I lived in Cincinnati for four years (1999-2003). While experiencing life as a midwesterner, I came to appreciate the following: Big Ten football, Cincinnati Reds baseball, Ohio State-Michigan, and…
Cincinnati-Xavier.
For those who do not know, both those schools are located in the inner city and are separated by a mere three miles and change. Both schools play in the “Crosstown Shootout” every year before conference play. That game receives a lot of hype and features intense battles.
In other words, UC-XU is an intense rivalry. Both teams hate each other to the point that it has gotten ugly the last few seasons.
So it was not a surprise to me that the last game ended in a brawl.
As I person who grew up in North Carolina, I would rank this rivalry up there with Duke-UNC. I am dead serious. At least players from Duke and UNC respect each other – even if they do not like each other.
While it’s sad that this brawl happened – and I was even more disappointed with the Xavier players’ responses during the press conference after the game – this is a great rivalry.
I just hope that this brawl doesn’t put an end to it.
Categories: college basketball, sports story
Leave a Reply