The Coppa Italia (The competition no one cares about)

So the Quarter-final round 1st legs of the Coppa Italia just finished, and frankly no one cares. The competition for years has been seen as an annoyance rather than a legitimate trophy. Coaches don't care, players don't care, fans don't care, and TV Stations don't care (Italian main Channel RAI just bought the rights the day before the games since no one else was interested). Mostly the tournament is seen as a reserve competition, where all the squads play their second stringers to give them some playing time and hope for a result, and if they get eliminated, no big deal. Every year it's basically the same thing. The big clubs don't play their stars for the early rounds (unless they get in trouble in the first leg and have to save face of course), and of course their second string squads are better than most Serie A first team squads, so 2 big teams go to the final and then decide to play their starters for a meaningless trophy. Cinderella stories are a non-factor because of the traditional 2 leg system, so if a small Serie B team even pulls an upset in the 1st leg, the big team (like I said) plays their stars and wins the 2nd leg. The only recent change that has given a little bit of excitement is that all early rounds are single elimination, and teams ranging from Serie A to Serie C are entered. If the Italian Football Federation (Lega Calcio) were smart, they'd make every round single elimination. This would cause many more suprises and upsets, like we see in the English Carling Cup and FA Cup. Unfortunately, single elimination just isn't the Italian way, and when something isn't the Italian way, it rarely happens. How I would love to see a Serie C side forcing a big team to penalties and beating them or just beating them in normal time. But like I said, the Lega Calcio won't change the format. The only positive I like about watching the Coppa Italia is that usually most big teams put their most promising youngsters in the squad and they usually get a chance to show off. Like yesterday, when Milan put in 19 year old defender Luca Antonelli as a sub and he impressed many (and that means he will probably be loaned out for the next 3-4 seasons, but that's another issue altogether). So all in all, the Coppa Italia isn't that bad, but it could be better if the stubborn heads at the Lega Calcio would just change the format (I know what you are thinking, why won't they change, I'm sure they can change their ideas and such...that is another thing you have to be Italian to understand...)

PS- here are the results from the first legs-

Milan-Brescia 4-2
Reggina-Chievo 2-2
Empoli-Genoa 1-0
Triestina-Roma 1-2
Arezzo-Livorno 2-1
Inter-Messina 1-0
Napoli-Parma 1-0