Best Rivalry In Sports

[Greenlawler]

Last night I heard an ESPN commentator say the Ohio State vs Michigan rivalry was the premiere rivalry in sports. I would beg to differ.

So In your opinion what are the best rivalries?

College:
Auburn vs Alabama:
No offense to anyone but the passion of Auburn vs Alabama cannot be touched. If you live in the south you know this is true. I have zero rooting intrest in either team but I can see the obvious.

Pro:
Red Sox vs Yankees:
As much as I love the NFL and probably would have siad Bears vs Packers years ago, the Yankees Sox war has overtaken any NFL rivalry IMO.

[sportsguy2315]

Greenlawler, I do agree with Alabama/Auburn. A good friend of mine is an Auburn grad. She doesn't care much for football, and she also doesn't care much for Bama . Where I don't agree is this Yankees/Red Sox "rivalry" ESPN and Fox shove down the country's throats every year. The only reason why it's halfway relevant in my 20 year lifetime was the 04 ALCS and that was courtesy of a Yankee choke. The TRUE pro rivalry does involve a Boston team, the Bruins. Bruins/Canadiens is the only sports rivalry where a fight is guaranteed to break out every time these two teams play and it's great hockey as well.

[Melanie]

I'd offer up Duke-Carolina in basketball.

[WDWfanatic742]

Just as a preface, I am a SEC and southern fanboy all the way...

While one team hasn't been up there the last few years, Florida State-Florida is always a huge game. Auburn-Alabama and Florida-Georgia would also be up there too. Mississippi State-Ole Miss, Auburn-Georgia as well in no particular order...

[SBETigg]

Where I don't agree is this Yankees/Red Sox "rivalry" ESPN and Fox shove down the country's throats every year.

Are you kidding me? The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is brutal and not a media invention. Try walking around NYC in a Red Sox hat. Or visiting Boston in Yankees gear. It's not unusual to have things thrown at you, names called, or worse. There have been murders, yes, over the rivalry. Ridiculous and sad but true. The Red Sox and Yankees fans will name their team as their favorite and "Anyone who isn't" the opposite team as their next favorite. Bruins/Canadiens? Please-- that's just the nature of hockey. It's not a big rivalry.

That said, rivalries seem more significant depending on where you live. I've lived in MI, and yes, I would agree that it's one of the biggest rivalries in sports. And before I lived in MI, I heard of it. I was not aware of the Auburn/Alabama rivalry at all. So, one of the biggest? Not sure. To be a big rivalry, to me, it has to have a long-standing history that affects fans not just when the teams are currently playing, but through the years until it reaches legendary proportions widely known and reported outside just the region where the teams are popular. And I think college rivalries are generally more significant than pro sports rivalries (even though I had to attest to the very real bad feelings that often come between Yanks and Sox fans).

[ibrowse17]

Have to go with the Iron Bowl, Alabama vs. Auburn.

[Melanie]

That said, rivalries seem more significant depending on where you live.

I totally agree with this!

[Ruprect]

I also think it changes based on the competitiveness of the games. Being from Cleveland the OSU v UM games and the Browns v Steelers games used to be huge events but with both rivalries being so one sided lately I couldn't even get motivated to send my friend who is a UM fan the "We Don't Give a <Snip> About the Whole State of Michigan" song disguised as something else like I usually do. Also being a Browns fan has been completely depressing since '95.

[wdwfansince75]

Maybe its a result of watching Bellino and then Staubach dominate Army for the four years I watched the game, along with 4000 fellow midshipmen, from the stands of Veterans Stadium, but the Army-Navy game still stands as a highlight of each season. Unlike most rivalries, it is a true national rivalry...actually, it is an internationally followed rivalry...I recall rising way before dawn to listen to the 1967 game, via the Military Auxiliary Radio System relay, while in Southeast Asia...and Navy won!
GO NAVY, BEAT ARMY!

[indytraveler]

rivalries all depend on where you live. Yes up here in Big 10 country Michigan/Ohio St football is pretty big. Years ago it used to be who won went to the Rose Bowl. Not so much anymore. While I agree Alabama/Auburn is a rivalry. The true college football rivalry is Army/Navy. No national championships getting in the way. This one has huge bragging rights that go all the way up to the White House.

The proximity between the 2 teams also festers good and not so good feelings between each teams fans. Example Duke/Carolina has less than 10 miles between the 2 campuses so this is a really heated rivalry.

Good Thread for debate

[Pagan]

Are you kidding me? The Red Sox-Yankees rivalry is brutal and not a media invention. Try walking around NYC in a Red Sox hat. Or visiting Boston in Yankees gear. It's not unusual to have things thrown at you, names called, or worse. There have been murders, yes, over the rivalry. Ridiculous and sad but true. The Red Sox and Yankees fans will name their team as their favorite and "Anyone who isn't" the opposite team as their next favorite.

Agreed. I went on a whale watch at Cape Cod once wearing a Yankee hat and thought I was going to get keelhauled!

You go to Boston, and their obsession with hating everything Yankees is almost as passionate as their love for the Sawks.

Go to Yankee Stadium before a game against the Red Sox and there are as many vendors outside the stadium selling anti-Sox merchandise as there are selling Yankee stuff.

It's BRUTAL.

[BigRedDad]

Army-Navy
FSU-Florida
Georgia-Florida
Alabama-Auburn
OSU-Michigan

There are 100s of "rivalries". It depends on what sport, what location.

[Scar]

Since the question is "best" and not "most popular" the answer is...

Easton / Phillipsburg

I believe it is still the only High School football game shown live on national TV.

[Hammer]

"Best" is so subjective. Also, as others have stated, it depends on your location for most rivalries. The exception is Army vs. Navy. I also like Army vs. Navy because while it is heated, there isn't any real nastiness behind it as seems to run through some of the regional rivalries.

Let me use Florida vs. Florida State as an example. All of my cousins went to either Florida or Florida State (my sister and I (and our mother) are the exception for the women in the family who are college educated) and some of them hold it against the other side and think less of them due to where they went to school, which to me is absolutely ridiculous .

Of course, a favorite slogan of mine is "I root for 2 teams, Boston College and anyone playing Notre Dame". For those who do not know, BC and Notre Dame are the only Catholic colleges/universities which have Div. 1-A football programs.