An Italian job well done

The delight etched on the face of Alessandro Troncon at the climax of Saturday's deserved victory for the Italians at Murrayfield was as much tinged with relief as elation.When Troncon was growing up in the early 1980s, and watching his father and uncle involved in rugby in Treviso, north-east of Venice, the youngster had to accept that the vast majority of his compatriots cared solely for the likes of Paolo Rossi, Marco Tardelli and Dino Zoff, and that the "weird game with the funny-shaped ball" hardly registered on the scale.

Scanning the pages of Gazzetta Dello Sport even a decade ago, there was ample coverage of basketball, and cycling, and Formula One, but as Troncon related at the week-end, his path to the dolce vita has been shrouded in anonymity, which might now begin to vanish as the Azzurri gradually climb the global rankings.

In advance of Italy's historic triumph in Edinburgh, much had been made of the fact that Scott Murray was equalling the 82-cap Scottish record, which had been established by Gregor Townsend. Hardly anybody noticed that Troncon was participating in his 93rd international, and akin to fine wine, this redoubtable fellow seems to grow better with age.

irst selected as a 20 year-old against Spain in 1994, his early promise was in danger of being sapped by a constant diet of second-rate tussles, watched by a tiny sprinkling of aficionados, but he is a resilient, unquenchable ambassador for the pursuit in which he excels.

"We had to fight to earn any respect at all and before we were admitted to the new Six Nations Championship in 2000, the public couldn't have told you the names of any of our players, because there was nothing in the papers, nothing on the TV channels and Serie A commanded huge amounts of attention, so somebody such as myself quickly realised there was no point in moaning that we were being ignored: the best statement we could make was in recording victories and gaining credibi-lity. Of course, it didn't happen overnight but when I think of how rugby was perceived throughout Italy when I began my career, we have taken serious strides forward."

A fortnight ago, Troncon, as elusive as the Scarlet Pimpernel, and as unyielding as the Incredible Hulk, stole the man-of-the-match award from under Jonny Wilkinson's nose, following his confreres' defiant performance in slipping to a narrow 20-7 defeat at Twicken-ham, and the maestro duly collected the same prize for his part in the humiliation of a Scottish collective, who appeared under the misapprehension they were competing in a sevens tournament for the opening few moments.

Amid the madness, with normally reliable characters such as Chris Cusiter, indulging in wild flings at which even Casanova might have balked, Troncon oozed purpose, penetration and pragmatism, three of the qualities which explain why he is held in lofty regard at Clermont Auvergne.

Troncon was was one of nine non-Italian-based personnel in the starting XV, which begs the question as to why there are so many doom-laden headlines surrounding the imminent exodus of Cale-donian talent to England, Ireland and France.

Oblivious to the Murrayfield hosts striving desperately to claw back a 21-point deficit, Troncon was urging, cajoling and instructing his pack to master the basics and remember that they are the equal of most rivals.

It worked. "We knew that, despite scoring those three tries within six minutes, the Scots would come charging at us and we had to be streetwise and show we had the ability to prevent them achieving a recovery.

"Obviously, it took some of the pressure off us to build a big lead, but we recognised it would count for nothing if we didn't finish the job, and I've endured enough disappointments to realise that sport throws up funny things," said Troncon.

"When they narrowed the gap to 24-17, I could see the expressions on some of the younger players' faces. It was like: Oh no, here we go again.' But I talked to the boys and Marco Bortolami, the Italian captain reminded them that they had been offered an opportunity to end the losing sequence on the road and that the win would be ours if we stuck to our guns and got the basics right. Fortunately, we cranked up a gear or two in the last 20 minutes and the forwards were immense, so we achieved our aim."

For a spell, at least, Italian rugby is basking in positivity, while the country's football is tarnished by corruption and crowd trouble. Indeed, yesterday's Gazzetta Dello Sport featured the rout of Frank Hadden's men on the front page.

As unwelcome as it may be for Scots to keep setting new records, of the unwanted variety, nobody could possibly begrudge Troncon his long-awaited starring role.

Kentucky Derby Futures Offer Sports Betting Risks And Rewards

The Kentucky Derby always poses sports betting risks, especially now, months before the running of America's most esteemed horse race. But there's also the chance for a robust reward if you can place a future book bet on the thoroughbred that will be draped in a garland of red roses in the Churchill Downs winners circle on the first Saturday in May.

Once called the "winter book," Kentucky Derby futures have been around for decades, offering prospective bettors huge odds at enormous danger. The concern is that your horse never makes it into the starting gate. If that happens, there's no refund; you lose. But if you can identify a good horse early in the process, say in January, February or March, you still might be able to get 100/1 or more on a 3-year-old that returns considerably less than that on Derby day.

That certainly was the case in 1988 when Winning Colors, who, largely because of her gender, was dismissed at future book odds of 100/1. She won the Run for the Roses, returning a mere $8.80 on Derby day.

Ill-fated Barbaro, who was denied the chance to demonstrate the full scope of his championship potential, wound up paying $14.20 on the day of the 2006 Derby, an attractive price given the ease (a 6 1/2-length triumph), of his victory, but a distant whinny from the 30/1 or so odds being offered in many Nevada racebooks and at sports betting sites around the globe at this time a year ago.

Long a staple of race books, the Kentucky Derby future book expanded nine years ago when the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW), a pari-mutuel pool run out of Churchill Downs but offered elsewhere as well, joined the betting fray.

The most recent KDFW pool concluded after four days of betting on Feb. 11. Pool No. 2 will be conducted March 8-11 and the final pool will be run April 12-15. Only 23 individual horses were listed (as opposed to hundreds at most racebooks and sportsbook outlets) in the first pool so it's not surprising that the mutuel field (all 3-year-olds not among the 23 named thoroughbreds) closed as the favorite at odds of 5/2.

Nobiz Like Shobiz, winner of the Holy Bull Stakes in early February at Gulfstream Park, closed as the individual 8/1 second choice in a pool that drew about $500,000 in wagers. Street Sense, the winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile, and Hard Spun, who was bet down from a 20/1 morning line, each closed at 10/1. Ravel, who won the Sham Stakes, was next in line at 11/1.

What most separates the Kentucky Derby Future Wager from those posted in racebooks and at sportsbook outlets is the option of the field wager. Interestingly, in eight years of Pool 1 wagering, 184 individuals have been named but only 71 of those reached the Kentucky Derby starting gate and only five of them won. Three others, Charismatic, War Emblem and Funny Cide, were members of the Pool 1 mutual field and thus paid way less than they did on Derby Day, let alone their early hefty prices in casino (standard and virtual) future books.

So, given the smaller prices, should a bettor avoid the KDFW and stick with a casino based future book that lists more horses at larger odds?

Not necessarily.

Because the KDFW starts anew with its second and third pools, horses left out of the first pool and lumped into the mutual field sometimes emerge as separate entities in Pool 2 or Pool 3. That was the case with both Giacomo and Funny Cide, who each were offered at more than 50/1 in Pool 3 just three weeks before their successful Kentucky Derby runs.

The above Pool 3 example is in contradiction to the widely held (and mostly correct) view that the longer you dither, the shorter the price you'll get, especially on a horse that demonstrates potential, as was the case with both Giacomo and Funny Cide.

Thus the shrewd player will view the KDFW not as an alternative to more conventional future book wagers but as another opportunity. Rather than an "either-or" situation, the savvy bettor will study both options, looking for the best way to bet on the Kentucky Derby.

Sports Soundoff

This is Sports Sound Off, where you can speak your mind on anything you wish. Because of the large number of calls received, not all can be published.

Jaguars need to hire Arrow -- Joe Gottfried, please hire Ronnie Arrow. Arrow is just exactly what this school needs right now. If you want to get people in the seats, he is the guy for the job. I will be first in line for season tickets if you hire him.

Sounds like the same old Tide -- I was reading about the scrimmage for Alabama yesterday and noticed the offense had turnovers, penalties and unfulfilled chances. Take away the penalties, and it sounds like last year's offense. What do you think?

Saban puts media in their place -- I love seeing all the sports media squirming because Saban won't give them the time of day. It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of individuals. They are the first ones to jump on anyone when they are down, and now they are whining when they can't get interviews. I think it is great. Way to go, coach Saban.

Montoya a lot like Cruise in movie -- I watched the Busch Series race and read a lot of articles about Juan Pablo Montoya. Juan Pablo reminds me of Tom Cruise in "Days of Thunder." He hit everything on the race track except the pace car.

Only one qualified to judge -- Must be a lot of people calling in judging Aaron, Pelphrey and Bonds and Tuberville and Saban, people that most of us have never even met and don't even know. How many of you would gladly spend $100 for a football game on a Saturday? Now, how many of you would turn around and go to church the next day? Now if you need to judge, judge that. However, only Jesus is qualified to judge.

Spurrier should stick to coaching -- It is funny how Steve Spurrier can come back to South Carolina and he can tell you what he can fly on the capitol building. My question is, how come he couldn't handle those NFL players? Were they too big and they told him what to do and he couldn't handle that? He can take charge of college players.

Finebaum uses same type of language -- Of all people, Paul Finebaum is complaining about what Imus said? Sure, what Imus said was offensive and deplorable, but the same thing happens on Finebaum's radio show every day. They disparage anybody who wasn't white or from the South, and he makes fun of female athletes, accusing most of them of being gay.

Finebaum should just criticize Tide -- Mr. Finebaum, if you really want Mr. Imus' job, why don't you go to New York and put in an application to get it? Being an outlet for his racist remarks in south Alabama just doesn't suit you. Stick with the University of Alabama.

Finebaum should follow Imus -- Now that we got rid of Don Imus, can we please get rid of Paul Finebaum?

Good time to lose gill nets -- This is a very good time to dispose of the gill nets. With spawning at this time of the year, immeasurable fish would be saved if these gill netters could be compensated and removed.

Coverage not like it used to be -- David Rainer did an excellent job. Your coverage is nothing like it used to be. You need to get another person who can fill the void. It is just pitiful now.

Sport of archery catches wind in North Iowa

North Iowa schools are incorporating archery into their physical education classes through the Iowa Archery in the Schools Program.

North Iowa Middle School was the site of a program tournament on March 22 with 44 students from three school districts participating.

“To me it is a stress reliever,” said Jordan Garcia, an eighth grader at Northwood- Kensett.

“I like that it gives kids something to do other than get in trouble and it is fun.”

“It teaches students discipline as well as sportsmanship,” said Juanita Stevens, physical education instructor and archery coach for the North Iowa Middle School. “It builds confidence and upper arm strength. The neat thing about archery is that it is for everyone, even the non-athletic students. You can even apply math and science concepts to this sport when practicing what angles to use for aim.”

Students participating in the tournament were from North Iowa, West Hancock, and Northwood Kensett school districts.

“I think archery is a fun sport,” said Laura Mastin, an eighth grader at North Iowa. “It is not a sport a lot of schools have. I think it is cool that our school offers this opportunity to us.”

“It improves your eye and hand coordination,” said Javier Vasques, a West Hancock participant. “It’s a lot of fun.”

Serving as referee was John Carlson of Lake Mills, president of the Iowa State Archery Association and a board member of Iowa Archery in The Schools Program.

“This program is in over 50 school districts,” said Carlson. “We are currently having P.E instructors apply the sport of archery to their classes.”

Other schools offering the Iowa Archery in the Schools Program include Lake Mills, Forest City, Garner, Belmond and Mason City.

All archery students are eligible to attend the National Archery in the School Program Tournament to be held Saturday in Johnston. Archers will compete to qualify for the the Nationals in Louisville, Ky. in June. Iowa’s first state Archery in the Schools Tournament will be held March 2008 in Des Moines.

When cricket is more than just a sport!

For a country where cricket is viewed as a business, not a sport, and the Indian cricketers as a brand, not a team, it could all end in a painful hangover when the brand does not deliver. India's distressing defeat at the hands of minnows Bangladesh in the Caribbean has not only left a cricket-crazy nation, which dissects every move and every word of cricketers beyond any rationale, thunderstruck, but also has sent sponsors, advertisers and multinationals in a flap.

Market analysts would have us believe that should India fail to reach the Super 8 stage of the World Cup, it would put Rs.3.5 billion worth of ad money and roughly Rs.13.25 billion in sponsorship money at risk. Add to these future sponsorships and sales of consumer durables that are riding high on the World Cup frenzy and it could be even more dreadful news if the men in blue are edged out if it boils down to run rates to qualify.

A day after its heady triumph, Bangladesh mocked at India's 'cash-rich cricketers' and the cricketing authorities for making cricket 'a product, not sport'.

'India sees cricket as business but Bangladesh knows and plays cricket as a sport. The only country that has not invited Bangladesh to play a test series is India, just because Bangladesh is not financially viable as a team. Now, India have to understand that cricket is a game and not a commercial apple!' wrote Tareq Mahmood in Prathom Alo, a leading daily newspaper of Bangladesh.

That cricket mania always grips India before any major tourney is well known. For a showpiece event like the World Cup, the excitement is even more palpable as it does not get any bigger and the game becomes the adhesive that binds people across the country.

But this time around the fixation has gone up several unreasonable notches fuelled by the multitude of TV channels tracking the build-up in minute detail even as they fight for a slice of the viewership pie.

Not a day passes without channels buffeting viewers with deafening cheer campaigns, road shows supporting the Indian team, special prayers, musical performances and interactive cricket programmes that are expected to play out during the six weeks. If that was not enough, people have been pounded by mobile games as well as match updates and cricket clips on mobile phones as companies pitch in to pull in crowds with attractive offers to boost sales.

Capitalizing on cricket frenzy, sportswear brands have launched novel cricket adverts while soft drink companies have introduced gold coloured colas, each vying for that seamless space to increase their brand value. And this time Bollywood too has jumped into the bandwagon, releasing a movie, aptly titled 'Hattrick' - a story of the triumph of the human spirit in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds.

While it is now well acknowledged that India is the epicentre of world cricket, boasting of the largest market and widest social base, this mass hysteria does seem out of place when one sport becomes to dominate so much of Indian life.

As celebrated cricket writer Rohit Brijnath fittingly puts it, 'To have a conversation on cricket in India occasionally requires no second person. Most of us can argue vigorously with ourselves, internal debates that suggest a delightful schizophrenia, where we are optimist yet pessimist, believer and sceptic, supporter and critic, all at once.'

Experts reckon the 2007 World Cup alone will attract television advertisements worth $17 million as maximum sponsorships for cricket flow in from India. Of the ICC's sponsorship amount of $550 million earned last year, $300 million came from India.

Perhaps, if it had not been the megabucks that swathes cricket and the advertising blitzkriegs we would not get so worked up if India loses. But then sports promoters and those who manage the game have other ideas, bent on exploiting the brand for all its worth, irrespective of whether the cricketers play for 'mind, body, heart and soul'.

Russia's Sport TV Channel to show 2007 Premier League matches

Russia's Sport state television channel will broadcast the Russian soccer Premier League matches in 2007 under an agreement with NTV-plus commercial TV company, the company's general director said Sunday.

On Tuesday, NTV-plus purchased exclusive rights from the Russian Football Union (RFU) to broadcast live soccer matches for the next four years under a $100 million contract at pay-per-view rates instead of free on state television channels, but the Russian president criticized the deal.

"To increase the social responsibility of our contract, we have agreed with Sport TV Channel on broadcasting Russian soccer matches along with [Public Television] Channel One and regional channels. Currently, we are carrying out work with Sport TV Channel to conclude a relevant sublicense agreement," Dmitry Samokhin said.

Concerned over the deal, President Vladimir Putin earlier asked Dmitry Medvedev, a first deputy prime minister and the head of the state commission on the development of television and radio broadcasting in Russia, to straighten the situation out.

On March 9, Medvedev said that all live matches from the Russian soccer Premier League will be broadcast free this year.

Samokhin said his company's contract with the Russian Football League will remain.

"As we intended before, we are committing a large amount of funds into the development of the Russian soccer and a new quality of television broadcasting, Samokhin said.

Therefore, the Russian soccer Premier League matches will be broadcast under the scheme similar to the arrangement last year, when Channel One, Sport TV Channel and local television companies were involved in the effort," said Anastasia Kazakova, the press secretary for NTV-plus.

Sport TV Channel is part of the All Russia State Television and Radio Company, or VGTRK.

Rugby: Tests may be World Cup seeding

The IRB is expected to unveil plans in Auckland this week to make end of season tours part of a new, two-year compe-tition counting towards World Cup seeding.

After almost seven years of expensive research and debate, Bernard Lapasset, the enigmatic Frenchman who heads the IRB's high performance unit, has come up with a couple of ideas to restore the vibrancy of test rugby.

The prospect of a global season - unifying the Northern and Southern Hemisphere seasons - has been ruled out, leaving only the June and November test windows with which to tinker.

One idea the IRB will put forward on Tuesday is a 10-team competition, played over two years, involving all the game's Tier One countries.

This proposal recognises that traditional competitions such as the Six Nations and Tri Nations are foundation stones that should never be removed and that the stale, mouldy part of the rugby season is the two cross-hemisphere test windows.

Watching European sides venture down here with a host of never-heard-ofs and never-likely-to-hear-of-agains for a one-off test has long lost its appeal. Likewise, there is never any sense of fulfilment from watching development All Black teams gain priceless experience at European grounds while their more experienced brethren enjoy an extended Christmas break.

Because the June window elongates the northern season and the November window reduces the All Blacks pre-season to about three weeks, the rugby in these periods must be meaningful. There has to be a reason for players to front up.

Lapasset has come up with that reason - tests in the new competition will determine World Cup seedings.

Currently the IRB uses the previous World Cup to determine seedings. It's a crazy system that means in 2007, England, ranked seventh after barely winning a game since they bagged the William Webb Ellis, are number one seeds.

So Lapasset's big picture is that New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, England, France, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Italy and Argentina play in a structured format where points are allocated. The final points will determine World Cup seedings, providing a major incentive for nations to field their strongest side and take the whole business seriously.

Dovetailing into this proposal is the plan to provide an opportunity for national sides to play midweek fixtures.

Coaches bemoan the lack of opportunities to trial young blood and say they have little choice but to use tests to experiment.

There may be value in scheduling New Zealand to play three tests in the UK in November which will count towards World Cup seedings. That way the All Blacks could take an extended squad and squeeze in mid-week games.

The tricky part in all this is finance. Whatever the IRB say about the need to protect players from excessive demands, the catalyst for the shake-up is a report last year by accountants Deloitte & Touche.

They found that in the 10 years since the game went professional, global revenue had jumped from about £150m to £600m. Costs had risen by largely the same amount, so the sport was barely breaking even. The £600m represented only five per cent of the money soccer was generating.

For rugby to grow in existing countries and new frontiers, it needs money - which can only be generated by attracting external investors. Those investors need something sexy that engages the public.

The great hope is that the new competition will receive serious financial backing. Then the challenge will be for the IRB to share broadcast and sponsorship revenue equitably as well as building a new gate-sharing model.

The message delivered this week will be that rugby sits in view of a brave new world.

But it won't be the first time the IRB have banged on about grand plans. Since 2000 there has been talk about a global season. Coaches, players, medics, administrators, sponsors and broadcasters have been unanimous, for the better part of the last decade, that the season is dangerously long.

There's not only too much rugby, there's too much meaningless rugby and with the athletes on average 10kg heavier and 30 per cent stronger than they were in 2000, the current set-up makes demands that are career-threatening.

The pre-season has disappeared to accommodate the bulging fixture list and players no longer have adequate time to rest, recuperate and prepare.

The IRB have heard all this ad nauseum for the last seven years. But despite acknowledging the validity of the arguments, they have failed to institute change.

It's funny that a few months after a document appeared detailing how the status quo is squeezing the coffers, the IRB get into gear.

It's more funny peculiar than funny ha-ha, but as long as it leads to change, everyone will be laughing.