Time is on whose side?

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Daily Wildcat Craig Degel

That's not much time is it?

If you're really fast, you could probably run 40 yards. It takes about that long to run from home to first base. That's also about how long it would take to convince yourself to never order a Tyson pay-per-view event again.

And, it appears, if you're the New Mexico basketball team, you can go the length of the floor, dish the rock and put in the winning basket all in the amount of time it takes Dick Vitale to scream, "It's Awesome, Baby!"

I believe it was Mick Jagger - or perhaps it was Emmanuel Kant - who said, "Time, is on my side." That's the new theme at The Pit where no clock is too close to zero as long as you've got Katherine Hepburn on the button.

Four and six-tenths of a second.

Oswald didn't have that long. Of course, depending on who you believe, he got off three shots.

Even New Mexico coach Dave Bliss was astounded. At his post game press conference, he worked the crowd with a little anecdote about his team never being able to run that particular play in under six seconds.

But, they got it off in 4.6 and won the game. Granted, human error is a part of sports. It's what makes Ryan Leaf so darned cuddly. However, when it crosses from human error to human sabotage, things start to get ugly. Arizona head coach Lute Olson is a pretty mild-mannered guy, but you put him into The Pit and he turns into Bob Knight.

He yells, screams and in 1996 even stripped off his coat and threw a glass of water on the floor in a fit of frustration. The only thing missing was the ever-popular 25-yard chair heave.

Now, there's something I'd like to see. If Olson decides to play at New Mexico again - and the word is he's seriously considering never driving east on I-10 again - I'd like to see him throw some chairs. It'd be interesting to see Olson have a complete meltdown into an all-out, Knight-inspired tantrum.

And, really, who would blame him?

Here's an idea: When the ball is touched, the clock is started. Of course, there's no way of knowing if the Lobos would have hit a shot anyway. It would have just been from farther away.

And we all know that half-court buzzer-beaters are much more exciting.