There goes the neighborhood

You just know things will never be the same. You've grown up in a neighborhood, spent your whole life hanging out with the friends that live next door and competing with that kid that lives behind your house. You come home from school and play one on one basketball with him. You can even manage to play one on one football. Try to throw a pass to yourself. Unless you're Mike Wallace and can outrun a bullet you have to give it a lot of hang time and be able to outjump the other guy to do that.

So, as you get older the kids in your neighborhood start moving out. Jimmy's dad gets a new job in California. The Smiths have a new baby and outgrow their house. Bobby's family moves to Florida. Until finally you and your rival, Panther, are the only ones left. Even though you have always had heated competition to see who will be the best you have a mutual respect for each other. You think there will never be an end to the competition that exists between the two of you. But the developers decide that your neighborhood is better suited for a shopping center. You do well to get out while the getting's good, but it is the end of the neighborhood and the end of the rivalry.

Well, it looks like all the neighbors in the old Big East neighborhood have vacated the hood and it's down to the Mountaineers and the Panthers. Penn State wasn't in the Big East but they lived in the next development over when everyone was an independent. The Penn State rivalry with West Virginia was mostly one-sided, but it was one that everyone in West Virginia looked forward to every year. When the Mountaineers beat Penn State there were a few parties in Morgantown.

Next, some more longtime neighbors decided to vacate. Boston College and Virginia Tech and Miami left for greener pastures in the ACC. Not the best football conference, but the basketball roots were deep. There were some new neighbors moving in, but you knew they were either going to be short timers or maybe fight for the neighborhood. One just moved in and didn't like the scene and decided to leave before even staying the night. Then you find out your neighbor Syracuse has had enough and is moving to the new development a few miles away.

Finally, you go out to play one on one football with the kid that lives behind you, you call it the "Backyard Brawl" and he tells you that his family has decided to move. You and your remaining neighbors are crushed. You never really liked him, but it will never be the same after he's gone. You looked forward all day to taking him on. One year he grew several inches and had an advantage over you, the next year you surpassed him and were better than him, but it was always competitive.

Now the Mountaineer family has found a new neighborhood and is moving on and the Panther family is moving on. You thought after the Lion family moved to their new neighborhood that you'd still have a get together occasionally, but they never looked back and didn't even want to get together every few years. Somehow it looks like that's what will happen with the Panther family. Billy Panther has already made new friends with the kids in the new neighborhood and he doesn't even say hi to you in school anymore.

So, you challenge him to one last game tonight. The last bragging rights to the neighborhood are on the line. This may be the last one for a long time. It is a sad sight to see, but an inevitable reality of life in the big business of college sports.



Ego Leonard Sighting