Rivalry – a competition for the same objective or for superiority in the same field.
Without rivalries in sports, they are nothing but games. Rivalries are what fans live for. For the past 10 years, you’ve had the Tom Brady and Peyton Manning national rivalry. In the NBA, you have the old school Boston Celtics vs. Los Angeles Lakers, or the new school Kobe vs. LeBron. It’s what we all look forward to.
In Pittsburgh, we are lucky enough to have had two of the better rivalries over the past decade or so n0w with the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as well as the Philadelphia Flyers and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Ravens and Steelers is a hard-hitting, bloodbath rivalry, which the teams trade wins back and forth. The same can be said about the Flyers and the Penguins. I’ll never forget watching the two teams battle right before they met in the playoffs as the two coaches were going at it, and players were getting ejected left and right. Personally, I prefer to watch hockey instead of non-stop fighting, but that’s what you get in a heated rivalry.
But it’s not just the hatred that spews from the fans and the players that makes a rivalry. No, not at all. By the definition of the word, the team battle for superiority on the same field. Did you watch last week’s Pens-Flyers game? The 7-1 Penguins dominated the 1-7 Flyers. It’s great for the record, but man, can the Flyers at least be good again for the rivalries sake? To me, I’d prefer to watch the two teams go back and forth with the results. It makes looking forward to the next game even better.
As an objective writer, the Flyers suck. And no, not like how Philadelphians will chant “Crosby sucks” or anything like that. Their team literally is not any good. It’s one of the best rivalries in hockey, and if it is to stay that way, the Flyers need to step their game up.
Are you looking forward to the next match up between the two as much as you were a year or two ago? Take yesterday’s Steelers and Ravens game. It was yet another close match up decided by three points, but it was only close because both teams are average at best. Remember when it was “Ravens Week” in Pittsburgh? The excitement and hate was floating around in anticipation for kick off. This week didn’t have the same feeling at all. What is usually the hardest ticket to get a hold of all season, was suddenly available everywhere I looked. I’m still unsure if my Uncle was able to get rid of his on Facebook or EBay.
You need two good teams to make it a rivalry. For our viewing pleasure, Flyers, step it up.
