Enough with this AJitating

Message to the White Sox: Enough already with the A.J. Pierzynski nonsense.

Somebody has to tell the Sox’ catcher to play the game the way a pro is supposed to play it and conduct himself the way a pro is supposed to conduct himself.

Pierzynski has forced countless people in the Sox organization into the awkward position of having to apologize for him.

So yeah, enough already.

In the past, Pierzynski was compared to Dennis Rodman. On Tuesday morning, Minneapolis Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse compared him to Bart Simpson.

Reusse points out that “I didn’t do it” is Simpson’s common defense. It also was Rodman’s. Now it’s Pierzynski’s.

Personally, I’m ready to start referring to him as A.J. Gardini or Benito Pierzynski.

Pierzynski acts like Benito Gardini, one of the first great wrestling villains and a role model for all subsequent bad guys.

Gardini would club a guy from behind or gouge his eyes or bite his neck, then throw his hands up, widen his eyes and shake his head.

You know, as if to say, “I didn’t do it.”

That’s A.J. Pierzynski, who happens to be a wrestling fan who has participated in a few shows.

Pierzynski’s latest baseball, er, incident occurred on Memorial Day when the Twins thought he deliberately stepped on first baseman Justin Morneau’s foot.

This would be a serious violation of baseball etiquette. Pierzynski might not have done it purposely, but it sure did appear that he approached the bag unnaturally.

Regardless, intent isn’t an issue here anymore. The issue is Pierzynski keeps rewriting the game’s unwritten rules into scribblings on a washroom wall.

An Old English Sheep Dog’s intent doesn’t matter. All that matters is he keeps bumping into a hutch and breaking the good china.

Of course, Pierzynski pleaded not guilty to the media, Morneau and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire. Publicly, all parties agreed the conflict was over — no retaliation.

The Twins left that to the Metrodome fans who booed Pierzynski all Tuesday night.

It should be noted that Pierzynski’s pro career began in the Twins’ organization and that Gardenhire managed him.

When Pierzynski returns to the Twin Cities, his reputation precedes him. When he steps on a first baseman’s foot, his history indicts him.

Pierzynski is considered a major AJitator around the major leagues. No wonder he was the target when Cubs catcher Michael Barrett chose to punch someone last year.

Seriously, enough already.

Just a couple weeks ago Pierzynski was the guy who compelled Sox manager Ozzie Guillen to be profane on the radio. He’s also the guy Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle spoke about unflatteringly that same weekend.

Pierzynski is the guy who once stepped on an opposing player’s hand. Now the Twins think he tried to step on Morneau’s foot.

Enough already with, “I didn’t do it.” When a baseball player has to keep issuing that same denial, it can be interpreted that he did do it.

An intervention should commence in the Sox’ clubhouse. Anyone who ever played first base — Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, Darin Erstad — should sit Pierzynski down and insist he cut it out.

Pierzynski’s behavior isn’t funny anymore, and a couple lines are on the verge of being crossed.

First, Pierzynski is in danger of plunging from diversion to distraction. Second, he’s close to becoming an annoyance you’d rather your team lost without than won with.

So enough already with the bad-guy wrestling routine.

GROWING SPORT

TRUMBULL TOWNSHIP - - Cowboy mounted shooting is becoming one of the most rapidly growing equestrian sports in the U.S.

Ashtabula County residents got a taste of what it's all about Saturday at Spinning Wheel Farm as the Northern Ohio Outlaws Cowboy Mounted Shooting Club of Wooster conducted a demonstration.

The sport started out west in Arizona and has rapidly been making it's way across the U.S. Mounted contestants ride in the fast-action, timed event using two .45 caliber single-action revolvers loaded with five rounds of specially prepared blank ammunition.

Courses are set in a variety of patterns, requiring the rider to guide the horse and shoot the gun at the same time. The first five targets of a course of fire will vary with each go and requires the horse and rider to stop, turn, change leads and accelerate rapidly. The last five targets, called the "run down," is a straight course with targets set at 36 foot intervals.

Typically, a competitor crosses the timing beam at a full gallop and engages the first pattern of five targets. After the shooter fires the fifth shot, he or she returns the empty revolver to a holster and then races to the far end of the arena while drawing the second revolver. At the far end, the horse and rider turn another barrel and then engage the five remaining targets of the "run down" at full speed.

Scoring is based on elapsed time plus a five second penalty for each target missed or barrel knocked over. Contestants dress in 1800s clothing to add an extra bit of flare to the event.

"That's one good thing about it," said Elizabeth Phillips, who organized Saturday's event. "It draws attention to us."

There also are different levels of shooting. After competitors achieve so many wins in one level, they move up to the next. Contestants start out as a level one shooter. If there are three or more shooters in the class a win will move the shooter into the level two class. After three wins in level two, the shooter moves onto level three, and so on, all the way up to level six.

There are 54 different courses. Any breed of horse can be used in the sport but the horses must go through training to become acclimated with the sport, Phillips said.

Phillips is trying to start a club in the county and will hold a clinic on June 3 at Spinning Wheel Farm. Participants will bring their own horses, but guns and ammunition will be provided in the cost of the clinic. Joe Coalter, director of the Northern Ohio Outlaws, will conduct the clinic.

"When we have clinics, the first thing we do is go through gun safety," he said. "We go through gun safety before every shoot out."

Other than the safety part, there is no other gun training, it's up to the individual to get comfortable with using the revolvers, he said. Horses are also trained at the clinic.

"There's a lot going on for the horse," Coalter said. "There's gun fire, balloons, gun smoke, that's a lot for those horses to get used to."

Just like any other sport, Coalter said cowboy mounted shooting is an investment.

"You have to get a good horse, a good gun and a saddle," he said.

The first cowboy mounted shooting club originated in Cincinnati. The Northern Ohio Outlaws started as an affiliate of that club and is trying to bring the sport further north, Coalter said.

"There's a lot of horse country up here," he said. "Even though we use guns, it's a family sport."

Coalter and his wife both compete in the sport as well as their daughter. Kids run patterns without using guns, he said.

"It's something we can do together," Coalter said.

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'.