The Sports Monitor

Every spring you can count on a handful of things: the return of baseball, preparation of taxes, a wild party on St. Patrick's Day and, of course, the Pitt collapse in the NCAA basketball tournament. Saturday was the latest chapter in Pitt sports history where the eighth-seeded Butler Bulldogs crushed the hopes of Pitt fans with an unbelievable 71-70 win in the NCAA tournament. It was the second time in three seasons that the No. 1-seeded Panthers failed to make the Final Four. And this time, they failed to make the Sweet 16 under coach Jamie Dixon. The ending proved to be typical Pitt. It also proved my theory with the Panthers: They will break your heart. The Panthers failed to get a shot off with a lead, giving Butler the ball with less than 10 seconds left. Butler scored to take the lead, beating the so-called tough Pitt defense. With less than 2 seconds left, Pitt's Gilbert Brown was unbelievably fouled. It was a so-so call, but it was the gift Pitt needed. Bro...

Let me start off by admitting that I'll be rooting for Pitt to earn a trip to the Final Four. I'll be rooting, but I don't expect it to happen. That's usually the way it is with Pitt. I've lived by one rule when it comes to Pitt football and Pitt basketball -- they will disappoint you (or break your heart). This will be Pitt's 10th straight tournament appearance. Over the past nine seasons, Pitt has a strong history of underachieving.Last year, they lost to Xavier in the second round. In 2008 they lost to Michigan State in the second round. In 2006 they lost to Bradley in the second round. In 2005 they lost to Pacific in the first round. They play in the toughest league and won it. However, their style of physical play doesn't translate into the tournament. First, they enter the game with a reputation of a hard-nosed, tough team, putting the officials on alert. Second, they get officials who don't normally allow such play. I've always thoug...

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The new-look NCAA tournament begins tonight with two games, but the same rules apply when predicting the champion -- follow my Bracket Racket for the winner of the national championship. I've picked winners in the past using this formula, so there's a good chance it'll be right again this year. Especially with the upgrades I've installed to cope with a 68-team field handed to us by the NCAA. Hopefully they don't go to a 96-team field. I'm not sure my computer can handle more changes. As an added bonus, if you have the right channels on your cable tiers, you can watch all the games. That's pretty cool, unless you own a business and want your employees to be productive. Now, on to the picks. First, eliminate all No. 16 seeds. This is a tried-and-true formula. It especially holds true since no No. 16 seed has ever won a game. That eliminates Boston U., Hampton, and the two schools that emerge to face Ohio State and Pitt after the first-round games o...

Sad news for Pirates fans: Chuck Tanner, the team's manager for their 1979 Word Series championship, died Friday. He was 81. Can't go into much detail right now, but I remember sitting behind home plate for several seasons at PNC Park and Tanner would be several rows in front of me on many occasions. Every game I saw him, there would be at least one fan walking down to Tanner's seat. Not once did I see Tanner turn away a fan for an autograph. He will be missed.

Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians could be in jeopardy of losing his job. The Post-Gazette reported Tuesday that Arians might not return for the 2011 season. If that's the case, then I'm all for it. Of course, we went down this road last season when Arians' hold on the job was slippery. He stayed with the Steelers, so I'm not getting my hopes up. I never was thrilled with Arians from Day One. Maybe that's because he used to be with the Browns, and we all know how well the Browns have been since their return to the NFL. I know Arians has his defenders, and they like to point to the fact that he has a Super Bowl championship on his resume. However, how is Arians perceived around the NFL? If any other team across the league thought he was a good coordinator or had the stuff to be a head coach, surely the offensive coordinator of a former Super Bowl champ would have had his name come up in some coaching searches by now. That hasn't been th...

A colleague at work went to a Salt n Pepa concert on Friday in Cleveland. I guess it was a nice flashback to the mid-1990s for him, but I should have taken it as a warning sign. It turned into a '90s weekend when I watched the Super Bowl on Sunday. For each turnover, I couldn't help but be reminded of the Steelers loss to the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX. If it weren't for Neil O'Donnell, the Steelers would have won that game. I think O'Donnell still is getting paid by Larry Brown, who was voted the MVP of the game because he made two of the easiest catches in NFL history. Brown parlayed that MVP award into a huge contract, which he never deserved. But back to Super Bowl 45. With the mistakes the Steelers made, it was impossible for me to not think of that horrible Super Bowl 15 years ago. Ben Roethlisberger had two interceptions Sunday, one of which was returned for a TD. Rashard Mendenhall had a fumble, costing the Steelers an opportunity to take the lead...