By RON COOK, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon didn't blink last week when he told a national TV audience, "We need to win a national championship."
Not much room for misinterpretation there.
Man, I love that attitude.

Pitt coach Jamie Dixon didn't blink last week when he told a national TV audience, "We need to win a national championship."
Not much room for misinterpretation there.
Man, I love that attitude.

Somewhere along the line during his fabulous career, Don Hennon might have had a better game. Or Billy Knight. Or Charles Smith. Or one of the other great players in Pitt history.
Now that I think about it, Jerome Lane (29 points, 15 rebounds) turned in a dandy in an 85-84 win at Syracuse late in 1988 to clinch the Panthers' first outright Big East championship.

It was admirable Monday that Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes so graciously said that he would have been thrilled to share the Super Bowl XLIII MVP award with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. But it did prompt a question: Where was the love for linebacker James Harrison?
Now there's an MVP if there ever was one.

Best Super Bowl in history? Check.
Best play in Super Bowl history? Check. (I know: Which play?)
Best catch in Super Bowl history? Man, it has to at least be in the conversation, doesn't it?
Best comeback in Super Bowl history? Ah, I can't quite go there.

It's not exactly a breaking story that Pittsburgh receiver Hines Ward's troubled right knee will have a big impact on Super Bowl XLIII Sunday night. It has been talked about all week, hasn't it? It has been talked about almost nonstop since he sprained the thing in the first half of the AFC championship game.

On the podium, before the prying Super Bowl media, with at least 10 television microphones inches from his face, Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu was surprisingly smooth, every bit as at ease as when he took that interception back for a touchdown in the AFC title win over Baltimore.

Asking Steelers safety Ryan Clark to rank his best hits is a little like asking Pittsburgh owner Dan Rooney to pick his favorite Super Bowl team.
There just are too darn many from which to choose.
"The one on McGahee the other day would be up there," Clark said of his knockout hit on Baltimore Ravens running back Willis McGahee in the AFC championship game Jan. 18.

Being called a part of the worst offensive line in the National Football League stung Pittsburgh Steelers tackle Willie Colon, all of the big fellas up front, really.

If the Pittsburgh Steelers are fortunate enough to play the Tennessee Titans again in the AFC Championship Game Jan. 18, much will be made of the awful Terrible Towel desecration that took place Sunday at LP Field. Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck and running back LenDale White stomped on 'em. Defensive end Jevon Kearse wiped his nose with one. Yuck!