Following his blatant attempts to re-sign Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh has continued to openly praise the player saying he believes he should be the starting quarterback in the Pro Bowl.

Harbaugh spent most of his press conference on Tuesday extolling the virtues of his playmaker and say he is now one of the NFC’s top quarterbacks alongside Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and New Orleans Drew Bees, adding that on current form Smith is the best the conference has to offer. Those following the Super Bowl odds need to remember this.

The veteran coach is well known for his ability influence the roster and his influence will be even greater this time around after leading his side to an 11-3 season and the NFC West Championship. It now appears as if Smith could be the likely pick for the Pro Bowl and Harbaugh is not shy of praising his charge. People following the Betfair American Football Betting need to bear this in mind.

“Alex has a great understanding,” Harbaugh said about Smith’s lack of turnovers. “Experienced player who understands situational football and good football and the difference between holding onto the ball and turning it over. He’s also been uncanny in the pocket.”Smith rejoined the franchise as free agent in the summer but once again his contract is up at the end of the season. Harbaugh is understandably desperate to keep him and with a 51.4% completion rate and only five interceptions, the lowest in the NFC, who can blame him.

“That’s the low-hanging fruit,” Harbaugh said. “Just go straight to the yardage line or the touchdown-passes line. I think that people that understand football understand that there’s a lot more that goes into the job of a quarterback than those statistics.”

Daniela Hantuchova has dismissed suggestions that her best days are behind her and feels she can still get back into the world’s top ten in 2012.

The Slovakian is a former world number 5, but will go into the Australian Open having slipped outside the top-20.

Hantuchova was a semi-finalist at Melbourne Park back in 2008, but is not being talked about when pundits discuss potential challengers in 2012.

The 28-year-old has not won a WTA tournament since her success in Thailand back in February and is current sat 24th in the standings. Those looking to place a tennis bet on 2012 Australian Open matches should remember this.

The Monte Carlo-based right-hander was among six players who competed in the Singapore Women’s Tennis Exhibition tournament in December, losing in the quarter finals.

But despite being written off in some quarters, Hantuchova feels she still has a lot to offer, despite admitting that the game has changed in the last decade. Those looking at the tennis betting should remember this.

The Slovakian said: “Ten years ago, I would be in the best shape on the entire tour. These days, everybody is prepared like this so it changes completely.

“I think as far as the finesse of the game, it was much nicer before because you could see longer rallies – we had more brains and more touch. Now it’s about whoever hits it hard.”

Hantuchova will certainly look to improve on Melbourne display in 2011, when she was seeded 28, having been beaten in a three-set first round thriller by Russia’s Regina Kulikova.

Getting to know your new co-host can take a bit of time, and it’s best to do that before the show goes live, so that you look like a team when you’re on TV. That’s exactly what Philip Schofield and his new co-host for Dancing on Ice 2012, Christina Bleakley, are planning on doing.

As well as inviting Christina and her boyfriend, Chelsea’s Frank Lampard, over for dinner with him and his wife at home, Schofield has said that they’ll have practice working together on ITV’s new charity programme, Text Santa. The programme will also be hosted by Ant and Dec and aims to use the festive season as a way of raising money for those in need.

Whether the presenters will skate on the first show of Dancing on Ice 2012 in the same way that Dermot O’Leary danced on the X Factor stage is a safely guarded secret for now. Those looking at the Dancing on Ice betting should bear this in mind.

Philip has fronted the popular Dancing on Ice since it began in 2006. His TV presenting career began in New Zealand when he was just 19, and host of a pop show. Back in Britain a few years later, he fronted Children’s BBC from the Broom Cupboard for two years. He then moved onto the Saturday morning show Going Live. He’s done so much presenting since then that he is one of Britain’s favourite presenters, currently residing on the This Morning sofa. 2012 will be Philip’s 30th year on TV.

Rumours are though, that other male celebs want a turn at hosting Dancing on Ice. Ex-Blue Peter presenter Gethin Jones has turned down the chance of being a contestant on the show, but has said he’d like a turn presenting it! Gethin was a contestant in the 2007 series of Strictly Come Dancing – coming third in the end. For now, though, Philip remains at the helm for the 2012 series.

While the world at large struggles to find gainful employment, international rugby teams are hiring and firing with an almost careless glee. England have terminated the contracts of Martin Johnson, Mike Ford, John Wells, and Brian Smith, and roped three new characters into the union mix, namely, Stuart Lancaster, Graham Rowntree, and Andy Farrell.

Add in the resignation of Martyn Thomas from the board of the Rugby Football Union and the impending exit of South Africa coach, Peter de Villiers, and the employment prospects of other managers and coaches in the game begin to look decidedly bleak. However, it is the departure of the latter individual, Peter de Villiers, that is being scrutinised, this week.

Ironically, the problem caused by Villiers has very little to do with the man himself. The South African has promised to abandon his post at the Springboks at the end of his contract, presumably in recompense for South Africa’s less-than-perfect World Cup campaign, but the empty chair he leaves behind could have huge consequences for the Six Nations. Anyone looking at the Rugby Six Nations betting should remember this.

Gert Smal, a man who has been closely linked to Villiers’ vacant post in recent days, is Ireland’s forwards coach. His addition to South Africa’s payroll, which could occur just over a week before Ireland’s first match of the Six Nations, would be a thorn in the side of the green team, who would have to scramble to replace him.

Reports that South Africa are ready to poach Smal from beneath Irish noses, by buying him out of his contract with the British team, indicate that his appointment and, by proxy, Ireland’s pre-Six Nations coaching problems, are almost inevitable. However, the rumour mill is not known for its accuracy and anyone following the Rugby Union Betting Odds should bear this in mind.

The Irish Rugby Football Union has refused to comment on Smal’s future in the national side, noting that the South African is “contracted with us until the end of next season and that situation has not changed.” Ireland will no doubt be hoping that South Africa favours DHL Stormers boss, Allister Coetzee, who topped the side’s wishlist, until recently.

The women’s game is as open at present as many can ever remember, which makes it hard for punters and experts alike to predict a winner of the Australian Open.
The usual suspects, the likes Serena Williams, Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova, will again be there or there abouts, but there also a group of players pushing hard to challenge in the Slams.

Here are three ladies who could make a big impact at the 2012 tournament in Melbourn.

Vera Zvonareva – Despite being seeded two, the Russian surprised many by reaching the last four in 2011. Zvonareva was beaten by eventual winner Kim Clijsters, but has a clear liking for Melbourne, with two semi-final appearances in the last three years. Anyone placing a tennis bet on Australian Open action should remember this.

The 28-year-old won two WTA Tour events this year and reached two other finals, as she seemingly edges closer to her first Grand slam win.

Flavia Pennetta – The Italian has moved up to 20 in the world rankings and has gone quietly about her business. Pennetta showed her quality in preparation for the first Slam of the new year, by winning the Singapore Women’s Tennis Exhibition – beating Sam Stosur en-route. People placing a free tennis bet should bear this in mind.

The 29-year-old likes the courts at Melbourne Park, having won the ladies doubles title there in 2011. Pennetta reached the fourth round in the singles and took a set off Petra Kvitova before eventually losing to the Wimbledon champion.

Agnieszka Radwanska – The world number eight will head into 2012 full of confidence following a successful end to 2011 – which included back-to-back titles in Tokyo and Beijing in October.

The 22-year-old is a two-time quarter finalist in Melbourne and the January event looks to be her best opportunity to win her first Grand Slam title.

Shaun Murphy was left struggling to comprehend his performance after losing to London-born Kurt Maflin in the second round of the 12th and final event of the Players Tour Championship (PTC).

The world number six now has an uphill battle to make the top 24 on the PTC order of merit to qualify for next March’s Grand Final Finals – the event he triumphed in last year.

And a 4-3 defeat to Maflin, a player 70 places lower in the world rankings, was not the result Murphy would have been looking for. Fans of Betfair snooker will know it was a surprise.

“Weird match that. Felt great, played rubbish. Good luck to Kurt in his remaining matches,” Murphy said on his Twitter account.

And referring to watching the darts on TV – the PDC World Championship – Murphy added: “I guess the silver lining is I can now watch Phil Taylor.”

Murphy has been in good form this season, although there have been the occasional blips, including a disappointing 6-3 loss to Ricky Walden in the UK Championship quarter-finals recently. Those following the Betfair snooker masters should remember this.

Maflin is a former world amateur champion and was the first player to produce a maximum 147 break in the PTC series.

The 27-year-old, now based in Oslo, also came close to making the headlines last year when he led local favourite Ding Junhui 4-1 at the China Open before losing out on a last-frame decider.

Maflin earned a place on the professional circuit for the 2010/11 season by winning the 2010 European Play-Offs.

Murphy wasn’t the only big name to fall on day two of the 12th PTC event in Sheffield with former world champion Graeme Dott – ranked seventh in the world – losing a 4-3 nail-biter to fellow-Scot Marcus Campbell.

The international governing body for snooker has defended its changes to introduce shorter matches in the early rounds of the UK Championship.

Some players, including UK runner-up Mark Allen and current world champion John Higgins, were highly critical of World Snooker chief Barry Hearn for tinkering with the format of the second biggest tournament.

But record crowds at the Barbican in York earlier this month seemed to have vindicated the decision to make the early rounds best-of-11-frame matches with over 8,000 tickets sold. Those following the snooker betting should remember this.

“We were pleasantly surprised with how well it went,” said a spokesman for World Snooker. “The format has really worked well, despite the controversy.

“While people love their snooker and would come along and see an eight-frame session, it is not as satisfying as seeing a match to its conclusion. When it has not been a two-table set up, there has not been the same sense of occasion for the players or fans.

“We will be sitting down and analysing everything but the success of it really bodes well for the future.”

Allen, the world number 10 from Northern Ireland, was the most vocal with his dissatisfaction with the alterations Hearn had made since being appointed chairman of the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association two years ago and leading the governing body’s commercial arm in June 2010. People following the snooker Masters betting should remember this.

“When Barry came in, one of the first things he said was that the World Championship, UK and Masters wouldn’t be touched. Only 18 months later, the UK format has changed,” Allen said.

“I don’t think he’s pleasing too many players, but anyone who voted for him has only got themselves to blame. I wasn’t one of them.”

While Higgins was another unhappy player stating the prestige of the UK Championship had been “ruined”, world number two Mark Williams insisted he was in favour of the new formats.

2012 could be Venus Williams’ last season in tennis. She will be 32 in June, an age that few top players play past. Injuries and illness have finally had an effect on one of the most durable players in the game – in 2011 she withdrew from a match for the first time in 294 matches – and there must be doubts over the motivation that one of the all-time greats has having dropped outside the world’s top 100.

How will the elder Williams sister be remembered in the pantheon of female tennis players? In the open era she sits joint eighth with Justine Henin and Evonne Goolagong Cawley on the list of Grand Slam titles, in between Billie Jean King and Martina Hingis. She has won 43 singles titles, the same number as Henin and Hingis.

This is a fair reflection, as her success has been restricted to Wimbledon and the US Open, which she has won five and two times respectively. The imminence of the Australian Open is a reminder that Venus has only reached one final downunder and has got to the quarter final stage twice in her last seven appearances those looking at the Australian Open tennis betting should bear this in mind. Her record on the clay of Roland Garros is even patchier.

Most tennis fans would be surprised by these statistics, as the power of the Williams sisters is over-estimated. Venus and Serena are often seen as a pair, with the younger sister’s greater consistency and all-round skill undervalued and the betting odds for tennis reflect this.

However, this hints at why Venus will be remembered with elevated status. She helped change the way women’s tennis was played, bringing previously unseen power and athleticism to the sport. The former world number one helped define an era and it is a compliment to her impact that she will be recalled as being better than perhaps she was.