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Rivalries Frank DiPatri 07/05/07
Year after year, sports media puts together "rivalry" week, which means any two teams that have ever played each other more than twice. But what is a rivalry? The dictionary defines it as "competition." Seems simple enough, but not all competitions can be considered a "rivalry." Here are the qualifying marks: played at least 100 head to head games, the games always matter, the games are normally close, and the competition is always heated. A person cannot claim a rivalry if they're willing to watch the game in the same room as a fan from the opposing team. Rivalries boil down to a deep hatred of the other team, not so much the players or the fans but of the team. In light of this, I decided the top five rivalries (in no particualr order).
1. New York Yankees-Boston Red Sox: This is the most epic of all rivalries. These teams have played each other close to two thousand times. This rivalry started with Babe Ruth being sold to the Yankees to fund a musical, and from then on the Yankees were winners and the Sox were not so fortunate. The rivalry gave us moments like Bucky Dent in '78 hitting the game winning home run in a season deciding play-off game, Aaron Boone's homer in game 7 of the 2003 ALCS off Tim Wakefield sending the Yankees to the World Series, and the Red Sox unthinkably coming back from an 0-3 deficit to win the pennant and then the Series. This has been called by some a "media" rivalry, but the media didn't create an 80 year old rivalry with the intensity and ferocity this one has.
2. Ohio State-Michigan: Arguably the most fierce rivalry in the world. The two powerhouse Big Ten schools meet at the end of every year, and the matchup is constantly a decisive battle for BCS supremecy. The teams have met on the field for almost 100 years with Michigan holding the edge. Year after year, they play either in Ann Arbor or Columbus both of which hold stadiums seating more than 100,00 people. These two storied schools have churned out Heisman Trophy winners and NFL legends, all of whom took part in this classic matchup.
3. Duke University-University of North Carolina: The battle of Tobacco Road. Separated by only eight miles, these two schools share the bitterest rivalry in Basketball. It all started with a fight in the '60's, and from then on the games have been heated. This rivalry gave us names like Jordan, Hill, Worthy, and Heyman. It matched coach Mike Krzyzewski against Dean Smith, two names now immortalized. It seems that no matter how good one team is said to be or how bad the other team is supposed to be, the game is always close and exciting to the end. They play in two of the most hostile environments, Cameron Indoor and the Dean Smith Center, which are always filled to capacity. Every season, this match up is the most highly anticipated, and it hardly ever disappoints.
4. Green Bay Packers-Chicago Bears: Since 1922, The Bears and the Packers have shared the biggest rivalry in the NFL. The long time rivals have undergone rebuilding and dominating seasons, but they always play each other like it was Super Bowl Sunday. The Monsters of the Midway led by George Halas controlled the NFL until a coach came to Wisconsin by the name of Vince Lombardi, effectively establishing Green Bay as an NFL powerhouse. Now, the Bears and the Packers are legendary teams giving birth to hall of famers such as Lombardi and Ditka, but the teams meet twice a year every year in another bitter fight toward the Super Bowl.
5. Harvard-Yale: These two Ivy League schools compete at everything, but for our intensive purposes, their standing rivalry is the boat race. Sure they meet every year on the football field, and it is a historic competition, but no rivalry in the country (any sport) can claim to invent intercollegiate competition. In 1852, Yale issued a challenge to Harvard to find out which school had superior oarsman and over 150 years later, the race still takes place every year for the coveted Sexton Cup.
There you have them. the top five rivalries in sports. Granted there are more, and it was difficult to narrow it down to just five. Here are some honorable mentions: Cowboys-Redskins, Notre Dame-USC, Ali-Frazier, Lakers-Celtics, Maple Leafs-Canadiens, etc. The list could go on forever, but these are my picks.
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