Cannon Firing Line
We Now Turn To College Basketball…Or Do We?
By Ellis G. Cannon
PSR Publisher

Our November issue contains our annual college basketball preview, inclusive of Pitt, Penn State, Duquesne, Robert Morris and West Virginia. It's another opportunity to look ahead before the season's storylines unfold and excitement of a new beginning gives way to the skepticism and grind of another season.

Yet, this season will undoubtedly be different and, sadly, you know why.

If there's ever been excitement of a new beginning giving way to skepticism it happened in September on the Duquesne campus. And, make no mistake, those developments and changes will accompany every step taken by Duquesne basketball this season.

Indeed, the echoes of those shootings will be heard over and over in the months ahead.

That was made clear the moment the shots ended and the smoke cleared. Life had changed for people, players, a university, a team and more. To believe a few basketball games will make that go away, when the scale of impact far exceeds anything in team sports any of us have likely seen, is to pretend. No, it won't be like that.

There's no pretending here, only reality.

And that reality now has many complexions. Many permanently changed reflections. Countless victims and consequences. Accounts and witness statements and headaches and nightmares.

It is against that background we move forward with another season. It is against that background we try to find balance and perspective. It is against that background we seek understanding.

There is none, of course, there never is. Only the empathy and pain that follow a story such as this, even if they too fade for the most of us while haunting the victims forever. All as those responsible leave our consciousness and the front pages. While they go away, leaving us - no, actually only a few - to truly live with the consequences.

All of this, of course, is sad at many levels, across the gamut. From victims to institutions. From families to communities. From a team to its fans.

Truth is, it should be much broader than that.

This must somehow also be about us, even those who are not Dukes fans, or college basketball fans, or, for that matter even Pittsburghers. This has to be important to us as human beings.

Somewhat judgmental, perhaps, but when five people are shot on a college campus, particularly a faith-based one such as Duquesne's, it has to reach into your soul, regardless for which team you root. If not, then the list of victims just continues to grow.

Yes, we turn to college basketball, although one hopes with an even more acute understanding of today's reality and culture, as difficult as that may be to appreciate or accept. If nothing else, a better appreciation of the blessing offered to play the game or privilege to watch it.

The stories of these teams will unfold on our pages as they do every year. You will read of the hopes of a Top 10 basketball team and one that boasted a similarly rated recruiting class only to see it changed so dramatically, so quickly. You will read of our other area schools, their heights and weights and their schedules. You will learn why they too have hope, albeit from a more traditional, less tragic, point of view.

It's indeed a privilege to offer those stories to you.

Because, we now turn to college basketball.

Or do we?

Ellis Cannon's SportsLine Pittsburgh" airs weeknights, 6-8 p.m., on FM NewsTalk 104.7. Ellis is also a regular contributor on the "#1 Cochran Sports Showdown" aired Sundays at 11:35 on KDKA-TV.