Oakland Zoo needs to shape up

Everybody had to know it was coming. After all, Notre Dame always manages to stage some kind… Everybody had to know it was coming. After all, Notre Dame always manages to stage some kind of furious rally late in the game, meaning no lead is ever safe. The last thing the Irish needed was extra incentive.

After trailing for most of Wednesday night’s 100-97 double-overtime loss to Pitt, Mike Brey’s bunch started knocking down 3s like they were going out of style in the waning moments, turning up the tempo of a game that the Panthers clearly had control of.

Things couldn’t have been going better for Jamie Dixon’s Panthers. Pitt had a nine-point lead and was knocking down free throws in astounding fashion. The team appeared poised for a sure 12th win and it looked like there was little the Irish could do about it.

Then, the Oakland Zoo got involved.

“Quinn’s a pu**y! Quinn’s a pu**y!” is what students were yelling at Irish senior guard Chris Quinn every time he so much as breathed.

Undaunted, though, he shut the Zoo up pretty quickly, turning what was an otherwise off night – he had scored only seven points with 7:50 remaining in the game – into the greatest individual performance in the three-plus seasons of the Petersen Events Center. His 37 points rallied the Irish from two improbable deficits, trailing 73-64 with 43 seconds left to force overtime and then again by seven with one minute left in the first overtime to force a second extra frame.

Sounds like the Zoo was just a bit off on this one, and out of line to boot.

What did Quinn ever do, aside from wear a visitor’s uniform and play his hardest, to deserve this treatment? His tough-as-nails performance down the stretch inspired his team and coach, even leaving a few of Pitt’s own awestruck afterwards.

“Chris Quinn has always been a great player,” Pitt head coach Jamie Dixon said afterwards. “He’s a great, great player and he has made us a better program by playing against him every year.”

I’d describe the players’ reactions, but I think they may still be gathering their thoughts on how Quinn could have hit the shots that he did. Most of them could only shake their heads in the press conference afterwards, contemplating a performance that Aaron Gray said “you just had to marvel at.”

Pitt did everything possible to keep this guy from scoring, even letting him pull up from the South Side on occasion. It didn’t matter. He rattled home 35-foot pull-ups, swished fade-aways and drilled leaners – whatever shot the Panthers gave him.

And it isn’t like the Panthers were playing MEAC-style, let’s-sit-back-in-a-zone-and-hope-that-you-don’t-score-on-us defense. Quinn had hands in his face, bodies flying at him and trees to shoot over almost every time.

What was even better, though, was what he did right after the chants started, doing his damage inside before the 3-point onslaught began. He took a pass, drove hard to his left and knifed right through the heart of the Pitt defense to score a driving layup. I don’t think you see too many, well, you-know-whats, doing that against Big East teams.

Sure, Quinn and the Irish are the enemies on this night, but that doesn’t mean the jeers weren’t still offensive. While it is always nice to hear a stray from the usual “[Expletive] the (insert opposing team here, unless its more than two syllables in which case Pitt students are usually surprisingly silent),” this was just uncalled for.

And don’t give me “he was whining for calls from the ref.” What player hasn’t from time to time? The fact is there is little justification for name calling, all it is going to do is light the fire under him and his team, possibly putting your team’s once-safe lead on life support, as was the case Wednesday night.

It wasn’t the first time that Pitt students have embarrassed themselves in front of the Notre Dame faithful – we all remember how empty Heinz Field was by halftime of that football home opener this year.

Is our creativity really that stifled or do we just enjoy bringing this negative image upon ourselves? This is, after all, the same student body that loves to chant “Rudy Sucks” at Notre Dame football games – clearly we are out of ideas.

Do some research on the players, find other things to yell at him other than blatantly tasteless and incorrect insults. Wanting to help your team by getting on the opposition is obviously what you came to do, but do you have to embarrass not only yourselves but also the entire University while you’re at it?

Fans should have the same kind of respect for these players that your own team does. When the final buzzer sounds and these guys go back to being human beings, there is a lot more respect than you might think going on out there. Not only that, but displays like Wednesday night show disrespect to those not donning an Oakland Zoo shirt, who have a right to attend a game without obscene chants shattering a family atmosphere.

This Pitt team is still working to obtain the respect so many of us feel it deserves. Maybe it’s about time the students starting doing the same.

Geoff Dutelle is the sports editor at The Pitt News. E-mail him at gdutes_pittnews@hotmail.com.