Meredy's Blog - meredy.com

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman

2009-07-10T00:00:00.001-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman by E. W. Hornung.

Click here to read Raffles: The Amateur Cracksman and to listen to the Librivox version.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Life with Father

2009-07-03T00:00:00.002-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Life with Father by Clarence Day.

Click here to read Life with Father and to watch the film version starring William Powell and Irene Dunne.

Oscar-winning actor Karl Malden dead at 97

2009-07-01T16:36:00.001-04:00

LOS ANGELES – Karl Malden, the Academy Award-winning actor whose intelligent characterizations on stage and screen made him a star despite his plain looks, died Wednesday, his family said. He was 97.

Malden died of natural causes surrounded by his family at his Brentwood home, they told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He served as the academy's president from 1989-92.

While he tackled a variety of characters over the years, he was often seen in working-class garb or military uniform. His authenticity in grittier roles came naturally: He was the son of a Czech mother and a Serbian father, and worked for a time in the steel mills of Gary, Indiana, after dropping out of college.

Malden said he got his celebrated bulbous nose when he broke it a couple of times playing basketball or football, joking that he was "the only actor in Hollywood whose nose qualifies him for handicapped parking."

Malden won a supporting actor Oscar in 1951 for his role as Blanche DuBois' naive suitor Mitch in "A Streetcar Named Desire" — a role he also played on Broadway.

He was nominated again in 1954 for his performance as Father Corrigan, a fearless, friend-of-the-workingman priest in "On the Waterfront." In both movies, he costarred with Marlon Brando.

Among Malden's more than 50 film credits were: "Patton," in which he played Gen. Omar Bradley, "Pollyanna," "Fear Strikes Out," "The Sting II," "Bombers B-52," "Cheyenne Autumn," and "All Fall Down."

One of his most controversial films was "Baby Doll" in 1956, in which he played a dullard husband whose child bride is exploited by a businessman. It was condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency for what was termed its "carnal suggestiveness." The story was by "Streetcar" author Tennessee Williams.

Malden gained perhaps his greatest fame as Lt. Mike Stone in the 1970s television show "The Streets of San Francisco," in which Michael Douglas played the veteran detective's junior partner.

During the same period, Malden gained a lucrative 21-year sideline and a place in pop culture with his "Don't leave home without them" ads for American Express.

"The Streets of San Francisco" earned him five Emmy nominations. He won one for his role as a murder victim's father out to bring his former son-in-law to justice in the 1985 miniseries "Fatal Vision."

Malden played Barbra Streisand's stepfather in the 1987 film "Nuts;" Adm. Elmo Zumwalt Jr. in the 1988 TV film "My Father, My Son;" and Leon Klinghoffer, the cruise ship passenger murdered by terrorists in 1985, in the 1989 TV film "The Hijacking of the Achille Lauro."

He acted sparingly in recent years, appearing in 2000 in a small role on TV's "The West Wing."

In 2004, Malden received the Screen Actors Guild's Lifetime Achievement Award, telling the group in his acceptance speech that "this is the peak for me."

Malden first gained prominence on Broadway in the late 1930s, making his debut in "Golden Boy" by Clifford Odets. It was during this time that he met Elia Kazan, who later was to direct him in "Streetcar" and "Waterfront."

He steadily gained more prominent roles, with time out for service in the Army in World War II (and a role in an Army show, "Winged Victory.")

"A Streetcar Named Desire" opened on Broadway in 1947 and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics Circle awards. Brando's breakthrough performance might have gotten most of the attention, but Malden did not want for praise. Once critic called him "one of the ablest young actors extant."

Among his other stage appearances were "Key Largo," "Winged Victory," Arthur Miller's "All My Sons," "The Desperate Hours," and "The Egghead."

Malden was known for his meticulous preparation, studying a script carefully long before he stepped into his role.

"I not only figure out my own interpretation of the role, but try to guess other approaches that the director might like. I prepare them, too," he said in a 1962 Associated Press interview. "That way, I can switch in the middle of a scene with no sweat."

"There's no such thing as an easy job, not if you do it right," he added.

He was born Mladen Sekulovich in Chicago on March 22, 1912. Malden regretted that in order to become an actor he had to change his name. He insisted that Fred Gwynne's character in "On the Waterfront" be named Sekulovich to honor his heritage.

The family moved to Gary, Indiana, when he was small. He quit his steel job 1934 to study acting at Chicago's Goodman Theatre "because I wasn't getting anywhere in the mills," he recalled.

"When I told my father, he said, `Are you crazy? You want to give up a good job in the middle of the Depression?' Thank god for my mother. She said to give it a try."

Malden and his wife, Mona, a fellow acting student at the Goodman, had one of Hollywood's longest marriages, having celebrated their 70th anniversary in December.

Besides his wife, Malden is survived by daughters Mila and Cara, his sons-in-law, three granddaughters, and four great grandchildren.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Gone with the Wind

2009-06-26T00:00:00.001-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell.

Click here to read Gone with the Wind.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Elmer Gantry

2009-06-19T00:00:00.001-04:00

Talbot’s Two lift Penguins to Stanley Cup title

2009-06-13T00:45:00.003-04:00

DETROIT — Slide over Super Mario and make room on the Stanley Cup for a new batch of Pittsburgh Penguins.

Max Talbot scored two second-period goals, and the Penguins overcame the loss of captain Sidney Crosby to beat the defending champion Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Friday night in Game 7 and win the Stanley Cup.

Instead of the Red Wings becoming the NHL’s first repeat champion since winning titles in 1997 and 1998, this turned into a Penguins party. The last time Pittsburgh won the Cup, in 1991 and ’92, it was captained by owner Mario Lemieux.

Marc-Andre Fleury was stellar in making 23 saves—none bigger than the one he made with one second left as he dived across the crease and knocked away a shot by Niklas Lidstrom.

“I knew there wasn’t much time left,” Fleury said. “The rebound was wide. I just decided to get my body out there and it hit me in the ribs so it was good.”

He erased the memories of a 5-0 loss in Game 5 at Joe Louis Arena that put the Penguins on the brink of elimination. Pittsburgh returned home and gutted out a 2-1 win, behind Fleury’s 25 saves, on Tuesday that forced a seventh game in Detroit.

Series at a Glance
Pittsburgh vs. Detroit
Penguins win series 4-3

1. Game 1: at DET

PIT 1, DET 3 - Final

2. Game 2: at DET

PIT 1, DET 3 - Final

3. Game 3: at PIT

DET 2, PIT 4 - Final
Recap | Box Score
4. Game 4: at PIT

DET 2, PIT 4 - Final

5. Game 5: at DET

PIT 0, DET 5 - Final

6. Game 6: at PIT

DET 1, PIT 2 - Final

7. Game 7: at DET

PIT 2, DET 1 - Final

This was Pittsburgh’s second championship in four months, following the Steelers’ Super Bowl victory in February.

Fleury’s last save started a wild scene in the crease that culminated in the awarding of the Cup. Crosby took it from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman and skated a half lap to center ice before handing it off to Bill Guerin, who joined the team at the trade deadline and became a champion for the first time since 1995 with New Jersey.

Lemieux, the No. 1 pick in the 1984 draft by Pittsburgh, celebrated on the ice with Crosby—the phenom who has been living in the owner’s house since joining the team.

The Penguins turned the tables on the Red Wings and captured the Cup on enemy ice, just as Detroit did in Pittsburgh last year. The Penguins are the first to win the title the year after losing in the finals since Edmonton did it 25 years against the New York Islanders—the last finals rematch before this one.

Evgeni Malkin, who led the playoffs with 36 points, earned the Conn Smythe Trophy as the postseason MVP. He assisted on Talbot’s first goal.

Crosby, just four years after being the No. 1 selection in the draft, became the youngest captain of a champion at 21 years old. He played just one shift after leaving the ice during the second period after taking a hard hit along the boards from Johan Franzen.

“It’s unbelievable. It’s the stuff you dream of as a kid. It’s reality now,” Crosby said. “We worked so hard. It’s amazing to see how far we’ve come, and couldn’t feel any better.”

Jonathan Ericsson made it tense when he cut the Red Wings’ deficit to 2-1 with 6:07 remaining. His shot from inside the blue line sailed past Fleury’s glove and sent the fans into a frenzy.

Niklas Kronwall nearly tied it with 2:14 left, but his drive smacked the crossbar flush and caromed out of danger. The Red Wings pressed further in the Penguins end after goalie Chris Osgood was pulled, but the puck ended up behind the net as time ran out.

Pittsburgh had gone 1-5 in Detroit in the past two final series before pulling this one out at the most clutch time. The Penguins’ only other victory at “The Joe” was a triple overtime win in Game 5 last year that kept them alive. Talbot made it possible by scoring the tying goal with 35 seconds left in regulation.

The Penguins are the first team since the 2004 Tampa Bay Lightning to win the Cup after trailing the series 3-2 and the first to take Game 7 on the road after the home team won the first six games since the 1971 Montreal Canadiens beat Chicago.

Crosby crumpled against the boards after he was hit and seemed to get his left leg caught. He glided to the bench hunched over and stayed bent at the waist as he was guided to the dressing room 5 1/2 minutes into the period.

He was limited to two shifts, totaling 2 minutes, 39 seconds of ice time in the frame, but his teammates doubled the lead while he was gone. Crosby made it back to the ice midway through the third period for the one shift.

“I just wanted them to keep doing what they were doing,” Crosby said of what he told his teammates before the third period. “We did a pretty good job of keeping things away from (Fleury) and he was doing a good job of making saves when he needed to.”

Uncharacteristic mistakes by the experience-laden Red Wings led to both Pittsburgh goals.

Malkin, the NHL’s leading scorer in the regular season and the playoffs, forced defenseman Brad Stuart into making a bad pass from the right corner. Talbot intercepted the puck and fired it between Osgood’s pads at 1:13.

The rest of the Penguins stood tall after Crosby left the ice, and Talbot turned a 2-on-1 into a two-goal lead.

“Max came up with some big goals there,” Crosby said. “We just wanted to play the same way. It’s not easy watching, especially this time of year.”

Stuart pinched at the right point of the Penguins zone, and Chris Kunitz beat Jiri Hudler to a loose puck. Kunitz swept it out and onto the stick of Talbot, who raced up ice with Tyler Kennedy and only Kronwall back for Detroit.

Talbot snapped a wrist shot from the middle of the left circle that sneaked in under the crossbar to make it 2-0 at 10:07.

Fleury took care of the rest, looking more solid in the Detroit nets than ever before. He wasn’t fazed by Red Wings crashing the net or screening him or any funky bounces off the end boards that tortured him in the earlier games of the series.

Rookie coach Dan Bylsma elected to keep his team home in Pittsburgh an extra day during the two-day break between Games 6 and 7, giving up a chance to practice in Detroit one more time.

The move paid off, and Bylsma became the second coach to win the Stanley Cup with a team he took over midseason. Bylsma helped rescue the Penguins from a near-playoff miss by leading them to a 18-3-4 mark after replacing Michel Therrien on Feb. 15.

Bylsma was on the losing side as a player in 2003 with Anaheim in the last series in which the home team won all seven games. The Mighty Ducks team that lost then was coached by current Red Wings bench boss Mike Babcock.

The Red Wings were the overwhelming favorite coming in with four players on the verge of their fifth Stanley Cup rings. Detroit had been 11-1 at home in the playoffs.

NOTES: Bylsma is the 14th rookie coach to win the Cup. … Both teams stood at the benches and tapped their sticks on the boards when Muhammad Ali was shown on the video screen and introduced to the crowd during a first-period stoppage. … The last road team to win Game 7 of the championship round in any major league was the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates, who won the World Series in Baltimore.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Dodsworth

2009-06-12T00:00:00.001-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis.

Click here to read Dodsworth, listen to the Lux Radio Theater version starring Gregory Peck and Jane Wyman, and listen to the Campbell Playhouse version starring Orson Welles, Fay Bainter, and Nan Sunderland.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Arrowsmith

2009-06-05T00:00:00.001-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Arrowsmith by Sinclair Lewis.

Click here to read Arrowsmith, listen to the Lux Radio Theater version starring Spencer Tracy and Fay Wray, and listen to the Campbell Playhouse version starring Orson Welles and Helen Hayes.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - The Thirty-Nine Steps

2009-05-29T00:00:00.002-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan.

Click here to read The Thirty-Nine Steps, listen to the Lux Radio Theater and Librivox versions, and watch the 1935 version of the film.Post Options

2009-05-26T18:48:00.000-04:00

Hotel on DVD - July 21, 2009

2009-05-26T15:35:00.000-04:00

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - The Black Camel

2009-05-22T00:00:00.000-04:00

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Little Women

2009-05-15T00:00:00.000-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.

Click here to read Little Women and to listen to the Lux Radio Theater and Librivox versions.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Topper

2009-05-08T00:00:00.000-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Topper by James Thorne Smith, Jr..

Click here to read Topper and to watch the 1937 version starring Cary Grant and Constance Bennett.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Mutiny on the Bounty

2009-05-01T00:00:00.000-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Mutiny on the Bounty by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.

Click here to read Mutiny on the Bounty, watch In the Wake of the Bounty starring Errol Flynn, and listen to the Campbell Playhouse version starring Orson Welles.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Mrs. Miniver

2009-04-24T00:00:00.000-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Mrs. Miniver by Jan Struther.

Click here to read Mrs. Miniver and to listen to the Lux Radio Theater version starring Walter Pidgeon and Greer Garson.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Anne of Green Gables

2009-04-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery.

Click here to read Anne of Green Gables and to listen to the Librivox version.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - The Sheik

2009-04-10T00:00:00.000-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: The Sheik by E.M. Hull.

Click here to read The Sheik and to listen to Rudolph Valentino sing Kashmiri Song.

Polly Bergen to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award

2009-04-07T14:57:00.001-04:00

The Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs, or MAC, has just released its slate of nominees for its 2009 awards, to be held on Monday, May 18, at B.B. King Blues Club and Grill. As usual, the nominees reflect a deep insularity on the part of the cabaret community: For example, the English singer Barb Jungr, who gave two of last year's best performances, hasn't been nominated, while many performers with deeper ties to the local scene have been lauded for lesser work.

That said, the MAC Awards have their place, which is to give recognition to smaller clubs and lesser-known performers, and the awards ceremony provides a useful chance to sample the wares of many performers at one admittedly long sitting.

The highlight of this year's slate is its honorary MAC Award recipients: The marvelous Polly Bergen, who is to be recognized for lifetime achievement.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Of Human Bondage - Parts One and Two

2009-04-03T00:00:00.000-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham.

Click here to read Of Human Bondage and to watch the 1934 version starring Leslie Howard and Bette Davis.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - The Prisoner of Zenda

2009-03-27T00:00:00.002-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope.

Click here to read The Prisoner of Zenda, listen to the Librivox version, listen to the Lux Radio Theater version, and listen to the Screen Directors Playhouse version.

Fields’ baskets send Pitt past Xavier 60-55

2009-03-26T23:21:00.002-04:00

BOSTON — Levance Fields pointed Pittsburgh in the right direction just in time—as usual.

For the second straight game, the orchestrator of the offense took the big shots himself, hitting a 3-pointer with 50.9 seconds left, then scoring off his steal as the top-seeded Panthers reached the regional finals for the first time in 35 years with a 60-55 win over Xavier on Thursday night.

One more win and they’ll be headed to Detroit for the Final Four.

“We came in expecting to win two games,” Fields said before acknowledging the obvious: “It was dramatic.”

The star point guard provided the drama in Pitt’s previous win, 84-76 over Oklahoma State. That game was tied at 74 with 2:42 left. Then Fields made a layup and a 3-pointer and the Panthers never trailed after that.

Pitt knows the late-game strategy by now.

“Give Levance the ball,” Big East co-player of the year DeJuan Blair said with a laugh.

The last time Pitt was in a regional final was in 1974 when it lost to eventual national champion North Carolina State and star David Thompson 100-72.

“It definitely was big for the players, the coaches and the city,” said Sam Young, who led Pitt with 19 points. “It’s something we’ve been waiting for, for a long time.”

Pitt (31-4) trailed 54-52 before Fields connected. He then poked the ball away from B.J. Raymond and went in for a layup with 23.9 seconds to go.

“It’s just sad that we had to go out the way we went out,” Xavier’s Derrick Brown said. “The season we had, it was about toughness and finishing what we do. And we didn’t finish.”

Fields did, scoring 14 points, while Blair had 10 points and 17 rebounds in the East semifinal victory. The Panthers overcame an eight-point halftime deficit.

Pitt plays Saturday against the winner of Thursday night’s second semifinal between second-seeded Duke and third-seeded Villanova for a berth in the Final Four.

“We’re a confident group,” Fields said. “We haven’t played our best basketball, but the good thing is we’ve found a way to make plays when we’ve needed them.”

Fourth-seeded Xavier (27-8) was led by Raymond with 15 points and Brown with 14.

“I thought the shot Levance Fields hit is all about (the poise of) senior point guards,” said Xavier coach Sean Miller, who knows something about that.

He was a star point guard at Pitt from 1987 to 1992 and is second in school history in assists.

Panthers coach Jamie Dixon made it to the round of eight for the first time in his six years on the bench after losing in his other two trips to the round of 16. Xavier fell short in its bid for a third berth in the regional finals in six years.

“They pushed us around in the first half, but we responded in the second half like we usually do,” Dixon said. “Like I’ve said before, I never get tired of seeing Levance take big shots. He’s made them year after year.”

Trailing 37-29 at halftime, Pitt scored the first nine points of the second half—and Xavier missed its first 10 shots—as the Panthers took a 38-37 lead with 14:33 left.

But the Musketeers recovered and went ahead 54-52 with 1:50 remaining when Dante Jackson cut to the basket for a layup.

Fields then had the ball past midcourt before it went into the backcourt off a defender. Fields retrieved it, dribbled into his own end and fired up the go-ahead shot over Jackson.

“We ran our go-to play,” Fields said. “I did a little bit of an in-and-out move, got him on his heels a little bit and took the shot. Once I got him back, I took the open shot. I had confidence in it.”

Jackson thought he could stop him.

“I thought I had a pretty good challenge,” he said.

Fields was in the right place again when Raymond lost control of his dribble. Fields got the ball, pushed it forward and dribbled ahead of the field to put the Panthers up by three.

Xavier’s Terrell Holloway made a free throw with 16 seconds left, but Young hit two just three seconds later. After a missed 3-pointer by Brown, Brad Wannamaker made one more free throw for Pitt with 2.6 seconds left.

The Musketeers went just 7-for-29 from the field in the second half when they were outscored 31-18.

But they were solid late in the first half. With the score tied at 27, Xavier outscored Pitt 10-2 in the last three minutes of the half to take a 37-29 lead. Brown started the surge with a 3-pointer and sank another one that made it 35-29.

Blair struggled offensively inside and finished with just two points and four rebounds in the first half. He had eight points and 13 rebounds after that.

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - The Four Feathers

2009-03-20T00:00:00.001-04:00

Weekly Meredy.com E-book - Scaramouche

2009-03-13T00:00:00.002-04:00

I love reading the books on which many classic flicks are based. In fact, I collect them. I thought you might like to read them, too. So, I'm starting something new. A link to a free classic movie-related e-book will be featured weekly on my blog.

For today, I've chosen an old favorite of mine: Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini.

Click here to read Scaramouche and to listen to the Librivox version read by Gord Mackenzie.

No. 3 Pittsburgh beats No. 1 Connecticut 70-60

2009-03-07T17:16:00.000-05:00

PITTSBURGH — Two games, two UConn losses, two big performances by Pitt’s Sam Young. By now, Connecticut could be excused for not wanting to see the Panthers again, yet the Huskies can’t wait for the next matchup. Or maybe the next two.

Young dominated one of this season’s biggest games with 31 points and No. 3 Pittsburgh likely secured one of the top seeds in the NCAA tournament, opening a 14-point lead early in the second half before holding off top-ranked Connecticut 70-60 on Saturday.

Pitt (28-3, 15-3 Big East) had never beaten a No. 1-ranked team in school history, only to accomplish it twice in less than a month—both times against Connecticut (27-3, 15-3), which still hasn’t figured out how to slow down Young.

Pitt becomes the seventh school to beat a top-ranked team twice in a season, the last North Carolina over Duke in 1998.

“Every time I see those UConn jerseys, my eyes light up,” said Young, who scored 25 points in Pitt’s 76-68 win at Hartford on Feb. 16.

UConn coach Jim Calhoun used all the superlatives to describe Young— including “fantastic,” “magnificent” and “very special”—yet he and his players are eager to see the Panthers again, perhaps in next week’s Big East tournament. Or maybe beyond.

“I guarantee you we’re going to see them again, nine times out of 10 we’re going to see them in the Big East tournament and we’re going to be ready for them,” said the Huskies’ Stanley Robinson, who had six points and 12 rebounds. “We could see them after that—in the NCAAs, semifinals or national championship or whatever.”

Calhoun called the Panthers a potential national championship team, but still thinks he has the team to beat them.

“Do I think we can beat Pitt?” Calhoun asked. “Yes, but we are 0-2 and I don’t have any graphic evidence to support that.”

The Panthers had to wait for the outcome of Saturday night’s game between No. 6 Louisville and West Virginia to see if they would win a share of the Big East regular season title. If West Virginia won, Pittsburgh and Louisville would be tied with the Panthers getting the No. 1 seed in next week’s tournament. A Louisville win and Pitt would get the tiebreaker over UConn and the No. 2 seed.

The Panthers did it a different way than they did in winning at UConn, when 6-foot-7 DeJuan Blair pushed around 7-3 Hasheem Thabeet for 22 points and 23 rebounds and Thabeet ended with only five points and four rebounds. This time, Blair had eight points and eight rebounds in a relatively quiet performance and Thabeet had all 14 of his points in the first half.

“Hasheem was limited only by the fact we didn’t get him the ball enough in the second half,” Calhoun said.

Thabeet, who had nine shots in the first half and two in the second, credited a Pitt defense that held UConn to 37.7 percent shooting (23-of-61). A.J. Price led the Huskies with 19 points but missed 10 of 15 shots.

“Every time I got the ball inside, they came over and doubled me,” Thabeet said. “In the first half, somehow they thought they could stop me 1-on-1, and they didn’t double. The second half, they adjusted.”

Thabeet didn’t allow himself get pushed around this time, either, not backing off when he and Blair went for a loose ball early in the second half and Thabeet initiated the contact.

“He got me once,” Thabeet said, referring to the earlier game. “He tried to (get) me twice, and he wasn’t going to get me twice.”

Calhoun, critical of the way the officials allowed Pitt to play physically when it outrebounded UConn 48-31 in the first game, had no such complaints this time.

“I didn’t want to be on YouTube again,” said Calhoun, aware that some enthusiastic Pitt students handed out hundreds of white hankies labeled “Calhoun Crying Towels.”

Young scored the two biggest baskets of the game after Connecticut went on a 12-0 run, keyed by Price’s eight points, to close within 52-50 with 8:24 remaining.

Young, a senior playing his final home game, hit a driving layup through traffic to make it 54-50, then went above the rim to put down Levance Fields’ high lob pass—a dunk that drew the loudest roar of the game from the standing-room crowd of 12,908 and seemed to take the life out of UConn’s rally.

Price responded with another 3 but Jermaine Dixon drove the lane after a frustrated Thabeet, who twice couldn’t score from in close, swatted the ball downcourt in an attempt to maintain UConn’s possession.

After that, Young dunked again and added a free throw to finish off a three-point play created when Blair tapped the ball away in the backcourt to force a turnover, giving Pitt a 61-53 lead with 4:42 remaining.

Young was such a factor that at, one point, Blair went 18 minutes without scoring, yet Pitt still increased its lead from three points to 14. Young, stepping outside more in the second half, hit 3-pointers for successive Pitt baskets to make it 48-36 after UConn had scored six consecutive points to close what had been a 14-point deficit.

With Thabeet not scoring inside after halftime, UConn didn’t have enough to come back in its first loss in 10 road games this season despite Jeff Adrien’s 11 points and 10 from Kemba Walker.

Pitt reserve Brad Wanamaker scored 13 points and Fields, playing despite a bruised lower back, added 10 in 37 minutes although he missed 10 of 14 shots.

The Panthers finished 19-0 at home, the second time since the Petersen Events Center opened in 2002 that it swept every home game.

Pitt hadn’t swept UConn during the season—the teams haven’t always met twice in a season—since 1996-97, when Pitt also beat the Huskies in the Big East tournament.

“We won both games, but we’re going to keep playing the same way, we’re not going to do anything different,” Blair said of a possible third UConn-Pitt game. “We’ll see them when we see them.”