Murray. Though finally this morning I learn that Anne Keothavong is the British number 1 female tennis player. She is now ranked amongst the top 50 players in the world. So besides the Williams’ sisters and Federer I will be keeping my eye out on her. Its a pity Rafael Nadal is injured. Last years men’s final was amazing to watch.

I wonder who will life the trophies this year? Who do you think will win

Twenty20 Cricket world cup

I love this game. Especially when its a 20/20 game. It just gets so exciting. The match today between England and the West Indies was intense. To think after having such a beautiful sunshine in the UK,  thunderstorms dampened the event. So instead of the Windies chasing 160 runs the Duckworth Lewis ruling was applied due to the rain delay. This just means the over's and target are reduced in relation to the delay.

Some of the West Indies team look so gorgeous too. Anyway I look forward to seeing the semi finals. Could this be that the West Indies are finally finding themselves again.

My version of her body

I so would love to have my very own version of Serena Williams’ body. Just so well toned and looking good. I wouldn’t want to be as muscular though. When I say this to my some of my European friends they look at me like I am crazy. They say but she is way too big. Which baffles me because her body helps tabloids sell and some blogs get a good read.

But yes Serena I would love to have my own version of your body. After all healthy curves is the way to go!!!

Venus reigns supreme

I was so happy for Venus when she won. I was a little distracted as I had been cooking some seasoned rice. However I enjoyed the match. Serena expressions were telling. She doesn't take well to losing however is humble in her own way.

Venus is very laid back and so humbly sweet. After defeating her little sister to become 5 times Women's Wimbledon Champion 7-5 6-4 she vowed to win the doubles match for her. How sweet. Venus and Serena went onto win the Women's doubles final, retaining their 100% record.

Over the years the sisters have gotten a lot of flack just because they are sisters. Accusations of match fixing and other stuff like that. That is just pure jealousy. There are few sisters in the WTA which if I recall correctly did not progress in the tournament. Those jealous players , tennis old schoolers and the media should just applaud the girls for what they are brilliant tennis players.

If it was not for them the women's game would have not progressed the way it has. Now you need to be more than just good at the game. You have to be highly skilled and athletic. Just think of Zheng Jie the wild card Chinese player that not only knocked out the number 1 seed but went onto demolishing another seeded player. Will Buckley gives a decent commentary in this article.

I have not been keeping up with the men's game for awhile since the hey days of Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras etc. So here I am at home watching the match to be wowed and awed. I have respect for both Nadal and Federer. The men's final lasted over 4 hours. Two tie breaks which saw Federer fight his way back and the final set ended with a score of 9-7. I have never seen that before . My best bit of the match was when Nadal hit the ball without facing the net and then spun round. classic. He deserved to win. I like it when men cry sometimes. I was sooo happy for him but equally disappointed for Federer.

Wimbledon brings out the best in players. Pictures from the tournament can be viewed here.

Venus and Serena are Fierce!

You would think that I would dedicate a bit more time to Wimbledon now that this is one of the few summers I can enjoy properly. However I have been fortunate enough to catch those matches that count.

I used to have so many favourite tennis players such as Monica Seles and Andre Agassi. Now it has been all about the Williams' sisters. I admire their diversity and determination in all that they do. These are two sisters who if I had daughters I would use as examples of achieving greatness and remaining humble in the face of disgruntled media etc.

Do you remember when the Venus and Serena were just getting tongues wagging in the women's tour. Their hair was styled in braids and coloured beads. For me it was like they just came from no where but they didn't. They had made a name for themselves on the junior circuit.

What was different about them was the direction their parents ( in particular their dad) wanted them to go. Richard Williams ensured that tennis was not their only passion in life. As a result both Venus and Serena have blossoming careers outside of the WTA.

Venus graduated in 2007 with an an associate Fashion Design Degree with honors from The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale. That same year she teamed up with Steve and Barry to produce her own sports fashion line called EleVen, which she has been sporting throughout Wimbledon. Venus also has her own interior design company called V Starr Interiors based in Florida.

Serena has her own fashion line , which she started in 2004 called Aneres which is her own name spelt backwards. It is said to be a au couture range. She has designed sports wear for both Puma and Nike. Serena has a degree in Fashion Design from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale.

Quite impressive indeed. Be sure to catch the third Williams sister Wimbledon final this weekend.

Read more about the blessed sisters on their website's Serena's website and Venus' website