sports rivalry

A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans. The intensity of the rivalry varies from a friendly competition on one end to serious violence on the other that, in one case (the Football War), was suggested to have led to military conflict. Team owners typically encourage rivialries as they tend to improve game attendance and television ratings for rivalry matches, but a rivalry that gets out of control can lead to fighting, hooliganism, and rioting.

Many factors can lead to a rivalry developing. Simple geographic proximity as well as frequent meetings in important games can lead to rivalries. Social and political tensions can also be played out by proxy in a sports rivalry, such as when Glasgow's sectarian differences are expressed in the Celtic-Rangers derby (known as the old firm derby), or when the Spanish-Catalan political conflict spills over to a Real Madrid-FC Barcelona football match (also known as El Clasico). Rivalries of the friendlier sort are common between college athletic programs in the United States and often involve pranks that rival student bodies play on each other such as by stealing the other school's mascot or painting school colors somewhere on the opposing school's campus.

In some leagues rivalries are officially regarded as important games and the winner gets an unusual prize (i.e. grill, trophy, high-definition television, El Capitan, etc.)

Famous sports rivalries

Original

Oxford University vs. Cambridge University (The Oxbridge Rivalry)

Since before 1820

Harvard University vs. McGill University

Since about 1890

Rangers F.C. vs. Celtic F.C. (The Old Firm)

Baseball

Major League Baseball

New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox
New York Mets vs. New York Yankees
San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals

See List of Major League Baseball rivalries

Rest of the world

Yomiuri Giants vs. Hanshin Tigers - National Japanese derby
Leones del Caracas vs. Navegantes del Magallanes - Venezuelan Classic Rivals
Tigres del Licey vs. Águilas Cibaeñas - Dominican Rivalry

National Football League

See Rivalries in the National Football League

Basketball

National Basketball Association

See Rivalries of the NBA

Rest of the World

Fortitudo vs. Virtus — The "Bologna Derby"
Efes Pilsen vs. Fenerbahçe Ülker — The most prominent of many "Istanbul Derbies"
Real Madrid vs. Barcelona — Basketball version of the greatest football (soccer) rivalry in Spain
Crispa vs. Toyota - This rivalry in the Philippine Basketball Association even led to the players being sent to jail after a brawl
Mohan Bagan vs East Bengal
Panathinaikos vs Olympiakos - The Athens Derby
Aris vs PAOK - The Thessaloniki Derby

International

USSR vs USA defunct
China vs Korea

Tennis

Rafael Nadal vs. Roger Federer
Andre Agassi vs. Pete Sampras Some promoters want the two on different brackets for the best possible match, while others want them in the same bracket, to ensure a match in a Champions Series (30-up, Grand Slam finalists or Davis Cup team members) tournament.
John McEnroe vs. Bjorn Borg defunct
Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert defunct

Ice hockey

National Hockey League

See National Hockey League rivalries.

European leagues

See also: List of ice hockey leagues and City rivalry in Finland

International

Canada vs. Soviet Union - Most famous international ice hockey rivalry, defunct
Canada vs. Russia
Canada vs. USA, men
Canada vs. USA, women
Canada vs. Czech Republic
Finland vs. Sweden
Czech Republic vs. Slovakia
USA vs. Soviet Union - defunct
USA vs. Russia
Czech Republic vs. Russia

College athletics

See College rivalry.

University of Michigan vs. Ohio State University- Ranked by ESPN in 2000 as the greatest rivalry in North America during the 20th Century ^[1]
University of Texas vs. University of Oklahoma
Minnesota Golden Gophers vs. Wisconsin Badgers
University of North Carolina vs. Duke University
Army vs. Navy
Third Saturday in October

Arena football

Orlando Predators vs. Tampa Bay Storm, the War On I-4
San Jose Sabercats vs. Arizona Rattlers
Dallas Desperados vs. Austin Wranglers,
New York Dragons vs. Philadelphia Soul

Canadian football

Toronto Argonauts vs. Hamilton Tiger-Cats - Labour Day Classic & QEW Showdown
Calgary Stampeders vs. Edmonton Eskimos - Labour Day Classic & Battle of Alberta
Saskatchewan Roughriders vs. Winnipeg Blue Bombers - Labour Day Classic & Banjo Bowl
Montreal Alouettes vs. Toronto Argonauts
Montreal Alouettes vs. Ottawa Rough Riders (Defunct)
Toronto Argonauts vs. Ottawa Rough Riders (Defunct)
Calgary Stampeders vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders - Battle of the Prairies
British Columbia Lions vs. Montreal Alouettes

Association football (soccer)

See List of Association Football (soccer) Rivalries.

Curling

Club rivalries

Ottawa Curling Club vs. Rideau Curling Club

Team rivalries

Randy Ferbey vs. Kevin Martin - Both these curlers have been considered the best in the world, and are from the same city (Edmonton)

Cricket

England vs. Australia - The Ashes series
India vs. Pakistan - Considered the most intense rivalry in sports, people even call it the "battle on the pitch". Most likely, riots start all around the world when the match is over.
Australia vs. New Zealand - The Chappell-Hadlee Trophy One-day International series
Canada vs. United States of America - Associate Members Rivalry, USA v Canada at cricket is believed to be the oldest international sporting fixture [1]
Australia vs. South Africa