Hello again, AmSports fans... I think I hear an echo...

I would love to write a brilliant account of last weekend's Super Bowl of AmFoot, but I'm nearly drowning in the amount of media hype before, during and after the game. It will have to be suffice to say the New England Patriots won their third championship in the past four years and it actually was a very close game, unlike many of the others (hence my 'Stupor Bowel' comments). The Philadelphia Eagles did not play at their best, and many records were set in the game.

Millions of dollar$ were wagered and, of course, I didn't spend a dime, preferring instead to pay bills and buy food, but if anyone drew 0-0, 7-7, 4-4 or 4-1 on a random chance board they didn't lose money on the wager itself but probably drank their 'winnings' at the local watering hole and needed to take a taxi home.

There isn't a newspaper or sports site in America that doesn't have
extensive game coverage, special sections, postgame analysis, commentary
and opinion, and it's basically sickening to this Post columnist. An
AmSports junkie like me has to begin focus on the Next Big Event, which is college basketball's postseason tournament during March, or speculating on pro baseball's continuing steroids scandal, in which even more names have been dropped into the muck with a tell-all book about to be published.

So, welcome to the six months that is February and, fellows, unless you REALLY want a steak knife embedded in your body, remember the upcoming Valentine's Day in some way, shape or form to your 'significant other(s)' and keep the peace.

This is several a/k/a random, in search of a Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster, over and out.

Last weekend saw the start of one of my favourite sporting competitions - The Six Nations Championship.

If you take into account the early beginnings of this tournament, it is the oldest in the world for the rugby-playing fraternity. Originally called the 'International Championship' it featured 4 teams from the British Isles - England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The first ever match took place in Swansea (Wales) in 1882 and the English team defeated the Welsh convincingly. The overall winners were, in the early days, computed solely on a 'win' basis, a fact which led to many disputes and, on three occasions, failure to complete the championship.

In 1910 a team from France were invited to compete. They failed to make much of an impression at first and won only one match in their first four years of play. Pitch invasions (mostly by Welsh supporters) and concealed knives on players (The French team in the 1930s) added to the general chaos¹ and the French were expelled in 1931 because some of their players had received payments in what was, at that time, a strictly amateur, non fee-paying, sport. The competition was, for obvious reasons, suspended during both World Wars but resumed again in 1947. This marked the start of a new era when all teams played on a far more equal footing with France eventually winning the tournament outright in 1959.

Despite difficulties caused by the 'Irish Problem' during the 1970s, the competition continued to prosper and was dominated by a very successful Welsh Team. The 1980s saw the French on top although both the Scots and Irish clocked up a win each. The 1990s see-sawed between French and English dominance and the tournament was deemed 'stale' by many supporters. Thus it was that the Italian team were invited to join in 2000 and the championship became 'The Six Nations'.

• Saturday February 12: Italy v Wales (13.30 GMT)
  
  Scotland v Ireland (16.00 GMT)
• Sunday February 13: England v France (15.00 GMT)

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