rivalry schmilvary

flipping channels, i've come across duke at unc. great rivalry. 2 schools, geographically close, great history, blah blah blah. i'm so tired of hearing how unc/duke is the biggest rivalry in sports. how can 2 colleges, who are both known nationally for one sport (yes each is good at other sports, but those aren't on espn every week), and play each other 2, maybe 3 times a year, be the biggest rivalry??? i'm sorry, it's not the biggest rivalry. it's not. and neither is the cubs/cardinals rivalry. sure, stupid people from st louis come up and drink at sluggers and cubby bear. sure, cub fans travel to st louis for a weekend series. but guess what, it's not a rivalry when one team wins EVERY year. my cubs friends are going to hate me, but until the cubs consistently beat the cardinals (not once every decade), or at least show they can compete, it's never going to be the greatest rivalry.

granted i'm a little biased, but anyone who knows sports and ever visited the northeast should know the yankees/red sox is the greatest rivalry. period. this almost fails the test associated with the cubs/cardinals (ie: the yankees always win - 26-6 world series championships), but have you ever heard wrigley erupt in a 'st louis sucks' chant while the cubs are playing the pirates? or dukies start one of their notoriously creative chants directed at unc while virginia is playing duke? no and no. it just doesn't happen. i can't tell you, however, how many times the vaunted (and oh so creative) 'yankees suck' chant has rained down on fenway while the yankees are in another time zone. and fenway is probably the only stadium i've ever visited where i thought twice about wearing my jeter shirt. when i went to my first yankee/white sox games, my law school friends advised me against wearing yankee paraphenalia to comisky because the fans can get a little rough. i suppose if you consider a drunk 65 year old taunting us with his arms twisted as K's. yeah, not so much. as further support, i present you this tale:
friends were visiting from out of town, and we decided to go to a local bar for dinner and drinks. as we're waiting for a table, i'm talking to my friend and i have on my yankees hat. i see some random girl approaching me and i think she's just drunk and stumbling toward me. to my surprise, she's completely sober and walks up to me and says 'hey, i just want you to know the yankees suck!' this is in a bar, in chicago. this was before the red sox won in '04, so i suppose she was an expert in sucking since her team had sucked her entire life, but c'mon, tone it down - i was just waiting for a table.
so thank you red sox nation, for it is, in large part, your insanity, that helps keep the yankees/red sox rivalry the greatest current rivalry in all of sports. and as much as i despise the red sox, i respect them and thoroughly enjoy all 18 or 19 regular season games and the inevitable clash in the alcs.

i have to go to bed now. i'm sick.

MO