Saturday Stuff . . .

First, the WNBA: Michael Wilbon (usually not "Mr. Sensitivity" when it comes to women's sports . . .the BasketCases cannot forget -- or forgive -- his trashing of Chamique Holdsclaw) has a very long -- and sensitive -- piece in today's Washington Post (Sports Section, page 1!) about the demise of the Houston Comets. Apparently, he was paying some attention all those years.

Now turning to college: the Terps trek to Pittsburgh tomorrow (Sunday) to complete the back end of a home and home series against the Big East's Pitt Panthers at 2 PM. The Panthers are currently on a 5-game winning streak, after losing their season opener to #4 Texas A&M by just 6 points. As we mentioned in an earlier post, 5'10" athletic senior guard Shavonte Zellous (currently averaging more than 20 ppg) is widely touted as a WBNA first round prospect and could pose a serious match-up problem for the Terps. For the second game in a row, Maryland will be facing a tough opponent -- on the road. Once again, they will need to prove they truly are road warriors if they are going to leave Pittsburgh with a win.

And for those planning to listen to an audio broadcast of tomorrow's game, we have some very good news (thanks to Maryland -- yes you, Jen -- for the tip!): you should be able to watch the game (free!) via the Internet by going to the Pitt web site here and clicking on "watch" (how hard is that?) in the box for this game. That will bring up a window requiring you to download Microsoft Silverlight in order to see the web cast. We've just done it; it took just a few moments. Easy! So, get ready; do it now! And let's hope when game time arrives, it actually works!

And if it does work, then you can play the BasketCases Drinking Game (Diet Coke for us . . . it's a 2 PM game!). The rules are simple: every time Pitt Head Coach Agnus Berenato hugs somebody, take a drink! Agnus is known as the hugging-est coach in all of basketball . . . she hugs opposing coaches, officials, fans, players, ushers, mascots, cheerleaders, hot dog vendors, and even every member of the press corps at post-game press conferences! She's a veritable hugging-dervish . . . so we've stocked an entire six-pack of Diet Coke in the fridge. OK, Agnus . . . Ready, Set, Hug!