“…he sucks too.” Chances are you’ve heard that if you’ve been to a Pitt home basketball game in the last few years. If not, let me explain: after each visiting player is introduced, the students yell “sucks!” and after the opposing head coach is announced they yell “he sucks too!” All while holding up a special Zoo newspaper in front of their faces.

Why bring this up? I got to thinking about it after reading “Over The Top” by Grant Wahl in Sports Illustrated. Basically it explains that excessive vulgarity and taunting by fans (mostly students) is getting out of control to the point where it’s become dangerous. Whether it be UAB fans angering Memphis players enough to almost make the players storm into the stands, or maybe the parents of a visiting player hit with objects thrown by fans (i.e. Indiana’s Eric Gordon whose mom was hit with a cup of ice in Illinois). There’s a line and it’s being crossed more and more.

How about in Oregon? Stan Love, father of UCLA’s Kevin Love, received a horrible welcome when UCLA played the Ducks.

Stan says his family was pelted with popcorn cartons and empty cups, as well as a barrage of profane ­insults (“every filthy word you can think of”), including screams of “whores” that made Kevin’s grandmother cry. “There were six-year-old kids with signs saying KEVIN LOVE SUCKS. It was the grossest display of humanity I’ve ever been involved with.”

Did I mention that Stan is #6 on the Oregon all-time scoring list?

“To think I’m sitting at the school where I played ball, and just because my kid ­didn’t pick Oregon he gets abused like that? I’ll never go back there.”

To put that into perspective, that would be like Pitt fans doing this to Brandin Knight (14th leading scorer in Pitt history) if he were to have a kid that played for Georgetown. Way to go there, Oregon.

So how about our very own Oakland Zoo? They got mention the the SI article:

There may not be nearly as many ­incidents of racism and anti-Semitism in college arenas as there were in the 1960s, but in the year 2008 many fans are waving anti-gay signs, which often appear on national TV broadcasts. Last month a Pittsburgh fan held up a BROKEBACK MOUNTAINEERS sign when the Panthers met rival West Virginia.

But is it really that bad if it’s not directed at one player in particular? Well it’s certainly better than singling out one opposing player, such as fans have done for Levance Fields (“taser!”) among others. Sometimes it is a bit much, even at the cheers directed at the entire team, especially if the f- and s-words are involved. At West Virginia last Monday, the “F— you Pitt” and “Eat s— Pitt” chants were audible through the television. Members of the Zoo have dropped occasional f-bombs but nothing to that extent.

Back to the “sucks” chant though — it’s been clear that the team and Jamie Dixon aren’t really the biggest fans of it. The Oakland Zoo spent some time trying to figure out something new to do during pre-game intros. Eventually they decided on singing the Victory Song which began on January 2 against Lafayette. The “new tradition” lasted for about 15 seconds.

The fact is that “sucks” just isn’t a vulgar word compared to other things heard in college arenas. The audio folks at the Pete have started to play music while the visitors are being introduced, which seems counterproductive in some way. There’s nothing like helping to get the other team pumped up while being introduced in your own building.

Maybe it’s because I’m not that sensitive to swearing that it doesn’t affect me as much. Sometimes the personal attacks can be too much though, but I also think sometimes people are too quick to call something “hurtful”. It comes with the territory of playing D-I hoops, especially in a big conference.

It certainly crosses the line when things are thrown at visiting fans and players’ parents. To my knowledge, nothing like this has happened in the Pete and I hope it stays like that. Also crossing the line? Throwing things onto the court, which happens much too often and recently in Arizona (video link). Lastly, it seems as though WVU prides itself on the reputation that a Pitt fan can’t walk around Mountaineer Stadium by themselves without having things hurled at them and possibly being punched. How far is too far? That is.

It’s been assumed since Mike Cook blew out his knee against Duke that he would eventually apply for a 6th year of eligibility. He has officially requested the extra year, but as of now, the chances are stacked against him. He played for two seasons at East Carolina, then used his original redshirt (per NCAA rules) because of his transfer to Pitt. Therefore this season he was a 5th year senior, and the committee rarely grants the extra year in situations like this.

“It’s really out of my hands,” he said Friday afternoon. “All I can do right now is pray. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, I’ll just have to go to Plan B.”

It’s likely that he won’t find out until after the NCAA Tournament and not any sooner, but either way he will be honored with his parents at tomorrow’s senior day festivities. Should he get the extra year, it would be interesting to see a player be honored on senior night for two years in a row.

Before he went down, he was averaging 10.4 points and 3.5 boards in about 25 minutes per game.

His rehab is expected to last anywhere from 9-12 months.

“Right now I’m just focusing on getting my knee better and getting back to 100 percent,” Cook said. “My rehab is going real well. I’m just taking it slow and taking it day by day.”

It’s been just over two months so far. Best of luck to him, and here’s to hoping he gets healthy soon whether we see him again in a Pitt jersey or not.