As any sports fan or participant would attest, the only thing worse than losing is losing to your most hated enemy, your archrival. Just ask any Red Sox fan.
Part of what made the American League Championship Series between Boston and New York so entertaining was the fact that Red Sox fans despise no team more than their century-long nemesis from the Big Apple, and that Yankee fans could imagine no worse fate than witnessing first-hand a Red Sox trip to the World Series.
The embedded enmity that exists in this rivalry was displayed during their recent series, as fights both on the field and in the bullpen erupted like a volcano with emotional lava raising to the surface. The mutual, deep-seeded loathing apparent between fans of New York and Boston help make the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry the most bitter in all of baseball and probably in all of sports.
Unlike most other rivalries, this one consumes entire cities -- and large ones at that. As one Boston writer proclaimed days after the loss, the entire city of Boston continued to be in a state of sorrow and disbelief. With a century-long history filled with memorable moments, including historic trades and bench-clearing brawls, this rivalry has it all. It even has a ghost to top it all off.
If Yankees-Red Sox is the best baseball has to offer, what about some of the other sports?
As for the NBA, it depends if you are talking about traditional or current rivalries. In the 1980s, nothing compared to the Lakers and Celtics. With Bird and Magic at center stage, this rivalry produced half of the decade's NBA Champions; however, the most contentious rivalry now seems to reside solely in California, and it's not between Davis and Arnold. With Shaq calling the Kings "queens" and with Rick Fox trading barbs and punches with Doug Christie over their respective wives, the battle between NoCal's Kings and SoCal's Lakers is the best.
At the college level, it goes without saying that the strongest rivalry can be found on Tobacco Road with UNC and Duke. Speaking of which, I think the Duke students are already camping out for their home match against the High Heels.
When it comes to the gridiron, there are plenty to choose from: Steelers-Browns, Packers-Vikings, Giants-Jets. Although Eagles fans versus Santa Claus is a close second, I think I can get some agreement around grounds that the best is Redskins-Cowboys. In true American fashion, there is nothing quite like a battle between Cowboys and Indians.
Another rivalry even closer to 'Hooville is the college football clashes involving Virginia-Virginia Tech. College football is synonymous with rivalries -- nearly everybody has one, and our own battle between culture and agriculture is no exception.
The number of heated college football rivalries are more than one can even count. For every Florida-Florida State, there's a Georgia-Georgia Tech. For every Apple Cup, there is a Battle for the Little Brown Jug. Depending on where you are from and where your loyalties lie, the biggest rivalry is USC-UCLA, Oklahoma-Texas, Michigan-Ohio State, Army-Navy, or Auburn-Alabama (just to name a few).
It is these rivalries that consume fans 365 days a year that help make sports so enjoyable yet so emotional.
Read More
You cannot say money is the problem for Virginia football
By Peter Kriebel | 39 minutes agoMoney, after all, is just one aspect of a winning program.
West Coast woes strike again as men’s basketball gets hammered by Stanford
By Emory Huffman | 12 hours agoVirginia, once again in a lost season, looked aimless on the floor.
ISTVAN: Tony Bennett left Virginia in a hole
By Ben Istvan | 20 hours agoHis decision to retire doomed this men's basketball season.
