More disrespect for The BEast and one of the greatest rivalries in all of college football...

WV Metro News Wrote:No Backyard Brawl
Chip Fontanazza
South Bend, Indiana



As you walk down the spiral ramp to the lower level of the college football Hall of Fame, the first exhibit to the right is the "Great Rivalries" section. The display obviously shows some of the biggest rivalries in the game like Michigan-Ohio State, the Red River Rivalry and many more, but one that is not on the list is the Backyard Brawl.

I was very upset, like I'm sure many Mountaineer fans are, that this rivalry wasn't displayed in the Hall of Fame. There was the Pitt-Penn State rivalry, one that hasn't been played since 2000, but the Backyard Brawl was no where to be found. This was an important rivalry back when teams played every year, but hasn't been since the teams have joined different conferences.

I know that the College Football Hall of Fame is suppose to preserve history and this rivalry obviously has history because for the most part both of those teams always played each other when they were two of the top teams in all of college football.

If the College Football Hall of Fame is going to display some of the top rivalries in college football, the Backyard Brawl should be up there. I know there is the 'battle for the state of Pennsylvania' theme in the Pitt-Penn State rivalry, but Pitt's biggest rival is West Virginia and has always been West Virginia.

In the past three year's, the Mountaineer and the Panthers had some memorable Backyard Brawls. The 2007 match up when Pitt knocked off the No. 2 ranked Mountaineers, it may not be one moment that Mountaineer fans want to remember, but that was great moment in college football and one of the most memorable Backyard Brawls because upsets fuel rivalries.

Last season, Tyler Bitancurt made Backyard Brawl history kicking a 43-yard game winning field goal as time expired to give WVU a 19-16 victory. It was the same type of moment for Bill McKenzie when he kicked a game winner against the Panthers in 1975. These are the type of moments that make rivalries and this upcoming season will be the 103rd time Pitt and West Virginia will face off.

Whenever I travel and talk to people from all over the country and I tell them I cover the Mountaineers, they always mention the Backyard Brawl and how they always try to watch it during the Thanksgiving Holiday.

Besides getting to talk to a bunch of great Hall of Famers this past weekend and getting to witness a special moment in all of these players and coaches lives, the one thing that sticks out in my mind is why the Backyard Brawl isn't considered one of the top rivalries in the mind of the College Football Hall of Fame.

Now all we need to do is correct the problem...

remove the penn st 'rivalry' and replace it with the brawl.
Problem is it will leave penn st without one.

I suddenly have less desire to visit the College Football Hall of Fame. How on earth is the Backyard Brawl not in there?

(07-19-2010 08:40 PM)TIGER-PAUL Wrote:  remove the penn st 'rivalry' and replace it with the brawl.
Problem is it will leave penn st without one.

It doesn't matter to me if Penn State has no rivals. That's their problem, not mine...

I agree that the Backyard Brawl should be there but the fact is 20 years ago the PSU game was a bigger game for Pitt fans than the brawl. Sad thing is some Pitt fans still think the PSU rivalry is bigger than the Brawl.

No offense, but if the team I follow was not in the BE, I doubt I'd know WVU and Pitt had a humongous rivalry.

Being objective, as a national game, this one would not rate in many outsiders top yearly rivalries let alone the tops of all time. I know its blasphemy, but there it is.

is the backyard brawl a big deal? yeah. is it a big rivalry year in and year out? i say no. unless you can garner more than 50% of the eyeballs on any given late season weekend and garner the attention of all the college football talking heads hyping this game, i say don't think it should qualify as being something hall-of-fame worthy. is it right? no. but it is reality.

Wise minds think alike.

Off the top of my head, The College HOF probably had:

Army - Navy
Ohio State - Michigan
Alabama - Auburn
USC - Notre Dame
USC - UCLA
Florida State - Miami
Florida - Georgia
Texas - Oklahoma
Texas - Texas A&M
Nebraska - Oklahoma
etc...

I could go on but you get my point. These are the kind of names that over the years have compelled viewers with no connection to either program to tune in.

(07-19-2010 10:15 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  Wise minds think alike.

Off the top of my head, The College HOF probably had:

Army - Navy
Ohio State - Michigan
Alabama - Auburn
USC - Notre Dame
USC - UCLA
Florida State - Miami
Florida - Georgia
Texas - Oklahoma
Texas - Texas A&M
Nebraska - Oklahoma
etc...

I could go on but you get my point. These are the kind of names that over the years have compelled viewers with no connection to either program to tune in.

I am a Cincy grad and my father is a WVU grad. He has always viewed Pitt as a rival. According to him, the WVU side always got up for the game in football and basketball. When Ditka came to town, he was the hatchet man to keep Jerry West in check. Long story short, there is much history between these two colleges.

There is over a century of history in the Backyard Brawl. The college football hall of fame (notice the small print?) has the Indiana-Illinois rivalry included, which has been irrelevant throughout its entire history. Why not the Brawl? It has been relevant in deciding who plays for a national championship more than once...

Sometimes organizations, hall of fame etc., create things they want to see such as a rivalry between Pitt and PSU.
Generally the only way to right this wrong is public pressure. WVU and Pitt fans should call local media outlets, get
interviewed, go on the record etc.

Their website says they have 24 rivalries highlighted in the exhibit. But they don't say what they are.

The only rivalry they have in the CFHOF for Penn State is Pitt, whom they haven't played in over a decade...

I wouldn't call any matchup that has a hiatus of a decade or more a rivalry, and neither would anyone else with half a brain...

(07-20-2010 11:35 AM)bitcruncher Wrote:  The only rivalry they have in the CFHOF for Penn State is Pitt, whom they haven't played in over a decade...

I wouldn't call any matchup that has a hiatus of a decade or more a rivalry, and neither would anyone else with half a brain...

Well certainly not a current one. It was a rivalry and would without a doubt be one yet again if they were playing annually. Same goes with Penn State - WVU or Penn State - Syracuse (although at least this one we're going to see played a few times a decade.)

(07-19-2010 10:00 PM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  No offense, but if the team I follow was not in the BE, I doubt I'd know WVU and Pitt had a humongous rivalry.

Being objective, as a national game, this one would not rate in many outsiders top yearly rivalries let alone the tops of all time. I know its blasphemy, but there it is.

As a fan of a school that has only been in the Big East for five years, I can provide a bit of an outsiders perspective. When you compare the Backyard Brawl to many of the rivalries that Rath listed, it is not on the same level. While it is the top football rivalry in the Big East, it doesn't have quite the national appeal of many others listed when nothing is on the line. Now, if Illinois/Indiana is on the list, then it shoudl be included, but without knowing the other ones on the list, I can see why if it included 24 rivalries, this could be ommitted.

Just guessing here, but in addition to the ten Rath listed, plus Pitt/PSU, and Ill/IN that were listed, others I can see being listed:

Florida / Florida State
Florida / LSU (1/2 of the reason for the SEC permanent cross division rival)
Alabama / Tennesee (the other half)
Harvard / Yale
Michigan / Michigan State
Georgia / Georgia Tech
Notre Dame / Michigan
Oregon / Oregon State
Stanford / California
Michigan / Minnesota
Auburn / LSU
Grambling State / Southern

That is a total of 24 rivalries. This doesn't include numerous other intra state rivalries, border rivalries, and long standing rivalries from other BCS conferences that merit inclusion, some older than the Backyard brawl, some including larger universities, some with both. Combine that with West Virginia and Pitt being somewhat out of the national title picture for large portions of the 90's and early 2000's, and I could see how it could be excluded.

It doesn't mean they don't belong on that list, but with only 24 included rivalries, it was one of those that was borderline, and might have just missed the cut. It also doesn't help that it is played on the same weekend as many other rivalry games, and often can be lost in the shuffle by the more high profile games.

The Backyard Brawl gets a higher national TV rating than some of the rivalries you've listed there. Look it up. The fact that you didn't know that isn't surprising...

(07-21-2010 12:57 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  The Backyard Brawl gets a higher national TV rating than some of the rivalries you've listed there. Look it up. The fact that you didn't know that isn't surprising...

You miss my point. To outsiders, it is not as high profile a many of the others. It doesn;t mean it is not a significant rivalry, but it is what it is. This rivalry has the advantage of drawing most viewers fomr within the conference, while other conferences have multple rivalries going on, so it may draw better ratings. Some of the ones I listed are not even on national TV every year, but histroically, they are still a big deal.

You are in the bubble so to speak, so it is hard for you to see if from an outside perspective. In the same manner, I cannto really guage the national interest of the Louisville vs. Kentucky basketball game, because I am too involved in it. I am just telling you that before joining the Big East, living in two cities (Louisville and Baltimore) I never saw the backyard brawl on the same level as many of the others listed. The same was true for other fans I knew when I lived in Baltimore, who were mostly SEC fans. I rememebr disctintly the unusual looks on people's faces when I told them I was going to a backyard brawl game (a fried of mine went to Frostburg St and scored some tix). As WVU fan, it is hard for you to view it in that manner.

(07-21-2010 01:03 PM)adcorbett Wrote:  

(07-21-2010 12:57 PM)bitcruncher Wrote:  The Backyard Brawl gets a higher national TV rating than some of the rivalries you've listed there. Look it up. The fact that you didn't know that isn't surprising...

You miss my point. To outsiders, it is not as high profile a many of the others.

You missed my point as well. The television ratings disagree with you. The Backyard Brawl gets a higher TV rating nationally than more than one of the rivalries on the above list, which means people think the Brawl is more relevant or interesting nationally than some of the rivalries listed previously...

The TV ratings for the Brawl are nothing exceptional. WVU has had better TV ratings playing Louisville and South Florida.

Ratings do not mean everything. Especially i fyou are going over a one or two year period, and escpecilly if you are including the game where West Virginia needed only a win to be in the national title picture. For example, a couple of years ago Lousiville vs. Rutgers did higher ratings than West Virginia / Pitt have ever done. Doesn't mean it is a rivalry, or a bigger one for that matter. Further, Pitt / Cincinnati did a bigger number last year than than West Virginia / Pitt. Again, doesn't mean anythign with regards to the level of rivalry. Now if you had somethign that showed Pitt / WVU historically did better numbers (say over a 10 or 20 year period), then it would be relevant, but that information is not available. One or two years, does not mean a lot in the scheme of this discussion, especially when you are using numbers from only selected games that just so happen to have national title ramifications.

edit: As MS just pointed out, if we were doign this on ratings, then Louisville vs. West Virginia would be a top ten rivalry, depsite the fact that we have only been playing each other for five years.