Finally Elite

Another typical night of texting for me and A Dawg. Another typical scenario. A Dawg reclined in his living room throne in suburban Pittsburgh, me relaxed in my newly finished basement in suburban Philly. The scenario was the same, The University of Pittsburgh men's basketball squad locked into a seemingly unnecessary tussle with an overzealous upstart, from a school that is probably a seven hour bus ride from nowhere. Tonight it was the Xavier Musketeers. The opponent never really matters, the story line always reads the same way.

Clock ticking low, finger nails getting even lower, our texts move to small talk to break the tension. "How's the cat?", he'd ask..."how's the baby?", I'd inquire. The clock was getting lower, the sands were slipping through another hour glass. We just went through this four days ago. Wait, we just went through this a week ago, against a lowly #16 seed! As a man who possesses a fairly robust frame, I've never been a fan of the David vs. Goliath story. Now three times in a week? Under three minutes now, down by two. It was going to come, we knew it, just be patient.

Another silly turnover, as the clock ticked lower, ouch...I'm into cuticle. "Is this how Pitt chokes, once again, in the Round of 16?" It was going to come, surely it was going to come, it always comes. More small talk texting "Pens having a great week"..."yeah, you got your Steelers tickets yet?" Under 90 seconds, it was going to come, right? At times like these one starts pondering the origin of expressions like "it's now or never" or "up against the wall"...really, what wall? Almost down to one minute, still deadlocked.

Is it going to come? Under a minute, down by a deuce. Ok, start moving past denial and towards acceptance. Another great season. Just can't quite get over that hump. These upsets are common in the NCAA. Still have the Penguins, right? Steelers training camp in four months, right? If only it had come...

And then, BANG! IT CAME! In a scene practically scripted for Hollywood, it came. The "it" being another timely deliverance of salvation from Oakland's resident (and often tardy) superhero, Levance Fields. For a guy who can be an unremarkable everyman for the first 90% of a game, he surely knows how to step it up when the drama is peaking.

Should they ever make an action movie based on Fields' heroics, here's a tip: stay in the parking lot and drink beer, enter the cinema about three minutes before they roll the final credits. You won't miss a thing. The Clark Kent portion of Fields' game is just not worthy of mention. But wow, when he dons that cape...

Fields' crazy, off balanced three pointer from way downtown was the most recent in his season of late awakenings. Of course, it didn't hurt when he thrust the dagger further into his opponents' breastbone, as he raced for two more off a Dejuan Blair poke steal a few seconds later. Game, set, match. It came, like it always does.

The texts became light hearted and jovial once again. We savored our customary electronic victory hug, and then bid each other a good night. Until we text again. Such is life for a Pitt basketball fan. For one more night, it came.

Pitt is It...Again

Late February is the doldrums of Pittsburgh sports reporting. Without the distraction of an NBA franchise (sorry, Pisces), the expanse between the end of the Steelers season and the beginning of the Buccos annual crusade for 73 wins is generally occupied by the Penguins. Since the 'Guins are working on one of the NHL's greatest all time horror stories this season, the prettiest gal at the dance these days seems to be that hoops squad from Oakland. Today is another great day in a season of great days for the Panthers, as they re-claim the #1 spot in the weekly polls.

With four regular season games remaining, and then the Big East tourney, the PF stats guys tell me that the "magic number" for a #1 seed in the NCAA's is no greater than five. Meaning; should Pitt sweep these four regular season games, they would need no more than a quarter final victory up in Madison Square Garden to basically assure themselves of that elusive top seed. Any losses down the stretch would need to be offset with additional victories in New York, which, let's face it, never seems to be a problem for these guys. As a side note, let's remember that due to the format changes in the Big East Tournament this year, the top four seeds each draw two rounds of byes,...meaning that's it's essential to Pitt's overall plans that they avoid complete meltdown over these last four games.

The real challenge here is not the regular season, nor the Big East tourney, but whether Jamie Dixon and crew can finally stave off early extinction in the NCAA's. Anything short of the Elite 8 will probably be remembered as a major disappointment. Another baby step can be taken tonight, with a game up in Providence. A victory just puts the Oakland kids that much closer to greatness.