It's a special weekend in the big city
This used to be a Big East town, remember?
It will be once again tomorrow when Pittsburgh and Villanova meet right here in our town for the right to play in the Final Four.
Pitt huffed and puffed and finally blew away stubborn Xavier in last night's first game at TD Banknorth Garden, then Villanova did unto ACC rep Duke as it had done to Pac-10 hopeful UCLA last weekend, making it an All-Big East matchup with a crowd-pleasing 77-54 dispatch of the dastardly Dukies.
For the hardy band of college basketball freaks who fight for the right to party in this decidedly pro-oriented burg, as well as for the backers of the four schools comprising the field at this NCAA Regional, it was great just to have this event in Boston for the first time. Boston has twice hosted sub-regionals (1999 and 2003), but this was the first time we've been given a shot to be a host during college basketball's penultimate weekend.
It would have been nice to report that the basketball was riveting. It also would have been fraudulent. Three of the four teams can surely play far better than they did last night, when the most frequently heard sound in the building was the clanking of basketballs off a rim. Only Villanova played anything approaching a solid all-around game. Pitt and Xavier were full of sound and fury signifying a whole lot of nothing, while Duke was strangely and sadly inept in just about every category, save hustle.
The Blue Devils scored the first 5 points of the game, before Villanova hit them with a run of 11-0. Jay Wright's 'Cats would never trail again, leading by as many as 6 in the first half while expanding the lead continually after starting the second half with a 12-3 run.
"I love this team and what Jay's done with this team," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "They have a chance to do something special."
Coack K added about his own team, "I'm just disappointed for 'em, not in 'em."
Villanova certainly had the look of a Final Four team, making up for erratic first-half shooting with nice passing, solid defense, and good rebounding.
But it would be ridiculous to lie. Anyone unfamiliar with, or previously uninterested in, college basketball was not likely to become a convert to this brand of the sport on the basis of execution.
Effort? Yup. Heart? Sure. Bodies flying around, people diving on the floor, sneakers squeaking, sweat dripping, and an endless supply of emotion? Without doubt.
But couldn't someone - anyone - put the ball in the basket more than once every five minutes? That would have been nice.
By halftime of the Duke-Villanova game, the four teams had combined to shoot less than 33 percent (60 for 183) through six halves.
But it was a different experience, and a fun time. The Garden was alive in a way that's far different from the NBA experience. The NBA has been taken over by marketers and people who, I swear, detest sports, and they have something they call "Game Presentation." College doesn't do "Game Presentation." College does - I don't know how else to put this - basketball.
So there were cheerleaders, time-proven mascots, and bands. You know, live music, not irrelevant noise being pumped out from the sound system. And there was no applause meter encouraging people to cheer. I know this will be a difficult concept for the marketing geeks to understand, but these college fans actually know enough to cheer without prompting.
No. 1 seed Pitt was in great peril in the opening game, but this is like saying J.D. Drew is going to get hurt. They're always in peril of late. It's who they are. The Panthers seem constitutionally incapable of seizing control of a game until they are on their backs and the referee is about to call it a pin, and then, well, then Levance Fields thinks it's time to do something dramatic.
Young Mr. Fields is the Pittsburgh point guard, and among his other athletic charms he has a highly, and I mean highly, developed sense of the dramatic. His particular specialty is the backbreaking, you-know-what-busting moonshot three to break open a game.
The thing is, it matters not what he's been doing up to this point. He was something like 1 for 111 when he hit two in a row in the last two minutes to topple Connecticut. He hit another game-decider against Oklahoma State on a day when he had been submitting his B-minus/C-plus game. And last night he hit still another one, this a sky-scraping swisher of a 3-pointer to give Pitt a 55-54 lead with 50.9 seconds left as the Panthers gradually pulled away for a 60-55 win.
Fields also scored a breakaway layup on a steal created by DeJuan Blair, but it's the three that will live in the memories of the Pitt fans, his teammates, and, of course, his coach, Jamie Dixon.
"I never get tired of watching Levance take big shots," Dixon said. "He's made them year after year. Our guys believe in him. I believe in him. And that's all that matters."
No need to sound so combative, Coach. Most people I know kinda like him.
Anyway, Levance Fields will have at least one more college game to play when the Panthers and Wildcats stage a little fratricidal warfare right here in Boston. If Villanova wants to beat him, they'd better have the thing in hand before the final minute.
Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist and the host of the Globe's 10.0 on Boston.com. He can be reached at ryan@globe.com. 
