Rivalries and Humanity

            I can guarantee, if you grew up in America, or anywhere in the world that had professional sports, you had a team that you rooted for and a team that you rooted against. It is an unchangeable way of life in much of the world. If you are a Manchester City fan, you want to demolish Manchester United. If you love the Boston Bruins, you probably hate everyone else is every sport (New England fans) The Cubs and the Cardinals, the Patriots and the Colts, the Celtics and Lakers, the Vikings and the Packers, Duke and UNC…the list of rivalries could go on forever. There is no greater joy than seeing your team win, and the rival team suffer a crippling loss.

            Why do I feel the need to mention this? I would like to submit the idea that rivalry is an essential part of sports and sport-fandom. Without specific, vehement, blood boiling passion for your team, and an equal amount of disgust and hatred of one other specific team, sports would not be as exciting as they are today.

            What is the mystique and draw behind rivalries? Why do we feel the need to covet some victories over others, or wish for bodily harm to be done to the other teams head coach?

            I think that the answer to this question lies in humanities innate tendencies towards good and evil. Let me use Duke Basketball as an example. Dukie freshman Austin Rivers recently made a shot to beat the University of North Carolina Tarheels, Dukes most hated rival. There are two views of Austin Rivers, depending on which fan base you talk to. According to Duke fans, Austin Rivers is an ice cold killer, A shooter who can come through in the clutch and is working as hard as he can to improve under the tutelage of Coach K. To UNC fans, Rivers is an arrogant, swaggering, entitled rich kid. He walks around with a smirk on his face, and complains to the referees when his repeated forays into the paint do not result in free throws.

            Neither of these two views is totally correct, nor is it totally wrong. It is colored by the sense of good and evil within these two fan bases.

            A second reason why rivalries are so important to sport: As humans, we also have an innate desire to be the best. You will notice that rivalries are not really born out between one really awesome team and one horrific team. The best rivalries are between teams who are talented, or at least at the same level, and so that the competition is fierce, and the actual victories mean something in the grand scheme of things.

            For this example, lets look at the Yankees and the Red Sox. These two teams have been rivals for a century of baseball. Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe Dimaggio, Lou Gerig, Pedro Martinez, and many, many more great players have all been a part of this struggle for dominance in the AL East. In the early 2000’s, this rivalry had cooled off because of the dominance of the Yankees. They absolutely destroyed the Red Sox until the 2004 Playoffs, when they finally beat the Yankees and won a World Championship. That playoff series reunited the rivalry, and the continued success of these two teams keeps this rivalry at a high level. (It also helps that these two teams play 15+ times a season)

            Rivalries just appeal to us at our core. We pick a side, and we stick with that side through thick and thin, hell or high water. It is what help us become bands of brothers sitting in a living room, or a group of strangers all in the same bar, because we share a bond of team and enemy. Without that bond and that rivalry, sports would lack some of the emotion that makes it one of the highest grossing entertainment industries in the world.

            So here is my question: What do you think is the best or most exciting rivalry in sports, and why? Feel free to mention sports that aren’t the major American 3.