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Crosstown Shootout is no more; what’s the ‘Crosstown Classic’?

Yancy Gates, Tu Holloway

Cincinnati forward Yancy Gates, right, punches Xavier guard Tu Holloway, left, during a fight in the closing moments of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Dec. 10, 2011, in Cincinnati. Eighth-ranked Xavier defeated crosstown rival Cincinnati 76-53 in a game that was called with 9.4 seconds left when the teams got into a brawl. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

AP

As was reported late last month, Xavier and Cincinnati officially announced their intentions of moving the Crosstown Shootout to a neutral court for the next two season.

After an ugly brawl that ended a December 10th matchup with time left on the clock, the decision was made by the two universities to move the games off campus and into US Bank Arena.

That’s not the only change being made, over. No longer will the rivalry be known as the Crosstown Shootout. Starting next season, the game will be known as the “Skyline Chili Crosstown Classic”. Apparently, having “shootout” in the title after a bunch of “thugs” got into a “streetfight” was too much to handle.

(Also, Skyline Chili is overrated. Cincinnati chili in general is overrated. Chili shouldn’t have cinnamon. It should have big, old chunks of meat and be spicy enough to make your eyes water. Although, to be fair, mounds and mounds of cheese is a good addition to anything.)

“We wanted to find ways to remind us all, including student-athletes and fans, that our athletic competition is about our two universities coming together to celebrate our hometown of Cincinnati and the mutual respect we have for each other. We want to celebrate the values we share in common and use this event to positively impact the city we both call home beyond just game night,” UC President Gregory H. Williams and Xavier President Michael J. Graham, S.J., said.

I already have written about this decision, so there is no need to reiterate my feelings that it is a dumb idea to move the game to a neutral site. But given the difficulty we’ve had in maintaining rivalries this off-season (here’s looking at you, Coach Cal and Tom Crean), the simple fact that the game is being played and not suspended is a win.

And when you throw in the fact that a portion of the proceeds will be given to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, I think we can all agree that this is certainly isn’t the worst outcome.

Now can we all agree to avoid any fighting so that we can get the game back on campus again?

Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.