Up My Alley

In calce all' editoriale firmato da Ubaldo Scanagatta che parla dell'ultima finale di Coppa Davis in formato tradizionale, di scena questo fine settimana a Lille, ho scritto un commento che ripropongo qui, in quanto sintetizza il mio pensiero sull'imminente cambiamento della più antica competizione a squadre del tennis. Il declino inarrestabile della Coppa Davis per un giorno si è fermato https://t.co/8xjbmO1jOU pic.twitter.com/UJBOPZRvs4 — Ubitennis (@Ubitennis) November 24, 2018 Mi fa piacere che la Davis storica si chiuda con un bello scontro, caldo quanto basta e in una cornice di sicuro impatto, anche se Lille non è certo una "capitale del mondo". Mi fa anche piacere leggere questa "difesa" di Haggerty che a mio avviso ha come colpa più grande quella di aver preso il toro per le corna ed aver finalmente provato a fare qualcosa per la Coppa Davis. Ha trovato qualcuno che ha promesso (vedremo se manterrá) una montagna di soldi per ...

Un secondo posto d'oro per Nicole Della Monia e Matteo Guarise: per loro si spalancano le porte della Finale del Gran Prix di Vancouver.

Il mio riassunto della prima giornata della Rostelecom Cup di Mosca: short program per tutti gli atleti in gara. Bel secondo posto per la coppia italiana di artistico Della Monica-Guarise, brillanti prestazioni dei campioni olimpici Yuzuru Hanyu e Alina Zagitova nelle gare di singolo, entrambi autori di programmi senza errori.

Union Station in Toronto - The CN Tower in the background (photo Flickr - MSPdude) The day trip to Toronto I have taken this week left me with a deep sense of fatigue and disappointment. The fatigue is probably coming from the 10 hours I had to spend on trains in less than 16 hours, and the disappointment stems from the feeling that these grueling experiences were supposed to be a thing of the past. Embed from Getty Images The distance between Toronto and Montreal is roughly 550 km, more or less the same as between Rome and Milan. However the fastest of the seven daily trains between the two cities takes approximately 5 hours, almost twice as long as the one of the almost 100 that run between the two biggest cities in Italy. This makes day trips a very challenging task, because alternatives are not really an option. There are buses, but they are at least 1.5-2 hours slower. And of course you can fly, but that will set you back at least 300 Canadian dollars, easily double t...

The past few days and weeks have filled the airline world with interesting news regarding Low Cost and Ultra Low Cost Carriers (ULCC): Icelandair has decided to take over its direct competitor WOW Air, American Airlines has reviewed its decision to exclude a full-size carry on from its Basic fares and Air Astana has joined the growing list of legacy carriers establishing a ULCC subsidiary. It feels like we have returned to the early 2000s when budget carriers in Europe and in North America were establishing the bases for the very important role they are playing today in the competitive landscape. The arrival of Norwegian on the transatlantic market, as well as the growth of the ULCC WOW Air with its hub-and-spoke business model connecting Europe and North America via Reykjavik, has shaken up a scenario that seemed to be settling towards a continuous hybridization of the main actors (Westjet going international and multi-class, easyJet tightening their grip on main airports in Euro...