ESPN's Top Ten Sports Rivalries
- Thread starter BillD1984
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Fair point. A great example is Red Wings/Avalanche. Two great teams at the time, with an indident that exacerbated things. Now...neither team is elite and nobody cares...not even in Detroit or Colorado.
Sandra
Good overall point, but I must speak on the bolded example....
In the AFC North, the Browns consider the Steelers and Ravens bigger rival games than the Bengals. The Browns/Steelers rivalry has been going on for decades and was at it's peak in the late 80's-early 90's. It's died down a bit now, but that's only because Cleveland hasn't been as competitive. We still get up for that game, more than any other in the division. Next is the Ravens. Baltimore, is essentially the old Browns. We'll never forget and that's why we consider that our next fiersest rival. A distant 3rd is the Bengals. Yeah, I get it, Cleveland and Cincy are in the same state. That doesn't really matter though. People seem to forget, Cleveland is closer in proximity to Pitt and Detroit than it is to Cincy. Cleveland doesn't really care about Cincinnati.
And on the flip side, the Steelers considered the Ravens the continuation of the Steelers/Browns rivalry and yawn at the series with the new Browns.
Even if Cleveland is closer than Baltimore to Pittsburgh. Course it helps that Baltimore is only half an hour from Southern-Central PA, which is heavily loaded with Steeler fans.
When I first started following the Red Sox, they were a last or next to last place team, and the Yankees were in decline, and no one gave a damn about them. But right after that, in 1967, the Red Sox games against the fifth place California Angels meant more than games against the lowly Yankees. In the late 1980s, Red Sox fans cared more about the Athletics than about the Yankees. Rivalries only matter when both teams are winning.
No offense to the Red Sox fans, but the Yankee vs Red Sox rivalry has gotten tired to the point of boring. I like the Steelers vs Ravens, that's gotten to be fun. For some reason, I have always liked the Syracuse vs Georgetown rivalry, but there has not been a big name for both teams in a while. I would say the Jets vs Pats has been fun as well.
I agree with you, I hate the unbalanced schedule, playing another team 19 times is a joke. When they played last time, meh, really didn't do anything for me. They play each other again in a week, yipee. Wake me when they playoffs start.
I mean take your Pats vs. Jets. They only play twice a year and they always seem the play at the right time, when things are heating up or when Fat-tub-of-goo's brother opens his big mouth with something crazier than usual.
Lol, northern rivalries......the definition of "hit and giggle" rivalries.
SEC! SEC! SEC!
Sorry, had to.
I will say that without a doubt, the Iron Bowl is a fierce of a rivalry as there is in ANY sport. Whether that is a good or bad thing is open to discussion. lol
Indeed. A rivalry between two schools in the same state is, by simple logic, much more than a rivalry between ones in two different states. Further, a rivalry in a non-pro state is simply far more important to the people there. College football, with NASCAR a poor second, IS sports in Alabama, et al.
Lol, northern rivalries......the definition of "hit and giggle" rivalries.
SEC! SEC! SEC!
Sorry, had to.
I will say that without a doubt, the Iron Bowl is a fierce of a rivalry as there is in ANY sport. Whether that is a good or bad thing is open to discussion. lol
Agreed on the iron bowl, but since you're touting the SEC nonsense again, where is the other big one? The Egg Bowl? Meh. The Cocktail party? More famous for its activities
SEC teams seem to get up more for their ACC counterparts, strangely (Georgia - G Tech, Clemson - South Carolina, UF - FSU).
Agreed on the iron bowl, but since you're touting the SEC nonsense again, where is the other big one? The Egg Bowl? Meh. The Cocktail party? More famous for its activities
SEC teams seem to get up more for their ACC counterparts, strangely (Georgia - G Tech, Clemson - South Carolina, UF - FSU).
The Egg Bowl is pretty fierce as well, it usually means far less to the outside world, but there is no love lost between the two.
The "Saban Bowl" has gained some added fuel as of late, but Bama/LSU has always been a big one for both teams.
The "Third Saturday in October" is arguably as big as the Iron Bowl to some fans o Bama and Tennesse. I am biased here being a Bama fan, but i would say that this is the second fiercest rivalry in the SEC. After the whole Fulmer connection to us going on probation it got ugly.
Auburn/Georgia, AKA "the Deep Souths Oldest Rivalry".
All huge games.
The in-state rivalries tend to be the biggest, especially when they're in the same conference, which is why the Iron Bowl has remained so huge.
The GT-UGA rivalry lost something when the Jackets left the SEC, as the game no longer has bearing on conference position. Back in the day though, my dad said it was huge. Tech had a huge one with 'bama as well (we're still in their fight song), but a lot of that was the personal rivalry between long time coaches Bobby Dodd and Bear Bryant.
Auburn's still a big one for UGA and GT, as they're right on the State line. Auburn would still probably be considered the Dawgs biggest rival. If the Chickens wouldn't be scared to play Tech then they'd be a big rival for them still.
The cocktail party though has never been a big one (more of an excuse to go party in JAX than really see a game). Before the Evil Genius, Florida was on the level of UKY, and the Dawgs regulary spanked them. After the Evil Genius showed up though, the tables turned, and the Dawgs have been puppies in the game.
The GT-UGA rivalry lost something when the Jackets left the SEC, as the game no longer has bearing on conference position. Back in the day though, my dad said it was huge. Tech had a huge one with 'bama as well (we're still in their fight song), but a lot of that was the personal rivalry between long time coaches Bobby Dodd and Bear Bryant.
Auburn's still a big one for UGA and GT, as they're right on the State line. Auburn would still probably be considered the Dawgs biggest rival. If the Chickens wouldn't be scared to play Tech then they'd be a big rival for them still.
The cocktail party though has never been a big one (more of an excuse to go party in JAX than really see a game). Before the Evil Genius, Florida was on the level of UKY, and the Dawgs regulary spanked them. After the Evil Genius showed up though, the tables turned, and the Dawgs have been puppies in the game.
The Pitt-Penn state game was big until Penn state decided they would rather play temple and be guaranteed a win instead. The Pitt-WVA game, the back yard brawl, is big but nothing like how Pitt-Penn state was.
Pitt-WVU in a nutshell:
Pennsylvania has a "tiered" system of higher education. The best students get into Pitt (and Penn State and Temple). Others are assigned to its state colleges. The state also focuses much of its finances on the student, in the form of aid they can use at any college, even private or out-of-state, rather than on the college, keeping in-state tuition low, as most states do.
West Virginia for complex historical reasons mis-placed WVU right on the Pennsylvania state line, far from the vast majority of the state's population. To keep the school full, it subsidizes it to a huge degree, such that out-of-state tuition is actually less than in-state tuition for most northeasterners, including Pennsylvanians. It also has, as do all colleges in the state, a virtural open admission system, anybody that has any business in college can attend.
So, faced with the "thin envelope" from Pitt, many western Pennsylvanians choose to forgo places like Slippery Rock for a lower total cost and a "big time school" experience at WVU. Such that 68% of on-campus students at WVU are from out of state, the majority from western Pennsylvania. The fandoms hate of Pitt is born of pure jealosy. The hate that can only be born of applying to a school and being turned down.
Pennsylvania has a "tiered" system of higher education. The best students get into Pitt (and Penn State and Temple). Others are assigned to its state colleges. The state also focuses much of its finances on the student, in the form of aid they can use at any college, even private or out-of-state, rather than on the college, keeping in-state tuition low, as most states do.
West Virginia for complex historical reasons mis-placed WVU right on the Pennsylvania state line, far from the vast majority of the state's population. To keep the school full, it subsidizes it to a huge degree, such that out-of-state tuition is actually less than in-state tuition for most northeasterners, including Pennsylvanians. It also has, as do all colleges in the state, a virtural open admission system, anybody that has any business in college can attend.
So, faced with the "thin envelope" from Pitt, many western Pennsylvanians choose to forgo places like Slippery Rock for a lower total cost and a "big time school" experience at WVU. Such that 68% of on-campus students at WVU are from out of state, the majority from western Pennsylvania. The fandoms hate of Pitt is born of pure jealosy. The hate that can only be born of applying to a school and being turned down.
