On the heels of the match-up of one of the great college basketball rivalries in the Tar Heels/Blue Devils, it is time to debate some of the great rivalries we have come to appreciate as sports fans. Also, since it is obvious that no one can sleep without a debate of the better gum to be chewing when playing baseball, this is also mentioned.
MLB
Red Sox/Yankees –
Well aware that the majority of the country is sick of seeing these two teams, it goes without saying that this is the greatest rivalry in recent major league history. After a more one-sided contest in the latter 90’s and very early part of this century in favor of the Yanks, the 2003 and 2004 ALCS contests solidified the legitimacy of this rivalry. The clean-shaven gentlemen vs. The Idiots. A physical altercation between a small Dominican man and a bench coach in his mid-seventies. Oh, and several of the longest playoff games in history, which would inevitably lead to arguably the best comeback in all of sports history.
Edge: Yankees fans love to tout the number 26, representing the number of Championships the Yankees organization has seen, but if we’re talking about recent years, the edge goes to the World Champion Boston Red Sox
NHL
The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs is the obvious historical choice. But as we are not talking abooot all-time, I figured I’d focus more on recent history.
New York Rangers vs Philadelphia Flyers –
Edge: Yankees fans love to tout the number 26, representing the number of Championships the Yankees organization has seen, but if we’re talking about recent years, the edge goes to the World Champion Boston Red Sox
NHL
The Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs is the obvious historical choice. But as we are not talking abooot all-time, I figured I’d focus more on recent history.
New York Rangers vs Philadelphia Flyers –
Messier. Leclair. Gretzky. Lindros. Leetch. Desjardins. The list of names goes on. This ranks up there with the best rivalries due to the physical nature of the match-ups in recent years. While this is not the age of the Broad Street Bullies Flyers teams, the hits have been aplenty in this decade’s games. Then there’s the Eric Lindros switch to consider!
As if I can vote against a team that had a guy named Beukeboom.
Edge: NY Rangers
NFL – It’s too soon.
NBA
Celtics/Lakers –
If we are talking about the 80’s, then this is a no-brainer. These two teams were in four NBA Finals match-ups together in this decade, although the Lakers won three of them. The Bird/Walton tandem in ‘86 baffled defenses across the board, and McHale was one underrated contributors amongst those that more-or-less stayed out of the spotlight due to his teammates, but was fine with it. It goes without saying what Magic did for the Lakers. This is easily one of the best rivalries in the history of the sport.
Bulls/Knicks –
(90’s) More recently however, we must consider the days of Ewing/Starks and Jordan/Pippen. The Knicks were the better team overall, but as we are beginning to see in Cleveland with LeBron, the Bulls had the type of player in MJ that seemed to take his team to another level, making this a legitimate rivalry during the 90’s.
Edge: (Between the two) – Celtics/Lakers
Aging sportscaster with great “annoy the crap out of you” potential -
John Madden vs Dick Vitale
Dickie V has his voice back, and the potentially cancerous lesions in his throat were found to be benign. While it is great to hear that he is healthy, many college basketball fans that loathe the loud and sometimes overbearing broadcaster known amongst other catch phrases for yelling “Dipsie doo, dunk-aroo” in between his insight about the game must prepare for the latter portion of the season in which they will probably hear plenty of Vitale.
I like to think that some sportscasters save their “over the top” personalities for the big screen but something prevents me from believing that all aspects of Vitale’s persona are only seen courtside. While Madden is done for the season, the Vitale appearances will only increase as we charge towards March Madness. A game without Madden in the booth? Eh, I can handle it. March Madness without Dickie V? I’m sorry Dickie V haters, but that’s just not right.
Although Vitale wouldn’t hold a candle to Madden in a Tinactin commercial, he gets the nod here.
Edge: Dick Vitale
Sugar high choice for candy that will be stuck in your teeth for hours
Sweedish Fish vs Sour Patch Kids -
Every once in a while one needs a bag of candy with three times more sugar than would be on the level that could be considered what people term “healthy.” While Sour Patch Kids were probably the more sought after bag in grade school, and remain the more colorful candy, there is something about Swedish Fish that makes it tough to eat less than a full bag, whereas Sour Patch Kids can occasionally become too sweet and/or sour. Note the word occasionally.
Edge: Swedish Fish
While we’re on a sugar kick….
Sugar-coated cereal
Golden Crisp vs. Cinnamon Toast Crunch -
Both equally delicious dry and soggy, this makes for a tough match. Golden Crisp has the greater potential for multiple bowls, but the One Bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch just has a higher Delicious Factor. Plus, you can see the cinnamon sugar on every bite! And – cinnamon sugar, at that? This case is closed.
Perhaps if the Golden Crisp bear talked about pic-a-nic baskets full of Golden Crisp and had a sidekick named Boo Boo, then I would need to re-evaluate my decision, but until that day:
Edge: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Gum to chew while playing little league baseball
Big League Chew vs. Bubble Tape -
Bubble tape was and is awesome. There is no denying that. There was a sheer feeling of bliss upon receiving a full roll of tape from Dad before the 7PM little league game began. The container would even fit perfectly in the back pocket of the baseball pants.
Yet the reaction of one’s taste buds to an oversize wad of Grape Big League chew eclipses is unlike anything that Bubble Tape could match. In addition, the sometimes sub-conscious knowledge that stuffing a wad of the stringy Chew into your mouth was akin to what the pros did with real tobacco added to the attractiveness of it. The Big League Chew bag is also easily rolled up in order to be placed into the back pocket of the baseball pant.
Edge: Big League Chew
Flavor length = Less than ten minutes = Even
Mooch factor from teammates on the bench = Even
Non-sports Sega Genesis game (since debating 93-94 NHL Hockey vs NBA Jam would lead to a dissertation….)
Sonic the Hedgehog vs. Street Fighter II -
Yes, Sonic had a sweet soundtrack and more levels, and amazingly fun bonus rounds. But the prize goes to Street Fighter. While working together towards a common goal with a fellow player teaches values such as teamwork and breeds friendship, nothing is better than physically abusing the other player’s character and squashing any misconception that your friend…err….opponent has any talent at the game he has sat down to challenge you at.
Edge: Street Fighter II
As if I can vote against a team that had a guy named Beukeboom.
Edge: NY Rangers
NFL – It’s too soon.
NBA
Celtics/Lakers –
If we are talking about the 80’s, then this is a no-brainer. These two teams were in four NBA Finals match-ups together in this decade, although the Lakers won three of them. The Bird/Walton tandem in ‘86 baffled defenses across the board, and McHale was one underrated contributors amongst those that more-or-less stayed out of the spotlight due to his teammates, but was fine with it. It goes without saying what Magic did for the Lakers. This is easily one of the best rivalries in the history of the sport.
Bulls/Knicks –
(90’s) More recently however, we must consider the days of Ewing/Starks and Jordan/Pippen. The Knicks were the better team overall, but as we are beginning to see in Cleveland with LeBron, the Bulls had the type of player in MJ that seemed to take his team to another level, making this a legitimate rivalry during the 90’s.
Edge: (Between the two) – Celtics/Lakers
Aging sportscaster with great “annoy the crap out of you” potential -
John Madden vs Dick Vitale
Dickie V has his voice back, and the potentially cancerous lesions in his throat were found to be benign. While it is great to hear that he is healthy, many college basketball fans that loathe the loud and sometimes overbearing broadcaster known amongst other catch phrases for yelling “Dipsie doo, dunk-aroo” in between his insight about the game must prepare for the latter portion of the season in which they will probably hear plenty of Vitale.
I like to think that some sportscasters save their “over the top” personalities for the big screen but something prevents me from believing that all aspects of Vitale’s persona are only seen courtside. While Madden is done for the season, the Vitale appearances will only increase as we charge towards March Madness. A game without Madden in the booth? Eh, I can handle it. March Madness without Dickie V? I’m sorry Dickie V haters, but that’s just not right.
Although Vitale wouldn’t hold a candle to Madden in a Tinactin commercial, he gets the nod here.
Edge: Dick Vitale
Sugar high choice for candy that will be stuck in your teeth for hours
Sweedish Fish vs Sour Patch Kids -
Every once in a while one needs a bag of candy with three times more sugar than would be on the level that could be considered what people term “healthy.” While Sour Patch Kids were probably the more sought after bag in grade school, and remain the more colorful candy, there is something about Swedish Fish that makes it tough to eat less than a full bag, whereas Sour Patch Kids can occasionally become too sweet and/or sour. Note the word occasionally.
Edge: Swedish Fish
While we’re on a sugar kick….
Sugar-coated cereal
Golden Crisp vs. Cinnamon Toast Crunch -
Both equally delicious dry and soggy, this makes for a tough match. Golden Crisp has the greater potential for multiple bowls, but the One Bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch just has a higher Delicious Factor. Plus, you can see the cinnamon sugar on every bite! And – cinnamon sugar, at that? This case is closed.
Perhaps if the Golden Crisp bear talked about pic-a-nic baskets full of Golden Crisp and had a sidekick named Boo Boo, then I would need to re-evaluate my decision, but until that day:
Edge: Cinnamon Toast Crunch
Gum to chew while playing little league baseball
Big League Chew vs. Bubble Tape -
Bubble tape was and is awesome. There is no denying that. There was a sheer feeling of bliss upon receiving a full roll of tape from Dad before the 7PM little league game began. The container would even fit perfectly in the back pocket of the baseball pants.
Yet the reaction of one’s taste buds to an oversize wad of Grape Big League chew eclipses is unlike anything that Bubble Tape could match. In addition, the sometimes sub-conscious knowledge that stuffing a wad of the stringy Chew into your mouth was akin to what the pros did with real tobacco added to the attractiveness of it. The Big League Chew bag is also easily rolled up in order to be placed into the back pocket of the baseball pant.
Edge: Big League Chew
Flavor length = Less than ten minutes = Even
Mooch factor from teammates on the bench = Even
Non-sports Sega Genesis game (since debating 93-94 NHL Hockey vs NBA Jam would lead to a dissertation….)
Sonic the Hedgehog vs. Street Fighter II -
Yes, Sonic had a sweet soundtrack and more levels, and amazingly fun bonus rounds. But the prize goes to Street Fighter. While working together towards a common goal with a fellow player teaches values such as teamwork and breeds friendship, nothing is better than physically abusing the other player’s character and squashing any misconception that your friend…err….opponent has any talent at the game he has sat down to challenge you at.
Edge: Street Fighter II
3 comments:
Sir,
You write that it is too soon to tell what rivalry there is in the NFL. May I draw your attention to your comments regarding the NHL, in which you state, "as we are not talking abooot all-time, I figured I’d focus more on recent history."
May I suggest that in the NFL the Colts-Pats are not only the most obvious choice, but are inarguably the best choice? In many seasons, the excitement of a Pats-Colts playoff game has surpassed that of the Super Bowl.
I submit this rivalry started in the 1999 season. You may find more information at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colts-Patriots_rivalry
Respectfully yours,
J. Danny Righteous, Boston
If you want to talk about a soundtrack, then the correct choice is easily Toejam & Earl. And for game play, you can't forget about Streets of Rage 2! Oh no, it's time to fight that boss named Wayne!
Dear J,
Let me say that I am sorry to have misled people failing to put forth a suggestion for a legitimate rivalry in the NFL.
By saying "it's too soon," I was not implying that it was too soon to determine the best rivalry. Rather, given the events of the Sunday prior to the posting, I was simply saying it was too soon to even get myself into the mindset where I could think about football.
Now that time has past and has served to somewhat ease the pain, I will wholeheartedly agree with you that Patriots/Colts takes the cake as the most entertaining match-up to see. Thank you for your comment, Mr. Righteous.
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