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Watching some ESPN Classic here yesterday and saw a tremendous documentary on Joe Louis' career that included an intensely detailed recap of his famed 1941 bout with Pittsburgh's Billy Conn.

Never saw it before. Goosebump stuff. Seriously, by the time they get to the 12th round, you are standing up and watching.

Anyway, what this has to do with your favorite sport is this: The Pirates were at Forbes Field that night, and the game against the New York Giants was halted so that the radio broadcast of the fight could be played. Louis was from Jersey, so the Giants connection was there. And Conn, of course, was the Pittsburgh Kid.

Well, the teams ended up playing extra innings, and the game was called due to curfew once it reached 11 p.m.

The fight?

Go rent a DVD. It is worth it, even if you are only casually into the science.

One question that you might ask yourself after watching: Who really is the greatest athlete in Pittsburgh history? Expand the bounds a little bit, and the debate becomes very interesting.

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Q: What's happened with this new found never-say-die, come from behind, it-ain't-over-till-it's-over PBC?

This has been the most encouraging single aspect of the Bucco play for several games now. It hasn't happened all season, but has been present for several games now.

Are opponents just too confident because it's the Bucs or is there some newfound confidence from our bunch? Or worst of all, is it just the law of averages?

Bob Lucas of Radford, Va.

KOVACEVIC: The Pirates are doing better things at the plate, no question about it. That is a big one. They are waiting out pitches, getting good ones and hitting them. Even in a game like Monday, when Cesar Izturis had the only walk -- and a big one, at that -- the patience was there the whole time.

Then, as documented in the story from that game, the bench has made a huge difference. Night and day from where it was.

Finally -- and this is the negative -- the Pirates have every reason to be more relaxed, more comfortable than the opponents they are facing. Look at the past three, with the Mets, Phillies and Rockies. These are teams battling for playoff spots and dealing with all the pressure that follows that.

I thought that was especially evident Monday with the Rockies. They had some really stiff trips to the plate, and the visitors looked like they were free and easy, even when the game was close.

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Q: Now that you have reported that Duke Welker has officially been shut down with a forearm problem, I was wondering how is Brad Lincoln's rehabilitation progressing?

I really hope "The Duke's" injury is not serious, cause his height and stats remind me of another Pirates pitching prospect with a downward pitching plane leading the league in ERA presently.

Kayvan Ilkhanipour of Del Mar, Calif.

KOVACEVIC: I have not heard anyone compare Welker to Chris Young, Kayvan, and that might be because Young's downward plane surely is even greater with his 4-inch edge in height. But they do appear to have similar styles, in that neither throws terribly hard, and each does use that plane to aid his fastball.

As for Lincoln, he is rehabilitating, but not yet throwing. His pace is set so that the most ambitious target is that he would be throwing off a mound by next spring training.

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Q: Does it appear to you that Jeff Cox is a very conservative third base coach? It seems like he's always putting up the stop sign and, often times, when the bottom of the order is up.

As a below-average team, it seems like sometimes you have to be aggressive and force the other team to make the play instead of hoping for the clutch hit which often doesn't come?

Shawn O'Brien of McCandless

KOVACEVIC: I know some of the diehards at PNC have been booing Cox a bit when they see the stop sign at third, and I understand that. You are correct, Shawn, that the Pirates -- well, until this month, anyway -- have not done much in the way of chain-reaction offense. Risks can be good.

There are two problems, though.

1. It is a slow team. A painfully slow team.

2. There is not much discipline on the basepaths, and that is not something that has gone away with all this recent hitting. Watch how many players look over to Cox as they approach second base to see if they should continue to third. Watch how many come into third full tilt -- as all are taught and instructed -- then react to Cox's sign, versus how many pitter-pat into third. The latter makes Cox's decision for him.

Last year, as was documented, Cox was nearly perfect at his position. Only one runner was thrown out at home all year after one of his waves -- an outrageous figure -- and no one accused the Pirates of being passive.

Did he change? Or did the players' speed and approach?

Next time you are at the game -- TV will not work -- forget the ball and watch the runner.

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Thing No. 51 that makes Pittsburgh great: Yes, we have the tallest fountain in the United States and, by the time the engineers get done with the Point State Park renovation in time for 250, we might get back to having the tallest in the world. (Best of all, plans show they will not keep you out of the wading area with this version. No more chicken-wire fence wrapping the basin.)

But we also have two other fountains within a Jose Guillen throw of that one that are quite neat in their own way, each of them fairly new.

In the PPG Place square, once known only as home to the Tomb of the Unknown Bowler and now best known for the winter skating rink, the boards get taken down in the summer and replaced with a hundred or so fountains that jet right out of the cement, all in unison, as high as 25 feet. Mostly, it is a cooling area for kids, but many grown-ups choose to have lunch close enough for the mist to hit them.

Across the river at Station Square, there is a dancing fountain between the Hard Rock Cafe and the train tracks that, while only mildly interactive, is cool in its own way because it moves to the music -- sometimes symphonic, often rock, always tolerable -- as programmed by a computer. I hear they have these in Vegas, so it hardly is unique, but it still stands out in our little world.

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Until tomorrow ...