Super Bowl XLVI

MIA performed alongside Madonna in the show and has caused a rumpus by using the finger during her performance. The Londoner could face a hefty fine from the FCC under the contract she signed to play the gig in the first place. This has much to do with the blame game that has gotten underway between the league and TV network. NBC said: “The NFL hired the talent and produced the half-time show,” whereas the NFL replied with: “There was a failure in NBC’s delay system. The obscene gesture in the performance was completely inappropriate, very disappointing, and we apologise.

If you’re MIA then there’s precedent for all this and you could worry a little less. The FCC had a similar case back in ’04 when Janet J got her tasseled nip out for all to see. They pursued CBS and the broadcast firm was forced to pay out a $550,000 (£348,000) fine. According to TMZ the situation is different this time due to MIA’s contract but what everyone’s forgetting is that it was only a fricking finger. Any kid watching the game at that time of day has likely seen one before and if they’re that worried then stick a delay on the show.

If nothing else it means one thing for the 2013 game…prepare yourself for Sir Cliff Richard.

Manning's accidental touchdown won the Giants the game

Sunday night’s 46^th Super Bowl at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis: what a game! If you didn’t catch it, you must have already heard: the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots 21-17 to win the Lumbadi trophy, thanks to second-time Most Valuable Player Eli Manning, making them the first 9-7 team in NFL history to win a Super Bowl.

The Giants were the first to lead with a safety as Tom Brady was called for intentional grounding, but it wasn’t all plain sailing for the New Yorkers. Manning found Victor Cruz with a two-yarder before Scotsman Lawrence Tynes added the extra point from the boot, making it 9-0.

However, the Patriots bit back in the second quarter when Stephen Gostkowski’s field goal made it 9-3. Patriots looked all set to turn the game around when Danny Woodhead got on the end of one from Brady for a four-yard touchdown and Gostkowski added the extra to go into half-time 10-9 up.

Patriots looked set to steal the game after the early deficit when they finished a 79-yard drive with Brady finding Aaron Hernandez on the seven-yard line as he drove it in and Gostkowski again kicked to make it 17-9.

New York managed to get the game back to within two points, marking the start of a Giants come back. It all changed when Bradshaw scored an accidental touchdown, falling backwards over the line to make it 17-21. The kick went too wide to earn the Giants any extra points but it was enough to win them their fourth Super Bowl trophy – defeating the Patriots for the title twice in the last five seasons.

Sportsbooks were allegedly pulling for the Patriots to cover the spread – obviously that wasn’t the case. It wasn’t as bad as 2007, though, but some shaky books might feel the pinch.

Reports online reveal that a lucky bettor in Vegas bet $1,000 at 50/1 that the first score of the Giants-Patriots Super Bowl would be a safety. That lucky son of a gun made himself $50,000 profit thanks to the intentional grounding.

In other, not-so lucky circumstances, reports state that rapper Birdman may owe sportsbook giant BetOnline.com $5 million after taking him up on his Super Bowl bet on the New England Patriots. No-one has yet confirmed, let’s hope for Birdman’s sake it’s merely hearsay.

Seems like the majority of you guys were wrong too, in our online poll that demonstrated 37% of our readers predicted a victory by the Patriots.

Did you bet on Super Bowl? Did Patriots empty your wallet? Let us know!

Could it be the New England Patriots, or the New York Giants? With New England’s quarterback Tom Brady having the experience of five Superbowl games, Patriots have a pretty good chance of earning the game. But with tight-end Rob Gronkowski returning to practice, Giants too have an outstanding chance. Whatever happens, it’s most definitely going to be a close one.

For weeks now we’ve been throwing these ideas back and forth and arguing the toss, so we thought we’d give you guys a say and poll our readers with the big question: “Who’s going to win the Super Bowl?”

Seen as though we you can’t legally bet on the outcome in the US unless you live in Nevada, Delaware, Montana or Oregon, we were also hoping such a vote might offer our Yankee readers with the next best thing. Unfortunately, we can’t offer you any prize if your prediction is spot on, but we can laugh at you if it isn’t.

Anyhow, here is what you guys thought…

Unsurprisingly, it was a close one- with 37% of you voting New England Patriots will go home the coveted Lombardi Trophy. 32% of you voted “Push”, and 31% of you predict the Giants will be crowned 46^th SuperBowl champions.

Although it seems you think the Patriots have the upper crust by a mere 6% – the results echo our thoughts – this years game could go either way. It really is going to be a close one. What are you doing on the day of the big game? Will you be heading down to Indianapolis for the sportsbook event of the year? Make us jealous by letting us know!

“There was a consensus around the table that sporting fraud should be a criminal offense,” IOC director general Christophe De Kepper told The Associated Press. “A lot needs to be done on the government side and the cooperation between police and justice around the world. There is a sense of urgency.”

That urgency mentioned by De Kepper has to do with one thing only – preventing fixing at the London Olympic Games. With the complex systems to thwart it in place at most betting firms it shouldn’t be a problem but there will always be those that doubt this being enough. The Olympics being in London means that anyone found fixing will receive a hefty sentence and the IOC recognized Britain, along with France and Australia, as models that everyone should be looking at. British sports minister Hugh Robertson went as far as to cite one specific case.

“There was not a single person in the room who was not aware of the case,” Robertson told the AP. “If it can happen at a test match at Lord’s (cricket ground), it can happen at the Olympic Games.”

The IOC’s third annual summit will be in 2013 and they will look to work alongside other organizations, such as FIFA, to prevent anything untoward happening this summer.

Most people have these guys...

For the online gambling industry the Super Bowl is like the best conference party you ever attended, followed by a strip club full of insanely hot girls. That’s before you finish off at 5am with the best sex of your life! That goes close to giving you how pumped up the sportsbook industry gets over the most watched TV event of the year. It embodies everything the sportsbook industry aims for and is the culmination of the past year toiling away to make your product the best.

Being a sporting event of gargantuan proportions also means that everyone has an opinion on how it’ll pan out. Will Madonna be wearing fishnets? Can Kelly Clarkson go the whole anthem without a massive eff up? Thankfully we also got our thinking caps on and came up with who we think is gonna take home the Lombardi. If you go by last year’s predictions then your guess is as good as ours. So here goes the CalvinAyre.com Super Bowl Predictor Extraordinaire 2012…

Jason Kirk – Game 1 of the Super Bowl will be close, but I think Game 2 is where the real action will be. Wait – what? They don’t play a series to determine the champion? What kind of sport is this? Well, if you can get decent odds on me gaining weight from the great food at my neighbor’s Super Bowl party, by all means log a bet!

Vince Martin – Giants 24, Patriots 20. Eli throws two fourth quarter TD’s, beating former wide receiver Julian Edelman on one and Raiders castoff Sterling Moore on the other, leading to an avalanche of articles wondering if Belichick is truly the genius everybody thinks.

Bonus prediction: Jets fans like me will spend the entire weekend crying into their beer and trying to crank call Santonio Holmes.

Jamie Hinks – Before we start I’m gonna say the Pats by 7. The formula I’m going for is this. 2012 is the year that England has it all. The Queen’s got one of those celebration days when everyone goes crazy, the Olympics are coming to London and it can’t be a matter of coincidence that Brady’s in the Super Bowl. All that said, there are storylines aplenty here and as the Pats know a streaking Giants team is not who you want to play in the big game.

Mike O’Donnell – I’m a big Brady fan and as a result am going to say that it will be a Pats win. However their defence is worryingly poor in the secondary so Eli and his wide receivers could post some big numbers. With this in mind it will probably be a high scoring game so I’m saying Pats to win 30-24. Brady or Pats tight end Rob Gronkowski to be MVP.

Rebecca Liggero – Being the Bostonian that I am, clearly my prediction is that the Pats will bring this one home- the over/under is high so they will likely go under but I’d say we’re looking at 24-20 Pats.  NE fans know how volatile Bill Belichick can be, so he may unleash Chad Ochocinco who could show us 9 catches, 132 yards and 2 touch downs to secure him the MVP.  Other players to watch include Danny Woodhead who I have a special love for do to our similar vertical challenges, Tom Brady who will undoubtedly be redeeming himself after a poor performance last week against the Ravens and Rob Gronkowski who is nursing a sore ankle.

...but don't count these guys out

Lee Bell – With the game being that of two outstanding quarterbacks – New England Patriots’ Tom Brady and New York Giants’ Eli Manning – I think it’ll boil down to if the Giants can put pressure on Brady. If they don’t, Patriots will take the game. On the other hand, if Manning can connect with his wide receiver, Victor Cruz, the Giants, too, have an outstanding chance.

It’s going to be a close one, but if I had to put my life savings on it, I’d go for Patriots. They have a strong, all-round offence and with their tight-end Rob Gronkowski returning to practice, they’re getting my vote.

Bill Beatty – I’m a big fan of the storylines that go along with the big game. Terrific Tom is trying to match Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw with four Super Bowl rings. He’s looking for redemption for their Super Bowl XLII disappointment. Those are great but with the Giants you have the younger Manning brother looking to top his big brother with his second Super Bowl ring in Big Brother’s stadium against big brother’s archrival. Eli will put on his big boy pants and win this game late. Don’t worry about Brady because no matter the results on the field, he’s going home to Giselle, he’s running up the score in the game of life.

Steven Stradbrooke – Frankly, I can’t see how the Patriots can beat the Giants. Patriotism is a noble virtue and all, but, c’mon… They’re GIANTS. (Hat-tip to Diane Chambers.)

Last but not least we’ll leave it to Calvin to either make it a tie or seal it for the Pats. Take it away…

I like the Patriots -3…pick off anything better than -3 you can find out there.

There you have it. We’re taking the Pats by a score of FIVE TO THREE and are well behind Gisele Bundchen’s man. Who you got?

One thing that has gained more popularity in recent years is the prop bets – or “exotic” as some like to brand them. The Las Vegas Hotel sportsbook has around 400 prop bets on Super Bowl XLVI ranging from first touchdown to player vs player bets. There is even the chance to place Super Bowl prop bets against other sports – for example Brandon Jacobs touchdowns (-300) are up against Wayne Rooney goals against Chelsea on Feb 5^th (+250).

Vegas sportsbooks aren’t able to offer bets on factors around the game. That’s stuff like the half time show, pre-game show, national anthem, adverts, and so and so forth. Thankfully online gaming sites have this market catered for. Whether you want to bet on more flesh being on show or Madonna blowing over in the Lucas Oil Stadium artificial wind then it’s here. We’ve picked out a few of our favorite five…

Will NBC show Madonna’s boyfriend, Brahim Zalbat, on screen between kick-off and the final whistle? Yes (2.00) No (1.67) (YouWin.com)

More of a question would be whether NBC will be able to work out who Zalbat is…To make even more spicy how about Guy Ritchie attends and they scope the camera on him. Then watch Madonna fight the NBC executives as if it’s a re-enactment of Ritchie’s film Snatch. D’ya like daaagss?

How many times will David Tyree’s 2008 Super Bowl catch be shown on TV during the game? Over 1 (1.87) Under 1 (1.87) (YouWin.com)

This is the obvious winner when it comes to the gambler. Everyone knows this moment will be played at least twice during the game. If the Giants fall far behind and look like coming back then gear yourself up for Tyree overload.

Gatorade Bath Colour? Red (8/1), Clear/Water (1/1), Orange (5/2), Lime Green (11/2), Blue (10/1), Yellow (2/1) (BetUSA)

The only question we have here is…what happens if Tom Coughlin’s developed a likeness for blackcurrant flavored Gatorade and the Giants win. Where will ya be then?! Eh!

Will Madonna be wearing fishnet stockings at any point during half time? Yes (1.83) No (1.83) (Bodog.co.uk)

With the plethora of outfit changes taking place during half-time this is pretty much a certainty. More to the point will she be wearing a nipple tassle ala Janet J?

What’s clear is that this year’s game is simply huge. Get the beer by the keg load and get ready for Sunday.

“I’m fighting Miguel Cotto on May 5th because Miss Pac Man is ducking me,” he tweeted yesterday.

The news brings the curtain down on a fight between the best two pound-for-pound fighters before Mayweather goes to jail. It leaves us with some big questions to ponder. Could Pacquiao in fact be ducking Money? Who told Mayweather how to work Twitter and where can I send the hate mail? Will Mayweather use jail as an excuse to never get in the ring with Pac Man?

It’s not all bad though. Delaying the fight means that a purpose-built indoor arena can be constructed in the desert for when the two of them finally get it on. The question is whether one of them will be carrying a Zimmer frame and the other sitting in a motorized wheelchair when this takes place. Somewhere someday the fight will take place and the best fighter of our era crowned. If nothing else the well being of boxing depends on it. With these two delaying for even longer the gains seen by UFC will be higher and make people seriously doubt the sport in North America.

THE car window

When the year nears the end of its first month it only means one thing for the guys working at Sky Sports News – light the midnight oil and prepare the ear-plugs as it’s time for TRANSFER DEADLINE DAY (we couldn’t get a yellow surround on the lettering so that will have to do). The annual see-if-Jim-White’s-head-ever-explodes fest sees reporters littered around the country reporting on a conversation with ‘Arry Redknapp through a car window amongst other things. It’s begs the question as to how long reporters can stand in the snow before developing frostbite and if Andrei Arshavin really is at the Emirates – answers on a postcard.

Unfortunately for Sky this window presented them with a dilemma. With Liverpool and Chelsea not spending, Redknapp in court and Man City reluctant to splash the cash what happens? You look at the betting odds. Staring at these will start to tell you where players might go so you can fill 12 hours worth of programming.

One of the rumors the team was convinced of almost from the off involved Wigan striker Hugo Rodallega. Thanks to Premier League fixtures interfering with their window they could invent the notion that he would play against Spurs before having a medical at the side of the pitch and signing for the North London club all in one night. This was all before Wigan signed a player with skill out of this world. The name…A. Lee-An.

SkyBet had Rodallega at 5/4 to join Spurs at 11:34am. This was before he drifted to 8/15 to stay at Wigan at 9:57pm after Sky presumably realized their rumor was frankly rather ridiculous. The deal wasn’t the last we’d hear from the perennial wheeler-dealers Spurs.

Jim White (far left) gets ready to combust

Their newest signing was to come later on and it’s one that could have taken the bookies to the cleaners. Betting was eventually suspended on Louis Saha at 10:18pm and anyone that had punted on him joining Spurs at the beginning of the day will be in the money. Many question whether ‘arry had in fact gone into the court house earlier that day telling chairman Daniel Levy to “get Zaha” only to come out to the news that discussions were underway with Louis SAHA – ‘arry readily admits he writes like a two-year-old after all. Part of the same deal saw Stephen Pienaar moving northwards – something that was 11/1 in the morning.

If the bookies fell out with Spurs in this instance then Jermain Defoe will have been the toast of bookieton. At one point the Spurs striker, who is carrying an injury, was tipped to on his way to Liverpool thanks to being left out of the line up for the Wigan game. Feverish betting followed with the England striker finding himself as short as 1/5 to head to Anfield – down from 6/4 at midday.

With another year completed we wait until the summer when the clubs all wait until the last day to do it all again.

Satellite Information Services

Greek football clubs have gone on strike in protest at sponsorship payments being withdrawn by OPAP. The players’ union (PSAP) confirmed the strike on Monday as clubs in Football League 1 and 2 have run out of money to pay insurance contributions. The state-run gaming industry company, OPAP, was meant to foot the bill but never signed an agreement in May 2011 that was supposed to pay for the insurance. The PSAP statement said: “We understand that the country is living an unprecedented crisis, however this does not mean that among other things we have to tolerate playing uninsured or partially insured only for the duration of games.”

Payments were frozen last season after OPAP expressed reservations about repeated crowd violence and as such refused to pay the fee. Super League clubs have also expressed their annoyance at the delay, stating: “We express our strong dissatisfaction with the attitude of OPAP and its underlying attitudes, which are mocking Greek football.”

OPAP has yet to issue any comment.

The rise coming from the Olympics being hosted could be 5% of the next three years. The reason for the increase rise is given by Sheffield Hallam University’s Sports Industry Research Centre (SIRC) as the “Olympics effect” and is alongside a number of other sectors that will see an increase. This includes sports clothing, a rise in boating activities and modest increases in local sports participation.

The Independent article sought advice from Matt Bullas from betting comparison website Chips.co.uk, who commented: “The 2010 World Cup brought in £1 billion in bets in the UK alone. It isn’t too far-fetched to think that the Olympics could have a similar effect in 2012.”

Bullas’ statement is optimistic to say the least. A World Cup is a very different beast compared to an Olympic game. Every game at the World Cup sees unprecedented numbers wagering on games whilst there will be sports in the summer games that will see no wagering whatsoever. The Olympics does have one advantage – it won’t be up against the European Championship but if everyone’s spent their money earlier in the summer these predictions could be a little hasty.

The reason? The Giants are the hottest team in football right now and could easily repeat the feat of four bowls ago when they ran the table to beat the New England Patriots. That was the last time the Vegas books got taken to the cleaners and is still the biggest ever loss on the most-watched game on the planet. Going into that clash the Pats were a 12-point favorite and the books have been careful not to make the same mistake by shortening them to a three-point favorite this time.

Another record the game looks like breaking is the one for the most wagered during the game itself. The bar is currently set by the Steelers v Seahawks game back in 2006 when $94million and there are murmurings this could top 100 g’s. Back to the futures and Jay Kornegay, the director of the sports book at the Las Vegas Hotel and Casino, shows just how much of a hit they could take.

“I remember we opened them at about 20 to 1 last February, right after last year’s Super Bowl. But when they hit that losing streak, it went up. I mean, they lost to Vince Young and the Eagles! We were lucky the bets didn’t come our way, but there are some tickets out there.”

Kornegay added: “Even at the start of the playoffs we had them at 30 to 1 to win the Super Bowl. They had a very hard road.”

These sports books are just lucky that Fiddy didn’t stick $500k on the Giants back when they were 80/1. Then where would they be!?

Well they could be gifting 50 Cent money should the Giants prevail after the rapper reacted to Birdman’s $5m bet on the Pats, tweeting: “I’m up 500,000 off the last one. f*ck it ill bet it back Ill put a 1,000,000 on my G MEN. STUNNER you got the # hit me if you want it. I just check the spread Hold up the M casino in vegas said patriots-3 I’m have to bet over there unless STUNNTER giving up points. Get at me.”

We’re not sure what’s going to more exciting; the game itself or 50 Cent’s Twitter account during and shortly after the game.

Apparently looking to outshine his sports betting “boy” Floyd Mayweather Jr., rapper 50 Cent celebrated his own sports betting success via Twitter. “Just watched a 500,000 dollar foot ball game” was the message accompanying a picture of thick stacks of greenbacks and a New York (uh, Yankees) hat. “Some times I hear voices in my head they tell me thing. Like bet on th GIANTS so I listen.” Fiddy allegedly plans to give the filthy lucre to his “nana.” “She gonna faint LMAO all she do is go to the church.” Presumably aware that gambling winnings are taxable, Fiddy may want his nana to get a charitable receipt from that church.

Meanwhile, Cash Money Records co-founder Birdman is living up to his company’s moniker by tweeting that he’s putting $5m on the Patriots to beat Fiddy’s Giants, in part because Pats running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis is Birdman’s nephew. “I like New ENGLaNd.my nephew play RB# 42.I’m Bet 5million 2 any niggaaa.like tha Giants YMCMB.BabyMoney anybody kan Getit.” Birdman bet $1m of green on the Green Bay Packers last year, a bet that paid off handsomely. Will Birdman’s luck hold?

It’s become traditional for celebrity bettors to post proof of their prowess via Twitter, but we’re not sure we want to see this next wager verified. One of Fiddy’s female fans, @MyBestAssets, threw out a challenge to the rapper, saying that if the Giants won the Super Bowl, she’d post a pic of her “boobs & face.” But if the Giants lost, Fiddy would have to post a shot of his dick. Fiddy responded to the challenge with a simple “Ok.” You know the Twitter folks are hoping the Giants prevail, because the traffic trying to get a gander at Fiddy’s trouser snake will result in Twitter whipping out its fail whale for days afterward.

“I am very pleased to see racecourse attendance on the up for a third year in a row and to break the previous record is fantastic,” Stephen Atkin, the chief executive of the Racecourse Association, said.

Courses working hard on marketing and the new Qipco series had a huge effect on the gains seen, and Atkin added: “Financially it is a very difficult time for people at the moment, so it is a vindication of the exemplary work being done on Britain’s racecourses that more and more people are enjoying a day out at the races.

One of the sport’s success stories was the inaugural British Champions Day that took place at Ascot in October. The race day attracted 26,000 spectators and represented almost twice the amount that attended the event the Ascot one replaced – the Champions Stakes card at Newmarket.

The news will be a boost to the sports betting industry that has horse racing at its heart. It might not hold the luster of other sports but the “Sport of Kings” is still a very important one for the gambling industry. Now if only there was a solution like this to the levy debate and everything would be sorted!

So, as we build up to the big game, preparing ourselves for what will undeniably be the match of the weekend, we’re going to need a little help; something to get us psyched up, ready and yelling “bring it on!”. Well, what better way than a good old footy chant to a tune made especially for Ayr United by a mystery fan named Somerset Boab.

As an all singing, all jumping-about-like-a-madman Ayr United fan, Boab has taken the internet by storm and is set to burst into the charts with his loyal soccer song. That’s not the best of it, though. He’s also pledged to hand over every penny he earns from the song to the club, a team he has supported since he was a wee nipper.

With almost 100,000 hits from across the globe – it’s only right we too show our support and download the track to get right behind the boys when they need it the most – in the run up for the cup.

Visit the iTune store to download “Hampden Anthem” now, crack open a beer, get some footie on and sing your heart out with the best Scottish accent you can do. Come on Honest Men!

“The response to NFL games in the UK among our British fans has been exceptional,” said NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. “We are confident that having the Rams host one game in the UK in each of the next three seasons will allow us to better serve the growing popularity of our sport beyond the borders of the United States.”

The deal is a particularly interesting one as Stan Kroenke, owner of the Rams, is majority shareholder of Arsenal FC and it’s likely to be part of a push to make both brands more recognizable on a global basis. From the time when the International Series began the sport has grown in the UK on a huge scale and since 2010 TV ratings for Sky Sports NFL coverage have gone up 30% with figures across all TV platforms up 18% on the year before.

Football decamping to Europe for a week every year gives the NFL a chance to touch down in a territory that doesn’t share their blinkered view on the gaming industry. The UK is jurisdiction that has a rich sports betting culture and it’s something that the NFL and US could learn a lot from a regulatory regime that is amongst the best in the world.

The NFL also confirmed there wouldn’t be a second game in the UK but didn’t rule out one in continental Europe.

It’s not just in his wallet that poker helps either.

“There are comparisons. In fencing someone might show you something and you don’t know whether they’re actually going to go through with it or if it’s just an early bluff. That happens in poker as well,” he explained.

“And if you think people are doing things for the wrong reasons you can end up losing. It’s no coincidence that I enjoy both of them.”

He’d just better hope he fares better than the last time a poker pro swapped the surroundings of the felt for another sport. We can offer Kenber Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier’s Twitter if he wants to know how not to swap sports. ElkY would have fared better at boules. Saying that, it was another poker player he was up against in Lex Velhuis so we’re not sure what advice to give Kenber.

Could he be one of the first Olympic gold medalists with a WSOP bracelet too? Probably not but we can dream!

This one’s the only one that counts for real football fans throughout the country meaning it must be time for the biggest and best rivalry in world football to renew its dues with Ayr United and Kilmarnock meeting in the Communities Cup Semi-Final at the National Stadium in Glasgow at the end of January.

As any Ayr United supporter will tell you, this match is a formality for the Bodog sponsored side. With incidents such as the ‘Hand of God’ goal from Bryan Prunty and Andy Walkers cheeky chappy chipped penalty goal at Somerset Park back in the glorious 1990′s, it’s not a matter of who will win but what outrageous goal antic will win the day for the Honest Men.

Will it be the Moff’s on Fire dance, Wardlaw’s moonwalk, Trouten’s Tango or Robertson’s Robot, which will light up the Somerset Road fans?

Remember Peter Crouch doing the Robot? What Ayr fan worth their salt wouldn’t love to see Robbo re-enacting that famous move by the big striker after scoring a 90th minute bullet train header that wins the game for our side!

With several recent SPL scalps already hanging in the manager’s office this season, Big Chief Sitting Reid will be hoping that this chance to claim another will lead to the holy grail of Scottish Football; a spot in a major final for the first time since 2002. In 2002, we played arguably the best Rangers side ever put together.

Ironically, Ayr captain John Robertson played in that final so he’ll be hoping for better luck this time around, but without Tore Andre Flo, Claudio Cannigia, Barry Ferguson or Fernando Ricksen to deal with, Robbo should have the Killie players fairly and squarely in his back pocket; If he had a back pocket in his shorts that is!

Somerset Boab and around an expected 15,000 other Honest Men and Bonnie Lassies regaled in their finest black and whites for the day. The watching public on TV will surely believe that their screens have turned back to the 1970′s with the monochrome nature of what’s beaming through the tube at them.

The odds are against the first division side winning this tie, no, literally the odds are against Ayr United winning the trophy at all. Being rank outsiders at 20/1 (Bodog) suits Ayr. Ayr love being the rank outsiders. Ayr love beating SPL sides but Ayr especially love beating their Ayrshire neighbours to prove there’s only one team in Ayrshire!

There’s only one team in Ayrshire, one team in Ayrshire, there’s only one team in Ayrshire!

The Scottish Communities League Cup Semi-Final 2012
Ayr United F.C. v Kilmarnock F.C.
The National Stadium, Hampden Park, Glasgow
Saturday 28th January, 2012
Kick-off 1.00 p.m.

Marc Roseblade is a Contributor for Bleacher Report, Football Speak, OurGameMagazine and CalvinAyre.com. He also writes his own football blog at NotJustScottishFootball as well as working as PR for Ayr United Football Academy & Galveston Pirate Soccer Club in Texas. All quotes are obtained first-hand unless otherwise stated.

“I’m ready to fight Pacquiao 5/5/12. Bob Arum know the date can’t change. I have my guarantee. Call Schaefer and Al and stop lying to the public,” Mayweather tweeted.

It boils down to the point made by Pacquiao’s entourage last week that a purpose built 40,000+ seater venue on the Vegas strip would be a lot more lucrative than the tentative booking at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on Cinco de Mayo. The American fighter in his latest tweet also confirmed that he can make his own guarantee. Money’s outburst wasn’t complete before he baited the Filipino fighter again.

“January 16th was Dr. Martin Luther King birthday, January 17 is Muhammad Ali birthday, and May 5th is Pacquiao [rear] whooping day,” he tweeted, before adding: “First they say I’m ducking the fight. But now it seems like I’m begging for the fight. What is going on?”

In terms of who will win, former opponent of the two, Ricky Hatton, is backing the unbeaten side of the soap opera. Even though Pacquiao handed his ass to him on a plate, the British fighter believes the American would prevail.

Hatton tweeted: “Im hearing real progress is being made making pacman n mayweather, great news. I fancy mayweather.

“PAC nailed me as I was reckless, again. But Floyd was technically exceptional. I couldn’t hit the F***** with a handfull of confetti. Ha ha.”

Much of this will be confirmed this coming weekend when Pacquiao is scheduled to confirm his next opponent and if it isn’t Mayweather then he’ll have a lynchmob on his hands.

In the report, horse race betting also demonstrated a dramatic drop at 9.2% in on-course bookmaker turnover totalling the tally for 2011 at under €100 million to €97.5 million.

And it gets even worse. There was 8% drop in the total number of owners in Ireland while prize-money of €44.4 million was 3.5 % lower than in 2010.

In a report by the Irish Times yesterday, HRI’s chief executive, Brian Kavanagh, said: “The weakness of the horses in training figure is a cause for real concern as this is the area where rural employment is most affected. This is one of the many challenges which must be addressed in the coming year.”

Kavanagh also noted that the horse racing industry in Ireland has never really recovered from the impacts of the recession and since has received “successive cutbacks” to its budget – 26% in cuts since 2008 to be precise.

“This is a direct consequence of low betting duties and the movement of betting revenues online and off-shore. The negative effect of this on prize-money and investment has had damaging effects throughout the industry. Our prize-money is at its lowest level for 10 years, at a time when other major European racing countries are announcing prize-money increases,” he added.

But it’s not all doom and gloom for the sport. Positives in yesterday’s report figures include a 3.3% jump in attendances in Ireland’s racecourses from the year before to €1.24 million, and a rise in bloodstock sales at public auction to €81 million.

Kavanagh explains: “The growth in racecourse attendance is particularly welcome given the pressure that leisure and retail markets generally have been under and I congratulate the racecourses who have worked hard to attract and retain race-goers.

“Strong bloodstock sales overall and growth in the value of exports for Irish-bred horses show that the reputation and value of the Irish thoroughbred remains high and this gives us confidence that this figure will continue to grow,” he concluded.

Also, in the US – the sport has seen it’s first significant increase for three years.

Nevertheless, are these small increases substantial enough to outweigh the dramatic drop in horse race betting recently? Is the sport on its way to becoming extinct? Tell us what you think.