Mitsch: This should be second top ranking for Pitt

Heeeyy, what’s goin’ on? Good to see you again. How was break? Good? Yeah, mine was all right,… Heeeyy, what’s goin’ on? Good to see you again. How was break? Good? Yeah, mine was all right, just relaxed a little bit, saw some friends. How’s class treating you? Last semester … scary, right? Well, good seeing you! Oh, wait! I almost forgot … – Pitt hoops is No. 1 again. Yes, again. Allow me to explain. Remember that game in 2003 when a No. 2-ranked Panthers team was playing at a Carmelo-year Syracuse days after No. 1 Arizona lost? Could have been No. 1 then. Should have, I should say. The officials ruled that Brandin Knight’s potential game-winning 40-foot 3-pointer went through the net just after the buzzer had sounded, and Pitt lost by two (… by TWO!). Though stinging, that ruling was correct. What wasn’t, however, was the amount of time Pitt had to get the shot off. Officials gave Pitt 0.8 seconds after Jeremy McNeil (wonder what he’s up to) broke a 65-65 tie with a tip-shot with three seconds left. Now here’s what I remember happened next: Pitt inbounds the ball to Carl Krauser. Krauser calls a timeout with much more than a full second remaining, but the clock doesn’t immediately stop. The officials deliberate, and the announcers of the game agree that Pitt will receive somewhere around 1.2 seconds to get a shot off. Pitt is granted 0.8. A 15-year old Pat Mitsch flips out in his parents’ family room. Soon after, Knight’s shot falls through probably at 0.9. Pitt loses when it shouldn’t have. I had Pitt ranked No. 1 the following week, the final score 68-67 Panthers. That’s how it will always be in my books. Good to be back on top again, though. – While we’re reminiscing about Pitt basketball, the whereabouts of Mike Cook are now known. Thanks to the astute eye of my loyal roommate Steve Pede (he loves when I put him in the column), Cook was spotted playing for the Erie BayHawks of the NBDL with other studs like Jackie Manuel, Geary Claxton and Cliff Clinkscales. All the best to Mike. – Conversely, Pitt’s quarterback is still missing. – Sports Movie Trivia Question of the Day: Where does Bobby Boucher live in ‘The Waterboy,’ and what is its slogan? – Post-break rankings? Sure! First-place votes in parentheses, per the usual: 1. Johnny Drama (1) ‘- Unseated Stewie because I’ve been on an ‘Entourage’ binge for weeks. 2. Stewie Griffin ‘- Not so much the take-over-the-world Stewie but the trendier Stewie of recent episodes. 3. Taylor Mays ‘- Anytime you’re too big for your shoulder pads and/or knock out two players including your teammate with one hit, I’m sold. 4. The old school T-Macs ‘- Worn by the 2003 No. 1* Pitt squad. And me at the time. 5. Night classes that run short. Waaaay short. Dropped from the rankings: The Sun Bowl, visiting friends in Washington, D.C., bringing two pairs of shoes with you and coming back with one, companies that show up at job fairs to tell you they’re not hiring. * OK … I’ll let it go. – Sports Movie Trivia Answer of the Day: Jackson’s Bayou, Louisiana. ‘The Heart of Cajun Country.’ – Video of Ben Roethlisberger bowling recently surfaced on YouTube, and good ole Big Ben, who looks every bit of his 241 pounds, even falls down unassisted after throwing a frame, proving that even inanimate objects can sack him. -Rocco Baldelli is the latest to pass Major League Baseball’s Idiot Test by choosing to play with the Boston Red Sox over your Pittsburgh Pirates. -I challenge anyone to a ‘SceneIt’ showdown. You can pick the edition, as long as it has nothing to do with the Disney Channel. – This column was brought to you by awkward after-break run-ins with people you know you have nothing to talk to about. So, uh, well I’ll let you’ go. Gonna be out this weekend? Oh, well, uh, maybe I’ll see you out. I gotta go now though. E-mail Pat at pmitsch@gmail.com.