Pitino rumors fly again

UNLV basketball fans have seen this script play out before, but this version is even crazier.

Not only is Rick Pitino rumored to be the top candidate for the Arizona job, but his Louisville team is playing the Wildcats in the NCAA Tournament's round of 16 on Friday.

Tucson's Arizona Daily Star sent a reporter to Louisville to do a lengthy story on Pitino, who could replace Wildcats interim coach Russ Pennell.

Pitino has said he will stay at Louisville as long as Tom Jurich is the athletic director there.

So why is this even a story? How would leaving Louisville for Arizona be a step up?

And what if the Wildcats upset the Cardinals? It would be tough to argue that Pitino deserves the job over a coach who beat him and took his team deeper into the tournament.

But Arizona is dead set on conducting a national search, and even an NCAA championship might not save the job for Pennell.

Maybe Pennell's best chance is to hope Arizona's athletic director abandons the wife of the Wildcats' prospective coaching hire at the airport, a la former UNLV AD Charles Cavagnaro.

• AND ON THE FIRST DAY, THE TIGERS LOST -- As if Detroit doesn't have enough problems, the city is in danger of incurring God's wrath.

The Tigers' home opener is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. on April 10, Good Friday. Christians believe Jesus was crucified between noon and 3 p.m. on that day, and Catholics in particular are incensed over the Tigers' scheduling.

Deadspin.com had this reaction: "Christ has not yet returned a phone call request for comment. But a spokesman for the devil, Scott Boras, has said he doesn't see what the big deal is."

• A-BOMB -- Doesn't America have enough of an obesity problem? The West Michigan Whitecaps don't think so.

The Class-A baseball team based in Grand Rapids, Mich., has added a 4,800-calorie hamburger to its concessions menu. Whoever can eat the $20 burger in one sitting -- and you don't want to be next to that person -- gets a T-shirt.

This heart-attack-on-a-plate sounds like the makings of a lawsuit. Throw in some scalding coffee, and you're looking at seven figures.

• THE KID IS OK -- Pittsburgh residents face a dilemma Sunday. They certainly hope Pitt's women can upset Oklahoma in the NCAA's Sweet 16 but probably will cheer for one Sooners player.

Oklahoma forward Carlee Roethlisberger is the younger sister of the Steelers' two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback. She was at this year's NFL title game in Tampa, Fla., when Ben Roethlisberger directed the winning drive against the Arizona Cardinals.

"Being at a Super Bowl, and not just watching it on TV, is amazing in itself," she told The Associated Press. "But to have a family member, let alone your brother, play in it and be able to win and then to go on the field after, all the confetti falling from the ceiling, stuff that you see on TV that you're actually a part of. It's things that you only dream about."

COMPILED BY MARK ANDERSON LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL