The Greatest Rivalry in Sports

[Big D]

Rugby Union Super 12:
Canterbury Crusaders versus Otago Highlanders; Canterbury Crusaders versus Auckland Blues.

The Crusaders almost always win everything, so it's usually 'envy' rather than 'rivalry'.

Cricket:
Australia versus New Zealand.
The Kiwis are still bitter about that infamous under-arm bowl back in the '70s. Every three or four years we actually win a game against the Aussies, and all the TV sports shows talk about how we're "taking revenge for the greatest act of unsporting behaviour". :rolleyes2

India versus Australia. Two of the best teams in the world; the competition's always fierce when they're going at it.

Formula 1:
Minardi versus everyone else. They just keep trying.

[-N-]

Big D, I was just about to post about cricket! *scorn*

One you didn't mention was India - Pakistan. I think it's pretty obvious why - there've only been a couple of wars and a nuclear arms race between them. The 70s and the 90s were the worst.

[krissy]

I don't think BBall really has a rivalry of anysort.

ball vs. the basket
yeah baby

[Del Murder]

Come on Dingo. You know the rivalry doesn't have much to do with how many titles and championships a team wins.

I agree with that. I'd say Sox/Yanks is the most emotional rivalry of them all. Giants-Dodgers is good too.

Football: Broncos-Raiders, Packers-Bears, Cowboys-Redskins

There are plenty of good NFL rivalries due to the emphasis on divisional games.

In basketball there aren't as many. Right now Pacers-Pistons is probably the best one, but for the last few years you couldn't beat Kings-Lakers. Of course all time is Celtics-Lakers, and I doubt the NBA will have something like that again under its current format.

[Kirobaito]

The Cowboys-Redskins rivalry is horrendous nowadays, especially with the way the 'boys have dominated the Skins over the recent years. However, back in the late 70s and early 80s, it was doubtful you could find a better show in football than to see those two teams play each other.

[Dingo Jellybean]

Come on Dingo. You know the rivalry doesn't have much to do with how many titles and championships a team wins.

I don't think BBall really has a rivalry of anysort.

It's not that the Red Sox don't have 26 titles. It's that the Yankees prior to this year have beaten them out of the post-season or have won the division from the Red Sox so many times. I mean I think it's been 7 straight years the Red Sox have finished 2nd to the Yankees.

If there were more ALCS like the past 2 years, okay...it would be. But history has shown, prior to this past baseball year, that the Sox have wilted against the Yankees in the post-season. When the stakes are high, the RS haven't gotten it done prior to last season. That's why I don't think the Yankees and Red Sox are really a rivalry.

As for basketball, the only REAL rivalry in any league is probably Duke-UNC. Maybe not recently, because Duke is still 17-4 in the last 21 meetings.

The Lakers vs. Celtics wasn't that great of a rivalry, but since they've accomplished more than any other teams in the league and since they've gone head to head more often in the finals than any other 2 teams, they are the NBA's defining rivalry, even though it's a bit lop-sided in the Celtics favor.

The Cowboys-Redskins rivalry is horrendous nowadays, especially with the way the 'boys have dominated the Skins over the recent years. However, back in the late 70s and early 80s, it was doubtful you could find a better show in football than to see those two teams play each other.

I've had some customers that are Cowboy fans that don't like the rivalry right now. For each Cowboy win, the rivalry loses its luster. The Cowboys have won like, 13 out of 14...which is why it's like, 55-36 all time record or something in the Cowboys favor. I refuse to acknowledge the games as a rivalry game now.

[Jewels]

Australia vs New Zealand in any sport, basically.

[Masamune·1600]

The Harlem Globetrotters vs. the Washington Generals/New York Nationals. I can never guess who's going to win.

[Loony BoB]

Australia vs. New Zealand - Any sport. No, really. Any sport.
England vs. Australia - Cricket.
India vs. Pakistan - Cricket.
England vs. Germany - Soccer/Football.
Auckland vs. Canterbury - Rugby.
Ferrari vs. Everyone Else - F1GP.
[q=The Captain]At the current rate our politics is going, it's only a matter of time before our sports are dominated by:

USA versus World. Never have I seen on such a large scale the NEED, it's not even a desire, it's become a NEED for one country to just win everything.[/q]
Only problem is that the only people who would watch such a game would be Americans, since they're the only people who play their sports. Let's face it - America doesn't play many of what I call 'global sports' - ie, sports where international games are more important than national games. If it was a more global sport, though, you could have any of these:
Brazil vs. The World (Football).
South America vs. Europe (Football - this would be awesome).
Australia vs. The World (Cricket - this has happened).
Northern Hemisphere vs. Southern Hemisphere (Rugby - this has happened).

...can't think of many other large team sports right now that are all that big on the international scene. There are probably loads though that I don't know much about because they're never televised.

EDIT: Although one good rivalry involving the US is in golf, with the Ryder Cup being played between Europe and America.

[Venom65437]

I don't know which is the best rivalry, I think a lot of that depends on who your favorite team is, but it is definitely NOT Sox-Yanks.

Yes the Sox FINALLY beat the Yankees last year. But that's just one time, in the grand scheme of things the Sox are the Yanks total bitch, and winning once doesn't make it a rivalry. If it wasn't for ESPN no one would really care, I know I don't.

[Old Manus]

Oxford and Cambridge boat race.

Arsenal vs Man. United
Man. City vs Man. United
England vs Wales

And that's all the ones that I consider to be exciting.

[Nod]

In my opinion the best rivalries are territorially based. For example in England:
Manchester Utd vs Manchester City
Liverpool vs Everton
Arsenal vs Tottenham. all in Football.
Other rivalries i think are England vs Scotland/Wales/Northern Ireland/Republic of Ireland............in any sport.

[The Captain]

"Only problem is that the only people who would watch such a game would be Americans, since they're the only people who play their sports. Let's face it - America doesn't play many of what I call 'global sports' - ie, sports where international games are more important than national games. If it was a more global sport, though, you could have any of these"

That's very true, though if the recent Olympics were any indication, global sports may be on a rise round these parts, especially if NYC gets the 2012 games which I hope we don't.

In a nutshell though, when you think about it, the very reason we take such pride in our sports is because we have the us versus world mentality. Why else do we consider our sports championships the "World Championships" in sports played within the country?

Take care all.

[Heath]

I'm not suprised Everton-Liverpool got mentioned, always a good match to watch, even if Everton lost the last one. England-Germany is always good, too.

I like BoB's idea of

South America vs. Europe (Football - this would be awesome).

It would certainly be interesting.

[Nod]

oh and we can never forget Derby County vs. Nottingham Forest. Dangerous rivalry there!!!!!