A lot of us have friends who have gone through a divorce or a bad break-up. Once the marriage ends, it causes weeks, months and years of awkward encounters, because inevitably the conversation turns to the ex. The questions come fast and furious – Have you seen her? How does he look? Has she put on weight? Does he have a new girlfriend? Did she seem happy? Does he have a job? Does he still shave?

It’s like this in Class B football. A lot of times when I run into a coach or a fan from the Campbell and Pine Tree conferences, it doesn’t take long for the conversation to turn to the other league. Have you seen Mountain Valley? How does Gardiner look? How big is Winslow this year? Can Cape give Mountain Valley a run for their money?

Two members of the PTC, Leavitt and Morse, were separated, if not divorced, from the Campbell Conference not too long ago. If they had their druthers, both probably wouldn’t mind going back west, for travel convenience alone. So it’s understandable if they look at the box scores a little more carefully.

Certainly, the teams in Eastern and Western Class A and Class C keep an eye on what their regional counterparts are doing. But I don’t know two conferences that spend more time worrying about or comparing themselves to each other during the regular season than the Campbells and the Pine Trees. The debate rages annually in the stands and on message boards. Everybody wants to know how Gardiner stacks up to Mountain Valley, how Winslow matches up with Cape, or which conference has more quality teams.

Right now, I’d give the nod to the PTC in terms of overall depth. I think its second-tier teams and third-tier teams are a little better than their peers in the West.

But here’s a newsflash. Ultimately it doesn’t matter what I or anybody else thinks, and all you need to do is look back at last season to confirm that. I thought the gap between the two leagues was even bigger last year.

And I wasn’t the only one. The overwhelming consensus among those I talked to last year was that if you took the top eight teams in each league and put them in an ACC vs. Big Ten type of match-up like they do in college basketball, the PTC would have won at least six of the eight games. And at halftime of the Class B championship game, many of us were smugly patting each other on the back. Winslow was up 16-6 and Mountain Valley seemed to have finally met its match.

Then the Falcons made the Black Raiders look like the Oakland Raiders and scored 18 unanswered points in one of the most physically-dominating halves of football I’ve seen in a championship game. I doubt anyone in Fitzpatrick Stadium cared whether that meant the Campbell Conference was superior at that point.

But it’s still kind of fun to talk about, maybe a guilty pleasure, like gossiping about exes.