Better rivalry now L.A.-S.F. or Bos-NYY ?

[Bo Sox Fan]

I really don't believe there is another rivalry in sports that touches the Yankees and Red Sox. The closest thing would be the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs of hockey.

'America' get's giddy when the Cowboys/Eagles or Dodgers/Giants take the field, or Celtics/Knicks take the floor, but...

'The World' takes notice when the New York Yankees take on the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park or Yankees Stadium. No one touches this rivalry in any sport, it is GOLD.

[spliff(TONE)]

The world takes notice for your overhyped little matchups? Ha.

[keymax]

IMO there can't be a great rivalry if your playing the other team 18 times a year. It gets watered down.

Boston / NYY isn't what it used to be. The Bucky Dent game, the 2003/04 ALCS was great but other than that? Just two teams that take too long to play 9 innings of baseball.


Oh and if you're arguing that the world takes notice and best rivalry of all sports. Barcelona/Real Madrid is the biggest rivalry in sports and it isn't close compared to Boston/New York.

[SFrush90]

The world? Ya right.

[Dodgerbluemmm24]

'The World' takes notice when the New York Yankees take on the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park or Yankees Stadium. No one touches this rivalry in any sport, it is GOLD.

I don't think any American rivalry, in any sport, can touch what soccer (also cricket in say India) means to other countries. You don't have cities against each other, you have entire countries picking a side.

Country vs country rivalries like Spain vs Italy, Germany vs England/Netherlands, France vs England ect blow ANYTHING the US has to offer out of the water, and that's not getting into the EPL/ euro leagues either.

[SFrush90]

I don't think any American rivalry, in any sport, can touch what soccer (also cricket in say India) means to other countries. You don't have cities against each other, you have entire countries picking a side.

Country vs country rivalries like Spain vs Italy, Germany vs England/Netherlands, France vs England ect blow ANYTHING the US has to offer out of the water, and that's not getting into the EPL/ euro leagues either.

I was thinking the same thing.

[Bo Sox Fan]

I don't watch soccer at all sorry. You'd think with a tiny ball and massive goal nets they'd find a way to score more than 3 times combined between 2 teams in an entire match. Instead I'd rather watch paint dry and wait for a drip to trickle down and touch the carpet. It's liable to happen more times than a goal in soccer and is just as exciting.

[spliff(TONE)]

That's cute.

[SFrush90]

Cool. The world still isn't watching the Red Sox/Yankees rivalry when it's on.

[dodgerdave]

IMO there can't be a great rivalry if your playing the other team 18 times a year. It gets watered down.

Boston / NYY isn't what it used to be. The Bucky Dent game, the 2003/04 ALCS was great but other than that? Just two teams that take too long to play 9 innings of baseball.


Oh and if you're arguing that the world takes notice and best rivalry of all sports. Barcelona/Real Madrid is the biggest rivalry in sports and it isn't close compared to Boston/New York.

Yankees/Red Sox games were relatively irrelevant between 1979 and 1994.

[Blue french]

I know a few things about soccer as I attended around 50 games, and saw 500 on TV. It can be very hot, especially country versus country and very violent. But like Ice Hockey, the violence stays often on the field.
But soccer kills too, or nearly. What happened to the poor Brian Stow, (I checked his internet site) happenned during the word cup in france in 1998. A policeman called Nivelle was nearly beaten to death by a group of neo nazis. See my pervious mail for another sadly famous incident.

This violence did not appear in one day. It starts by words and are never solved between men one to one, There are riots, burned cars, broken windows, then wounded people... and deaths And I am frigtened baseball is following the soccer exemple. Let's call it a rivalry, as long as we can do it. One day, rivalry will change into slaughters and we will have to find a new name for the Dodgers/Giants or Yankees/Red Sox "games"

[StayOnBoard]

IMO there can't be a great rivalry if your playing the other team 18 times a year. It gets watered down.

Boston / NYY isn't what it used to be. The Bucky Dent game, the 2003/04 ALCS was great but other than that? Just two teams that take too long to play 9 innings of baseball.


Oh and if you're arguing that the world takes notice and best rivalry of all sports. Barcelona/Real Madrid is the biggest rivalry in sports and it isn't close compared to Boston/New York.

Well said

[ciaban]

I know a few things about soccer as I attended around 50 games, and saw 500 on TV. It can be very hot, especially country versus country and very violent. But like Ice Hockey, the violence stays often on the field.
But soccer kills too, or nearly. What happened to the poor Brian Stow, (I checked his internet site) happenned during the word cup in france in 1998. A policeman called Nivelle was nearly beaten to death by a group of neo nazis. See my pervious mail for another sadly famous incident.

This violence did not appear in one day. It starts by words and are never solved between men one to one, There are riots, burned cars, broken windows, then wounded people... and deaths And I am frigtened baseball is following the soccer exemple. Let's call it a rivalry, as long as we can do it. One day, rivalry will change into slaughters and we will have to find a new name for the Dodgers/Giants or Yankees/Red Sox "games"

very well said french.
Btw, Bo Sox Fan was saying that world takes notice when the rexdsox and yankees play, does anyone in europe really give a crap about the redsox and yankees?

[Blue french]

very well said french.
Btw, Bo Sox Fan was saying that world takes notice when the rexdsox and yankees play, does anyone in europe really give a crap about the redsox and yankees?

Nobody in Europe cares about the World Series at all and nobody can give a single baseball player name since 1876.
At least in France, and in England (I lived 2 years in London). It can be Yankees / Red Sox or Anchorrage/ Helena, same result, they watch footbal, sometimes basketball, tennis, and the Tour de France.
Many of my students wear a fantasy Yankee cap...without even knowing who the Yankees are !

[redbird89]

Cubs vs Cards anyone?

Cardinals/Cubs is a historical rivalry, but friendly lately. It's a different kind of rivalry than the nastiness of the Dodgers/Giants and Yankees/Red Sox.

Lately the Cardinals/Reds rivalry gets more attention, since both teams are in contention every year and hate each other. The Dusty vs. Tony element and the fact that the Reds have so many former Cardinal players (and GM) just added fuel to the fire.

The vicious rivalries are not better, but they get more attention. The Cardinals/Cubs rivalry has the history and the dislike, but it's not heated lately. When the Cubs finish rebuilding if we are still in contention every year then expect the rivalry to heat up again.

I think the other teams in the division have some resentment toward the Cardinals for being good lately. That's only natural. The Cardinals have been in the postseason most of the last ten years and whichever team tried knock them off became the rival.
The late 1990s the Astros won quite a bit. The Cardinals won the division 2000-2002. In 2003 the Cardinals competed with the Cubs who won the division and got to the NLCS (La Russa's book Three Nights in August is about 2003 and his rivalry with Dusty). The Astros were in contention in 2003 also.
In 2004-2006 it was Cardinals vs. Astros (Houston won the Wild Card in 2004 and 2005 and faced the Cardinals in the NLCS both years, Cardinals winning in 2004 and Astros in 2005. 2006 both teams were not great, but the Astros nearly took the division from the Cardinals. The Cardinals won the World Series in 2006).
2007-2008 the Cubs had two good years, but not good playoffs. The Brewers were in the mix those years, winning the Wild Card in 2008. Both teams lost in the NLDS in 2008.
2009 the Cardinals won the division again, but lost the NLDS. Neither team came very close to catching the Cardinals.
2010 Cincy won the division, but lost in the NLDS.
2011 you had the Reds, Brewers, and Cardinals competing to win the division. Cincinnati ending up falling off the map and the Cardinals on the Wild Card, beat the Brewers in the NLCS, and won the World Series.
And last year the Reds won the division but didn't get any farther than the Cardinals. Of course, the Cardinals being in the postseason was controversial because of the second Wild Card.

The Cardinals main rival the last decade has changed over the years. The Brewers and Reds and Cubs and Brewers have rivalries as well, but most of the big rivalries in the NL Central the past 10 years have included the Cardinals. The only team left out is Pittsburgh.

The Cardinals Cubs rivalry is interesting and deep-seated, but not especially heated the last 5 years. It's more of a traditional rivalry. I kind of prefer it that way, but it gets less attention. The Cardinals rivalry with the Cubs and the Reds are made all the more complicated because the teams have shared players (like Theriot, Edmonds, Rolen, and GM Jocketty) and Dusty managed for both the Reds and Cubs.
The St. Louis/Chicago rivalry goes back a long way. The baseball teams have been playing each other since the 1880s. St. Louis and Chicago also competed for the World's Fair way back in 1904. Since then Chicago is a much bigger city so you really can't compare them, but you still have the hockey and baseball rivalries. I think St. Louisans get tired of their city being compared to Chicago just like Chicagoans get tired of their city being compared to New York. The Cardinals and Cubs (then called the Browns and White Sox) haven't faced each other in the postseason since the 1885 championship of the American Association. That year their "World Series" went 7 games and ended in a disputed tie.
St. Louis and Cincinnati are similar cities (smaller cities on a river), but don't have much of a rivalry outside of baseball.

One thing the Cardinals Cubs and Yankees Red Sox rivalries have that Giants and Dodgers don't is that the first two rivalries never moved. The Giants and Dodgers left their first fanbases behind and developed new hatred in two new fanbases. Also the Cardinals and Yankees have quite a few more championships than their rivals. The Giants and Dodgers might be more vicious because their fanbases are younger and neither team really has bragging rights.