Andy Gray and Richard Keys – The new Big Ron, or have they done nothing wrong?

Monday Night Football will look very different tonight on Sky Sports as it will be without two of the faces of the channel. Host Richard Keys and Commentator and Analyst Andy Gray have been told that they will not be involved in the show tonight which is highlighted by Chelsea’s visit to Bolton Wanderers, and the reason for this being the comments that they made on Saturday about female lineswoman, or referee’s assistant to coin the correct term, Sian Massey.

Massey went into work on Saturday thinking it would just be a normal day for her, doing her job running the line for the Liverpool game against Wolves, helping the referee with important decisions, whether they be who to award the throw in to, whether there should be a free kick, acting as an extra pair of eyes if things get heated, and most importantly for a referee’s assistant, making the offside decisions.

This is where Keys and Gray come into play. The faces of Sky Sports’ football coverage made a few remarks about Massey when they were not on air, however they did have their microphones on, and therefore anything they said was able to be heard in the production gallery. Does this all sound a bit too familiar?

Let’s look back a few years and remember that a very similar thing happened to Ron Atkinson who made remarks about then Chelsea defender Marcelle Desailley. Atkinson’s comments, although he says were

made out of frustration for the players performance rather than actual racism did include racial language (which I will not repeat). Understandably Atkinson was sacked, but should the same happen to Keys and Gray?

There are a few differences in these two scenarios. The first being that Keys and Gray are faces of the channel whereas Atkinson was a freelance commentator who is easily replaced. The second is that Atkinson used racially motivated language which may have shown his own underlying feelings, whereas Gray and Keys seemingly just echoed the sentiments of the majority of male football fans in the country. Atkinson’s comment shows the racial ignorance and stupidity of one specific human and mic or no mic, he was completely out of line and he deserved to be sacked for what he said, because that language not only has no place in football, it has no place in society. Keys and Gray’s however simply exposed male football as a sexist sport, and proved that the opinion of men in pubs is shared by those within the sport.

Gray and Key’s comments were stupid but they only said what most men think, and had they not been mic’d they wouldn’t have been any different to the majority of male football fans (unlike Atkinson). Sky did what they had to do as they couldn’t be seen to also be endorsing this chauvinistic attitude, but when it came down to the match, Gray called Raul Mereiles offside in the build up to the first goal whilst lineswoman Sian Massey said he was onside, and TV replays confirmed that she was correct.

So I guess she had the last laugh as she did her job properly and will likely be considered for another Premier League game, whilst Andy Gray and Richard Keys lose a pay day, and in getting the offside call wrong, ironically they end up looking like a pair of tits!

Will the new iPhone 3G[S] have problems selling? And if it does, who is to blame?

Like most Apple enthusiasts, I sat down  at 6:00pm GMT on Monday the 8th of June frantically searching for some kind of audio or video stream of Apple’s WWDC Keynote, and in being fortunate enough to find one, both me and my dad were excited at the announcement of not just the new 3.0 software, due to be released Wednesday June 17th, but most notably the release of the third iPhone, the iPhone 3G[S] which comes out just two days later.

The two of us began chatting about what time we would go into town to buy it, as we were assuming that O2 would do the same as they did last year, and simply restart current iPhone owners contracts, whilst offering them the phone at the same price as new customers. Part of the reason we believed this was because we have been very impressed with the way that O2 have acted with their iPhone exclusivity. O2 have been offering contracts that are not only competitive with their contracts on other phones, but they have also been giving us iPhone owners unlimited data and WiFi (from The Cloud and BT Openzone) at no extra charge. This is in direct contrast to what I have been reading about AT&T in American who have apparently tried to squeeze as much money out of their customers as possible. O2 even have a customer support line specifically for their iPhone customers, so whilst it is obvious they see and treat the iPhone and their owners as different to their customers with other phones, they have always been fair with them.

So imagine my surprise when I checked the prices of the new 32GB iPhone 3G[S] on the O2 website, to see that it was £275 for the two cheapest 18 month tariffs, which is more expensive than the original iPhone which wasn’t even subsidised by the contract. And whilst I understand that the new one has more features and 4 times the storage, surely it should not be that expensive when it is going to be $299 in the US. To make matters worse, my original assumption that iPhone 3G owners wouldn’t have to pay extra was wrong, as we either have to wait till the end of our contracts to upgrade, or pay off the rest of our contract, making the phone around £500.

Now many would be asking why I would assume this, considering if I owned a Nokia N96, I wouldn’t be able to just upgrade to the forthcoming N97 without having to pay off the rest of my contract. Well as far as I am concerned, and as far as O2 have been concerned, the iPhone is different, after all, they wouldn’t be charging £275 up front for the new N97. The contract free price of the 32GB iPhone 3G[S] even amounts to £540, which is essentially the price of a laptop, and I understand the upfront price as the usual ‘Apple Tax’ that one pays for the Apple product, but what O2 are essentially doing is bad business for Apple.

Looking at the success of the iPhone 3G, O2′s sales have amounted to around 1.5 million units. Now many would look at that number and think that in the last 12 months, most of the people that wanted an iPhone would have been in that 1.5 million, so therefore what O2 are doing is alienating the majority of the iPhone’s market, as one has to question who would be willing to pay £500 for what is essentially 4 or 5 new features. The new 3G[S] comes with double the memory and a faster processor, as well as a better camera which will also capture video, a digital compass, and voice controls which are great things to have in the phone, but are most definitely not worth the price that they are expecting people to pay.

The situation for most will be that if they do upgrade, they will do so in January, meaning that with O2′s 18 month contract, they will not be eligible to upgrade again until July 2011. Given the way that Apple have worked for the last three years, it looks as though they will be releasing a new iPhone every June/July, meaning that they will probably release one in June 2010. This is a problem, as those that upgraded to the 3G[S] in January will have to bypass the 2010 release and upgrade in 2011, essentially nullifying Apple’s sales figures.

I think O2 and Apple will be extremely shocked by how low the initial sales of the iPhone 3G[S] will be. In my opinion this is not the fault of Apple, as they have done their job in improving the quality of the iPhone 3G enough that they can justify a new release of the product. It will be the fault of the mobile phone company who for some reason have chosen to alienate the large market that was already there waiting to upgrade and commit another year to their network, who may now be thinking twice about upgrading for fear of missing out on the next iPhone upgrade. O2 must think very carefully, as if rumours are true, they are in the final year of their exclusivity deal and if the iPhone becomes available on the other networks next year, many will remember this and think twice before committing themselves to O2 and having the same issues all over again.

Is Roger Federer the best Tennis player in history?

“Roger gave me a lesson in tennis today and he is truly the best player in history.” These were the words that French Open 2009 runner up Robin Soderling had for the victor Roger Federer. Today marked the day that Federer made Tennis history, becoming just the 6th man to have won all four grand slams, and equalling the grand slam record of 14 set by Pete Sampras.

Last summer at Wimbledon, Federer fought Nadal in a breathtaking match that saw Federer taste defeat in a Wimbledon final for the first time in his career. This was seen by many as a pivotal point in his career, because it was here that Federer’s ranking began to slip (albeit to second) and Rafael Nadal began to become recognised as the best tennis player in the world. Some were even questioning if Federer had lost it, and if it was the beginning of the end of the Swiss man’s career.

Those that were asking this question must have forgotten that at the time, he was only 26 years old and Federer is not a quitter. He proved this just a couple of months later at the US Open when he beat Andy Murray to take his grand slam total up to thirteen, leaving just one more to go to reach Sampras’ 14 grand slam record. Sadly for Federer, he was unable to reach that goal at the next grand slam, the Australian Open, as he was once again beaten in five sets by Rafael Nadal. But it was the French Open, the one grand slam that had alluded Federer for his entire career, where history would be made.

After Nadal’s shock defeat to eventual finalist Soderling, many believed that it was now Federer’s time, and after a three set final, Federer not only completed THE grand slam, but also put himself aside Sampras as the best grand slam tennis player in history. But looking at the facts, many could argue that Federer is better than Sampras, as it took Sampras 51 grand slams to reach the goal at the age of 31, whilst Federer managed it at the age of 27 after just 40 grand slams. Federer, like Sampras’ rival Andre Agassi has won all 4 grand slams, ultimately arguing that he  is a better complete tennis player than Sampras was.

Part of Federer’s appeal is the way that he plays tennis, and the way that he carries himself. Federer not only respects his fellow tennis players, but the sport itself, and it is said that the mark of a good player is the impact that the player leaves on the sport, and Federer leaves his heart and soul on a tennis court every time he plays. Not only that, but he inspires youngsters to both take up and follow the sport of tennis.

I believe that it is Federer’s destiny to reach that milestone of fifteen grand slams in a few weeks at Wimbledon, and it would be a fitting tribute to the man that I believe is the best player to ever grace a tennis court.

To Tweet or not to Tweet? My Experiences with Twitter

Late last year, a friend of mine known on twitter as @josephsmith1986 told me about this new social networking phenomenon called twitter. Although I had heard of it before, I didn’t fully understand it, but under his reliable recommendation, I signed up to the service and began to ‘tweet’.

Well this lasted all of five minutes as I didn’t quite understand how to gain followers, or what the point was of following people I didn’t know, so I did what most people do when they start on twitter. I searched for a load of celebrities and started following their everyday lives. The problem with this though was that they were putting ‘@’, ‘RT’, ‘#’ in their posts, and I didn’t have a clue what any of these meant.

So I stopped using twitter almost immediately after I opened my account. Every so often I would log on to check out the celebs, but still I was unable to understand what the point was, and how anything that they were saying would relate to me. I was also having the issue that many of my friends weren’t on twitter, as we all use facebook, so how was I going to get any followers?

In January whilst at work, I was talking to @johnnythomson2 who had just signed up to twitter and was really enjoying using it. At this point, I thought why not give it another go and I started tweeting once again. I even managed to find a few of my mates who were on twitter, but like me they started, and then gave up. As much as I tried, I was finding it hard to use, and hard to get followers. After all, who would be interested in what I have to say?

Well inspiration came from the unlikeliest of sources. A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine, @sidler28, who is an aspiring sports journalist, started to blog. After reading his blogs, I remembered something that @josephsmith1986 had told me when he first mentioned twitter. He told me that if I wanted to get the full experience of twitter, I should write a blog aswell, as the two would compliment one another. And so, with @sidler28‘s inspiration, I created this blog, ‘The Life of Lev’.

Since I started blogging, I have found that my uses of twitter have increased. I have also noticed that a few more of my friends are using it, aswell as facebook, and so I have more people to follow, and am following more people. I am finding the experience both fun and interesting, and although I do not have many followers, I am hoping that the small group that are following me are appreciating my posts. I have also found that banter with mates on twitter is fun, as it feels like a text message, but one that your other mates can join in on.

Part of the problem I have found with twitter is for the average ‘joe public’ like myself. Because of the celebrity culture that we currently live in, people on twitter are more likely to followthose celebrities. And while their followers are getting greater by the thousands, the rest of us are having trouble building up a following. Whilst this annoyed me at first, I am now content knowing that although I may never reach hundreds, let alone thousands of followers, I am enjoying the little community that I have nonetheless.

Will a new iPhone be a Revolution or an Evolution?

With the rumour that a new iPhone is due to be announced on the 8th of June at Apple’s annual WWDC, it begs the question of whether the new device will be an Evolution or a Revolution.

The iPhone can be broken down into two parts, the hardware and the software and it is the marriage of these two components that dictates the quality of the device.

When Apple first brought out the iPhone it was the hardware that was the talking point. This was Apple’s first venture into the world of mobile telephones, and they wanted to do it right, afterall, their first attempt at creating an mp3 player didn’t turn out badly at all. Whilst the software was great on the first iPhone, and the hardware lacked the ability to access data over a 3G network, the slickness of the device and the its amazing touch screen interface really made the mobile phone companies take notice.

HTC, although already creating touchscreen phones, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericcson, Nokia and even RIM, the creators of the popular Blackberry device, a device that is notoriously popular for its full QWERTY keyboard, all took notice and began to follow suit. Therefore, the original iPhone was a Revolution.

July 11th 2008 saw release two major iPhone upgrades. The first being the iPhone OS 2.0 software, which allowed users to access the App Store and allowed them to download 3rd party applications, and the second being a new device with GPS and allowing users to access their network providers 3G data speeds. Apple also lowered the prices of these devices which ultimately led to them not only achieving, but surpassing their goal of 10 million iPhone sales by the end of 2008.

This ability to have games, utilities, social networking and other types of Apps at your finger tips through the App Store was seen by many as a great idea. Afterall, Apple has always said that the iPhone is more than just a phone. Other companies saw the success of the App Store, which has now sold more than 1 billion apps, and decided to try it themselves. There was the Google Android Marketplace, the Blackberry App Store and Nokia’s Ovi Store that were created, and because of this, the second iPhone and iPhone software was another Revolution.

But what about the rumoured next iPhone? Well the software has already been previewed, although this software was previewed with the premise of it being an upgrade to put on current handsets, and although it looks amazing, it ultimately gives the users what should have been put on the iPhone originally. The inclusion of MMS, SMS forwarding, Stereo Bluetooth, Spotlight Search and the ability to buy Turn by Turn navigators from the App Store, really should have been in one of the previous two releases.

Looking at the hardware aswell, it is hard to see what can change if Apple want to keep a similar shape, size and design. A faster processor maybe? or a better camera? a front facing camera? larger memory? All of this could be included, but would any of them be enough to make some people upgrade. The inclusion of 3G and GPS was seen as massive when the iPhone 3G was released and shops were swamped with customers trying to buy the device, but what could Apple include this time round to cause the same hysteria? Therefore for me, the next iPhone will be more of an Evolution than a revolution.

What could be revolutionary in the next iPhone is Apple’s push notification service, which if it works (remember it was promised last September), could be seen by other manufacturers the same way that Apple sees it, as a way of preserving battery life by removing background processes, whilst at the same time allowing users to be notified and alerted in real time when for example they receive a new IM, or when a new news story breaks.

If there is a new iPhone, I have no doubt that it will not only be amazing, and that I will upgrade, but that it will fill the missing pieces of the puzzle that the previous iPhones have been unable (or unwilling) to do. However, I feel that because Apple set the bar for itself so high originally and have already both succeeded and surpassed what they set out to do, all further updates will be more Evolutionary than Revolutionary.

Has she gone off the Boyle?

As I sat down to watch Britain’s Got Talent tonight knowing that it would be Susan Boyle’s first singing appearance since she became a worldwide internet megastar, the cynic in me could not help but take over.

The first thing I thought was, “I bet she goes on last”, as this will all but guarantee her place in the finals (as if it wasn’t guaranteed already). I also thought about how much she would be ‘pimped’ in her video package and by the judges after her performance.

I sat through the show and saw an amazing performance by Dance troupe Diversity, as well as memorable ones from Violinist Sue Son and 10 year old singer Natalie Okri, but the rest of the acts were just cannon fodder to Susan Boyle.

As she stumbled on stage as if she were drunk, Boyle murdered the opening of her song Memories, before recovering and putting in a good effort. Her performance however was nowhere near the standard of what you would see in the West End, and her behaviour was just strange. The woman, who has had over 100 million hits on youtube, and already appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show in the States had obviously understood the quirkiness that attracted her to the public, and multiplied it to a ridiculous level to the point where she simply became a caricature of herself.

Everything about Boyle seemed so forced and artificial. No longer was she the strange quirky woman with the amazing voice, she was a Simon Cowell crafted media product with an average voice, who’s place in the finale of the competition all but assures that her and Mr Cowell will achieve worldwide domination with whatever album they produce.

Fingers crossed however that the the caliber of the rest of the finalists is to the standard of Diversity, because if that is the case, Boyle will not have such an easy ride and we will all be able to watch an entertaining show on Saturday night without having to experience an anticlimactic curtain call from Susan Boyle.

Will they be singing to the beat of a different Toon?

With the Premier League season coming to an end tomorrow, it is relegation, and not the title, that we turn our attention to. With Manchester United winning the title last week, the battle to avoid the drop will take the spotlight tomorrow as four teams fight for their survival.

West Brom were relegated last week as they put up a valiant display against a Liverpool side who must now build for next season, leaving just two places remaining in the dreaded relegation zone. Middlesborough’s draw last week against Aston Villa left them hoping for a miracle to stay up, whilst Hull who got the same result against Bolton, know that survival is in their hands.

Sunderland’s loss to Portsmouth meant that their survival hopes will go to tomorrows last day match at home to Chelsea. However like Hull, who host Champions Manchester United, they are the holders of their own destiny. If both teams equal or better the result that Newcastle get away to Aston Villa tomorrow, Newcastle United will be playing Championship football next season.

Newcastle’s fall from grace this season has not only been due to the problems with the clubs hierarchy and management structure, but also because the players have not been performing on the pitch. For years, Newcastle have been a team with defensive frailties, harking back to the embarrassing central defensive partnership of Titus Bramble and Jean-Alain Boumsong, but they have always managed to survive on their midfield and attack. But it is the whole squad this year that have underperformed.

Michael Owen, once one of the best players in the world has looked a shadow of his former self, and even the experience of Viduka, who was relegated with Leeds, and the power of Martins have not done much to help. If anything, it is Geordie youngster Andy Carroll who has shown the most promise up front for the Magpies this season.

The midfield hasn’t been much better, despite boasting highly rated winger Damien Duff, a Champions League winner in Nicky Butt, and the man who just a couple of years ago was the fans choice to replace Lampard for England, Kevin Nolan. The team have just not played with the passion that tells the fans that they love the club, and are willing to fight for it. Even Joey Barton’s attempt at passion against Liverpool ended up being mindless thuggish behaviour.

Many talk about the off field problems that started with the resignation of Kevin Keegan, due to his inability to work with Dennis Wise. This was followed by Mike Ashley’s inability to sell the club and the transfer request of the only consistent shining light that Newcastle have had over the last few years, Shay Given. Even Joe Kinnear’s interim management job was cut short due to unfortunate ill health. Ashley’s answer to all of these problems and the threat of relegation was not a tactical genius, but a passionate Geordie hero in Alan Shearer.

Shearer’s seven game tenure at Newcastle has seen him gain just five points out of a possible 21. Hardly a great start to management by anyones standards. However if Newcastle can beat Aston Villa tomorrow, Shearer will become a Newcastle hero all over again. But a loss against Aston Villa could see the Magpies, who just 12 years ago were the second best team in the country, fall into the Championship.

Last week, West Brom received a standing ovation from 20 000 fans as they saw their side finally succumb to relegation, but whilst West Brom went down with their heads held high, I do not believe that the scenes will be the same at Villa Park tomorrow. If Newcastle are relegated, everyone at the club will be hanging their heads in shame, and I believe that the fans who will be traveling to Birmingham tomorrow will tell Ashley exactly what they think of him.

When Leeds went down, it was the beginning of what would be a tough few years for a once great football club as they sold all their players to free up money, and then fell a further league down to League One. Whatever happens tomorrow, the club will need to rebuild both on and off the field, but if they do go down, I believe the rebuilding will be so drastic that over the next few years, Newcastle’s situation will mirror that of Leeds, and it could be a while before the Toon Army march back into the top flight.

This is Wacko!

In March, when Michael Jackson announced his ‘This Is It’ tour at the O2 Arena, the world went mad, trying to get tickets. Thanks to a friend of mine, I was lucky enough to secure a ticket for Jackson’s second night on July 10th.

The 10th of July was a good date for me to get tickets, not only because it was the day before my birthday, but also because it was very early into the tour, and we all must agree that although Michael Jackson was once an amazing showman, the pictures that we have seen of him in the last ten years or so have shown a completely different man.

Jacko has looked frail and scared, but after passing the medical tests, Jackson looked triumphant as he stood on stage to announce his final fairwell tour, like a new man ready to take on the world. Needless to say however, my friend believed that an early show was the best to get tickets for, just incase Jackson was unable to complete the tour.

Today however, he received an email from ticketmaster stating,

This afternoon Michael Jackson producers will be announcing the rescheduling and change of the opening shows in order to meet the challenges presented by such a large and technically complex concert.

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand that I am one of the lucky ones who managed to get tickets, and therefore I should think about those people that queued up for hours and were unable to get what they wanted, but the tickets that my friend got for us were on our terms. They were on the date we wanted, so why is it that we, along with the others that bought tickets for his first four shows, are being punished?

With that said, I am definitely looking forward to the concert, whatever date it falls on, but if the situation arises where Jackson ends the tour early for whatever reason, then there will be a lot of explaining to do as to why those who were meant to see the King of Pop before anyone else don’t get to see him at all!