Cricket coach chirps up on sex

When boxer Rocky Balboa is warned by trainer Mickey that ''women weaken legs'' in the original ''Rocky,'' he heeds the advice and tells Adrian there will be ''no fooling around'' before his fight with Apollo Creed.

But new evidence suggests Balboa would've been better served had he slept with the sly seductress.

Ignoring the superstitious notion that sex saps strength from athletes, India cricket coach Gary Kirsten encouraged his players to have sex in advance of Saturday's match against rival Pakistan, reported the Hindustan Times.

The newspaper claims to have a copy of a secret document that was presented to India's players by Kirsten that asked the question, ''Does sex increase performance?''

''Yes it does, so go ahead and indulge,'' stated the document, which claimed ''having sex increases testosterone levels, which cause an increase in strength, energy, aggression and competitiveness.''

But the document could not explain the poor early-season performance of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who wed and impregnated supermodel Gisele Bundchen in the offseason.

Addressing possible side effects athletes could suffer, Tim Noakes, a professor and sports scientist at the University of Cape Town, said, ''Sex was not a problem, but being up until 2 a.m., probably having a few drinks at a bar while trying to pick someone up, on the eve of a game, almost always was.''

The document also claimed abstinence will hinder an athlete's performance.

''You may experience that your mind spends more time focusing on the fire in your groin than on good sport practice, preparation and sleep.''

• FROM FLINGS TO WINGS -- Less than a year after he led Arizona to a 31-21 win over Brigham Young in the Las Vegas Bowl, former Wildcats quarterback Willie Tuitama is working as a waiter at a Buffalo Wild Wings located near the university in Tucson.

''It's weird,'' Tuitama told the Arizona Daily Star. ''You have so much time on your hands, when you're used to having such a strict schedule ... at first you get lazy -- because it's so easy to.''

Tuitama, the all-time leading passer in Arizona history with 9,211 yards and 67 touchdowns, was arrested on suspicion of extreme DUI only weeks before the NFL Draft and wasn't selected.

He's keeping his arm in shape by throwing in extra celery and ranch dressing with each order of wings.

• JAIL OR ROYALS GAME? -- Maybe the film ''Field of Dreams'' was right. Iowa is heaven. Randy Aaron Barker must think so after he successfully petitioned a judge to temporarily release him from an Iowa jail Wednesday so that he could attend the Boston Red Sox-Kansas City Royals game with his father and brother.

''These ballgames are among the few pleasures the defendant has in life,'' Barker's attorney, Margaret E. King, told Magistrate Judge Benny Waggoner.

Perhaps the judge felt watching the lowly Royals would be punishment enough, because he granted Barker's request, saying it was ''reasonable under the circumstances.''

Barker, a Red Sox fan, is serving a 10-day jail sentence for interference with official acts and violation of a protective order, the Ottumwa (Iowa) Courier reported.

COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL