On Sunday the New York Daily News ran a special feature story that caught my eye when I walked into my house. It was titled “The Last Great Rivalry in Sports” and included a nice pull-out section with stories about the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry. Now I fully realize that everybody is in a rush these days to make Grand Statements about things and to be the first to proclaim something as the “First Great” thing or the “Last Great” thing, but come on Daily News, let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. We all want to grab headlines and sound like we know what we’re talking about, but to call the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, “The Last Great Rivalry in Sports” sounds a little premature to me.
Coming from a New York paper, this doesn’t surprise me too much. Being a New York sports fan, I’m very aware that we are an egocentric sports city. We are quick to proclaim ourselves as the biggest and the best and the most elite, and quick to dismiss those smaller than us. After all, this is a city that is home to the Yankees and Giants and Knicks and such landmarks like Yankee Stadium and Madison Square Garden filled with enough heroes of the past, present and future to devote an entire hall of fame to; so yeah, maybe we tend to get a little pompous at times.
In that case, let’s go ahead and call the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry the Last Great Rivalry in Sports and completely disregard all of the other great rivalries that still exist. I’m not a movie critic or anything, far from it actually, but I feel like this would be the equivalent of someone calling Citizen Kane the “Last Great Movie in American Cinema”. Many people consider it to be the greatest movie ever, but it doesn’t mean other great movies haven’t been made since then. Yes, I would consider the Yankees and Red Sox to be the greatest rivalry in sports right now, hands down. I’m not a fan of either team and the 2004 ALCS was still one of the most memorable playoff series I’ve ever watched. Watching that epic choke series is what made me fall in love with baseball again, as romantic as that sounds. So I would easily consider the Yankees and Red Sox to be the best rivalry in sports, and in that respect I wholeheartedly agree with the Daily News. I mean they are consistently two of the best teams in baseball year in and year out and whenever they meet in the playoffs it is always interesting. Their fans hate each other and they’re always running neck and neck in the American League. What’s not to love?
While all that is certainly true though, I would not call them the Last Great Rivalry. To say that implies that there are no great rivalries left anymore. Only the Yankees and the Red Sox. That’s just not true. First of all, we all love our baseball here in New York, but it’s not the only sport that exists. This might be hard to illustrate, thanks to the Knicks and the fact that most New Yorkers have erased the memory of pro basketball from their minds like Jim Carrey erased Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, but it does still exist. Take the Celtics-Lakers rivalry. As far as sports goes, this rivalry defined the 1980′s. This rivalry was the NBA’s equivalent of bad haircuts and Depeche Mode in the ’80′s. Bird vs. Magic. The Boston Garden. The ’86 Finals. All great, all memorable. So then why am I bringing this up if it happened 20 years ago? Because it’s still relevant. The Celtics are finally great again, and the Lakers are back on top. Both teams relived their glory days in the 2008 Finals. The Celtics won in 5 games. This year, the Lakers won the title. Instead of Bird vs. Magic, it’s Kobe vs. KG. Not the same by any means, but still intense. Still competitive. Still memorable. Celtics fans still hate the Lakers, and guess what? Lakers fans still hate the Celtics. So tell me that’s not a rivalry. The NFL isn’t a hot-bed for rivalries anymore these days, but a few still exist, mainly in the oldest divisions like the NFC East, NFC North, and AFC West. Giants-Cowboys? Rivalry. Giants-Eagles? Rivalry. Packers-Bears? Classic rivalry. Raiders-Chiefs, Raiders-Chargers, Raiders-Broncos? Rivalries.
These rivalries might not be as continuously compelling as the Yankees-Red Sox, the teams may not always be good, but that doesn’t mean the hatred for the other team just disappears. It’s still there, it still exists. Just because they don’t meet in the playoffs every year like the Yankees and Sox doesn’t mean we can just forget about these rivalries, because the truth is every time those teams above play each other, you’re drawn to it because you just know there’s a possibility of something interesting happening. There’s drama, there’s hatred and there’s intrigue, kind of like every episode of The Real World.
Don’t even get me started on college football. For God’s sake, a majority of the sport’s draw is based on its classic rivalries. Even NCAA Football 2010 has a special feature that lets you know which games are Rivalry Games. You’re telling me that on a Thursday night in October you’re going to watch Grey’s Anatomy over Texas-Oklahoma? College rivalries are the best of all when you think about it. Entire families are divided when it comes down to which school to pledge allegiance to. It’s because in college sports you have people directly connected to the rivalry. People who attended the school, people who work at the school. In pro sports you don’t have that same personal allegiance. Do me a favor and drive through Clemson University the day before a game against South Carolina. Or better yet, walk around campus with a Gamecocks shirt on. Then you tell me that the Yankees-Red Sox is the last great rivalry. Flip through the channels on a Saturday afternoon and stumble across a Michigan-Ohio State game or Florida-Florida State and tell me that there’s no more great rivalries left.
And now since I spent a thousand words venting about rivalries, I’ll give you a Cliff’s Notes version of this week’s NFL picks. I will sum up each pick in 140 characters or less. Think of it as the NFL Picks, Twitter Style.
Home teams in ALL CAPS
Tennessee (+2.5) over NY JETS
Jets: Desperados :: Titans: Desperate
HOUSTON (-4) over Jacksonville
Jags fans officially start the Tim Tebow Countdown.
Kansas City (+8.5) over PHILADELPHIA
Eagles – Donovan McNabb + Michael Vick – 8.5 point spread = 0
BALTIMORE (-13.5) over Cleveland
Browns fans starting to wonder if that commercial where LeBron plays football could really happen.
NY Giants (-6.5) over TAMPA BAY
Tampa fans seem to think this team is the worst ever. Do they not remember the Yuckaneers from 1985-86?
DETROIT (+6.5) over Washington
Upset Special of the Week: Matthew Stafford’s coming-out party.
Green Bay (-6.5) over ST. LOUIS
Field day for Pack D: Rams have scored 7 points in first two games.
San Francisco (+7) over MINNESOTA
Singletary and the Niners go to 3-0; Bay Area begins to vaguely remember what it was like to cheer for a good football team.
NEW ENGLAND (-4.5) over Atlanta
Think of it like this: If the Pats don’t come with everything but the kitchen sink in this one, then everyone will know that the Big Bad Dynasty is dead.
Chicago (-2.5) over SEATTLE
Jay Cutler reminds me of the 2005 version of Tim Hasselbeck.
New Orleans (-6) over BUFFALO
Are the Saints the best team in the NFC? Not a hard feat against the Lions and Kevin Kolb’s Eagles so far.
SAN DIEGO (-6) over Miami
Maybe the Dolphins could control the ball for 45 minutes again and not win the game.
Pittsburgh (-3.5) over CINCINNATI
Steelers should try not to leave this game in the hands (or feet) of Jeff Reed. More hot and cold than Katy Perry this season.
Denver (-1.5) over OAKLAND
First real test for Broncos after 2 games against Browns and Bengals. Oops, did I just call the Raiders a “real test”?
Indianapolis (+2,5) over ARIZONA
Don’t bet against Peyton Manning on the road in a primetime game unless he’s playing the Chargers. Or something along those lines. Isn’t that the rule?
DALLAS (-8.5) over Carolina
This game has Texas Chainsaw Massacre written all over it.
Last Week: 11-5
Season Total: 21-11
