TODAY'S HEADLINES

Pirates. Manatee CC. It's time for revenge: You may remember the Pirates' 6-4 loss to Manatee CC in spring training last year. I know I sure do. Dejan Kovacevic thought it was so big that it deserved the "Manatee shocks world" headline. And while I doubt that they were discussing the upset in, say, Kuala Lumpur, it was still pretty big news around these parts.

Well, Tuesday is the long awaited rematch, at 12:05 PM. The Pirates' fate will be entrusted to the arms of Donnie Veal and Bryan Morris, and let's hope they fare better than the Forgettable Four of Virgil Vasquez, Alan "Don" Knotts, Dustin Molleken, and blower of the save, the creatively named Dave Davidson. [Rum Bunter]

Skippy gets community service: Jeff Reed, freshly-franchised kicker and defender of public tinkler Matt Spaeth, was given a penance of 40 hours of community service today as a result of putting up his dukes to Pittsburgh's Finest in October. He's got six weeks to get the job done. Sounds like a football version of the movie "Role Models". If I ever saw a poster begging to get Photoshopped, it was this one (HINT, HINT!!) [PG]

Introducing "Mark Madden's Media Madness":

"I've never thought the media should "review" other media. A) What's to stop grudge-holding and agenda-serving? B) Who judges those who judge? The answer to the first question is NOTHING. That's certainly been self-evident. The answer to the second question is ME. With that in mind, let's kick off the first-ever edition of MADDEN'S MEDIA MADNESS, my take on issues and personalities in the Pittsburgh-area sports media. Abandon hope, all ye who enter here."

The first of many victims includes the PG, the Trib, and 1250 ESPN. What I always loved about Mark was his unfiltered take on things, and trust me, there are no such filters present here. [WXDX.com/Mark Madden]

Own a Jagermeister jersey: This was on eBay last week for $40, but no one bit. So it's been relisted with a new opener of $25. Wear it and immediately start dying alive. [eBay]

I knew former Pitt assistant Barry Rohrssen's team's been struggling... but you've gotta do better than 741 points on D, Coach. [from an anonymous emailer]

Gene Lamont runs over Jim Leyland's foot with a golf cart: Not a good start to 2010 for the Marlboro Man. First they ban smoking in public in Michigan. Now his assistant coach rolls him with a golf cart, breaking Leyland's toe. And to top it off, he has to live in Detroit. Ouch. [DetNews.com]

Former Steeler Tylski in big trouble: Rich Tylski, an offensive lineman who spent 2000 with the Steelers, and his wife Jane Tylski have been ordered to pay $1.25 million to a girl they adopted and later were accused of abusing.

The Tylskis "admitted to . . . striking her with a belt, hitting her with a wooden spoon, placing 'hot sauce' on her tongue, bending her fingers backwards, and otherwise striking her."

The girl, now 10 years old, was taken from the Tylskis and now lives with another adopted family. [PFT]

Q&A with The Wannstache: Wanny talks Greg Romeus, the QB situation, Anthony Gonzalez, and much more in an interview with Brian Bennett of the ESPN Big East Blog. Good idea by Bennett not to ask him anything about Twitter pictures of cash. [ESPN.com]

Paul Steigerwald and Jack Lambert: The College Years: I never realized Steigy was a classmate of "#99, The Stork", as he was known back then. I also never knew Paul once interviewed Jack while wearing a "rather embarrassing softball uniform". [93.7 The Fan]

Thabeet sent to D-League: The only thing more embarrassing than being sent to the NBA's D-League is the league's name itself. The D league. Terrible. OK, there's one thing more embarrassing: being the #2 overall pick and getting shipped there, which is what happened to DeJuan Blair's personal rag doll, Hasheem Thabeet, a few days ago.

Blair is getting 7.9 PPG and 6.2 RPG while playing 18 minutes a game. Thabeet was at 2.5 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 10.3 minutes. Thabeet was picked second and will make $4.4 million this year; Blair was picked 37th and will make $850K. Once again, NBA GMs managed to out-think themselves. [Yahoo!]

Kennywood now offering season passes: That's right, $90 gets you all the Kennywood you want. Considering that a normal all-day ticket is $36, it shouldn't take much effort to get your money's worth. [WPXI]

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UMMMM....

The city of Pittsburgh, myself included, is pretty much speechless with the outcome of last night's NBA draft. Dejuan Blair, rumored to go as high as 10th overall, slipped to San Antonio at 37. Sam Young, also thought of as a potential first-rounder, went a pick ahead of Blair at 36 to Memphis. If not for the sudden death of Michael Jackson, this certainly would've been the most shocking news I heard yesterday.

In following a recent trend of Pitt athletes leaving early, the results ended up being much less than anticipated. Lesean McCoy, one of the top running backs in college football last season, went a disappointing 50th to the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFL draft.

I'm searching for answers as to why Blair fell so far, and the best I can come up with would be his knees, which were operated on twice while in high school. Still, he got picked behind a guy from the Congo and a guy who needs a liver transplant. I guess NBA GMs must not have seen Blair dominate #2 overall pick Hasheem Thabeet twice last season.

As for Young, his age (24) apparently did him in, sending him to the basketball Siberia of Memphis, Tennessee, where careers to go die. I mean, at least Blair gets to play with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili, Richard Jefferson, etc. Young is going to a team that was 24-58 last year and is most famous for helping the Lakers to the Finals last year and the title this year by gifting them Pau Gasol. Good luck with that.

Now, these two young men have to earn their contracts and their PT. There are no guarantees. They literally lost millions of dollars last night. For their sake, I hope they both attach super-size chips on their shoulder immediately. If not, they can give Chris Taft a call and compare stories of whose draft-day story was worse.

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CAPTION CONTEST!

It's about time for a new caption contest after the thoroughly enjoyable Jay Cutler blockbuster, so I present to you one Mr. Hasheem Thabeet and guest at the Final Four. Caption your hearts out. And remember, you've got to leave your caption in the comments section to qualify (no email entries, please).

The best caption for this contest wins a $50 shopping spree at The Steel City Auctions Gallery. Which would be just enough to cover that Kimbo Slice autographed 8x10 photo you've been eyeing up.

The winner of the Cutler Contest was Get Fresh Designs, with this one: "I won this jersey in a caption contest on Mondesi's House." They will receive a black and gold t-shirt set courtesy of Champion.

*Prize rules: Must be redeemed within 30 days of the end of the contest (May 22, 2009). No cash value. Shipping included for all prize redemptions.

DEJUAN BLAIR IS THE BIG EAST PLAYER OF THE YEAR. SORT OF.

Regardless of the fact that Dejuan Blair got the best of Hasheem Thabeet on national television as well as the fact that Pitt was responsible for two of UConn's three losses this year, the two big men have no choice but to split this year's Big East Player of the Year honors. Direct your anger at the Big East coaches, who were responsible for the vote.

Thabeet averaged 13.6 points, 10.8 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 4.5 blocks per game; Blair's numbers were 15.6, 12.4, 1.2, and 1 block per game. But Thabeet had quite a head start, with considerably more buzz not only for this trophy but also for national honors from the beginning of the season.

With his share of the award, Blair becomes the third Panther to either win or split the conference's top billing, joining Charles Smith (1988) and Brandin Knight, who shared it with Caron Butler in 2002. Blair is the second sophomore in league history to win, the only other time being last year when Notre Dame's Luke Harangody took it home.

As usual, Blair was humble and likable in accepting the award:

"This is a team effort award," Blair said. "I just got it individually, but everyone on this team deserves it. They got me the ball, so I could get 20 points. Maybe not the rebounds, but they got me the ball to get the points. They kept pushing me. They kept my confidence up. Just them fighting with me is an honor. I guess it's a big accomplishment for me and my family and Pitt and my friends. It's a beautiful honor."

Well said, Dejuan. Blair and the Panthers start their postseason on Thursday at the topsy-turvy Big East Tournament, where they'll take on the winner of Notre Dame-West Virginia. The Irish advanced to the second round with a 61-50 win over Rutgers on Tuesday. 16-seeded, 0-18-in-the-Big-East DePaul took out Cincinnati and 13-seeded St. John's knocked out Georgetown, winning a BET game for the first time since 2003 in the process. Pitt should take notice of the upsets, but the Panthers usually don't take anyone lightly during this annual event.

Thabeet, Blair Share BIG EAST Player of the Year Award [Big East]
Pitt's Blair and UConn's Thabeet are Big East co-players of the year [PG]

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PITT WINS CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH

Earlier in the week, Dejuan Blair called Pitt-UConn II a "Celebrity Deathmatch". So what if it was a somewhat dated reference to a show that was cancelled seven years ago; the point was well-taken: this was going to be a very hyped showdown of two premier programs. And once again, it was Pitt who came out on top, in very impressive fashion: 70-60 Panthers, in front of a rabid crowd of nearly 13,000 at the Pete on Saturday. Yes, it was a nice way to celebrate the outgoing senior class of Sam Young, Levance Fields, and Tyrell Biggs, and the perfect ending to the Panthers' greatest regular season ever.

Young was off-the-charts awesome on Saturday, scoring a game-high 31 while adding 10 rebounds. Fields turned in a 12-assist, 10-point performance and had me wondering how in the world he was considered questionable for this game. Maybe that was seen in his 4-for-14 shooting, but that was nothing the Panthers couldn't overcome. As for Biggs, he was held scoreless in his final home game, but did grab six boards in 27 minutes of action.

Dejuan Blair had a pedestrian eight points/eight boards, but helped hold the much-heralded Hasheem Thabeet to a grand total of zero points in the entire second half. Once again, foul trouble held back Blair, who sat the last 6:04 of the first half as a result. That remains a concern going into March Madness. The Panthers' only other apparent weak spot on this afternoon was their 20% shooting from beyond the arc, but once again, it was a weakness that they were able to overcome.

It was a tremendously exciting contest in an arena teeming with energy, which the CBS announcers noted on several occasions. As usual, celebrities were spotted around the Pete, and while I missed a shot of the legendary "Send It In" Jerome Lane, I was able to get this pic of Franco Harris and Kevin McClatchy for your enjoyment:

So where does this game leave the Panthers? Well, that should safely seal up a #1 seed, as if their #3 ranking and #1 spot in the RPI weren't enough. And we have the Big East Tournament to look forward to, which starts on Tuesday. Pitt will play their first game on Thursday in the quarterfinals and presumably have another Celebrity Deathmatch on Saturday.

A few other things I noticed:
--Anyone catch Sam Young's postgame interview where he implied that no one from UConn can guard him? If nothing else, he's confident.

--And did anyone notice Jamie Dixon's demeanor after the game? He just took down the #1 team for the second time in a month, and had about as much expression as he would in beating Rutgers. If anyone had any lingering doubts, that should reaffirm the belief that this is a team with a greater goal.

--Fields got some chiding from Bill Raftery for a bit of hot-dogging in the last minute of the game. I guess I could see that, but considering the potential for fireworks today, I'd say the refs controlled the game as well as possible (with the exception of that near-skirmish at half-court).

--Blair is now 13th in a 2009 mock draft, with Young 24th. Thabeet is 2nd, along with UConn teammates AJ Price (28) and Jeff Adrien (35). Which means we saw a lot of potential NBA talent on the floor at one time on Saturday.

--Not to get too ahead of ourselves, but to get too ahead of ourselves, do you know the site of the 2009 Final Four? That would be Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan. I think we have some good memories from that location, right?

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DEJUAN BLAIR

That name says it all in the wake of #4 Pitt's 76-68 win over #1 UConn on Monday night. Blair was everywhere, racking up 22 points and 23 rebounds in the Panthers' first victory over a #1-ranked team in school history. It was a performance for the ages.

Given the scores of pro scouts in the stands, this game could've literally made Blair millions of dollars. The key was his ability to stay out of foul trouble (with only two), an aspect of the game that eluded UConn's highly-touted Hasheem Thabeet, the 7'3" giant who fouled out with just five points and four rebounds on 1-for-5 shooting.

Fouls were a touchy topic all night, with Pitt getting called for nine and UConn only two at one point in the game. The announcing team of Jay Bilas and Bill "Smell Those Onions" Raftery hinted at over-officiating in the game and likewise in the conference this year, and I could see where they would say that. This game surely would've had a different outcome had Blair's 22 and 23 been neutralized by quick whistles. Luckily, things didn't play out that way.

Although they led for most of the game, it wasn't all smooth sailing for the Panthers. Their guard shooting was off-the-charts bad; Levance Fields was 2-10, Jermaine Dixon 3-8, Brad Wanamaker 0-6, Ashton Gibbs 0-2, and Gilbert Brown (technically a G/F) 0-5. That's 5-for-31, a whopping 16%.

The Levance Fields turnover-to-assist ratio finally slowed down, as it was a much more down-to-earth 5 assists/4 TOs. It wasn't Fields' finest game, but he did bury some big shots during crunch time that were crucial to the victory. He scored all of his 10 points in the final 3:09 of the game. He saved the best for last, I suppose.

Sam Young was huge, adding 25 points that were considered quiet only because of Blair's fantastic performance. Like the announcers mused, this could be the year Pitt finally puts it all together and takes the next step in March.

I was pretty amped for this game and I'd say it thoroughly met all of my lofty expectations. It was tight throughout, with the trademark physicality that the Big East has become known for; Blair flipping Thabeet on his back, Blair getting an elbow in his face from Stanley Robinson....it was all par for the course. It was a highly enjoyable night of hoops.

Pitt now sits at 24-2, and 11-2 in the Big East, with five games left: home vs. DePaul, (8-18, 0-13) at Providence (16-9, 8-5), at Seton Hall (14-10, 5-7), home vs. Marquette (21-4, 10-2) , and to close, UConn (24-2, 12-2) at the Pete. Expect the growing stable of celebrities appearing at Pitt games to turn out for that one. No word yet on whether or not Skippy will be there, but I'm pretty sure Dejuan Blair will show up.

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