Your Arch Rival!

[Taco-Calamitous]

...in sports, that is. Do any of you pay attention to an athletic team of some kind? And does that team have a rival they play every year, whose guts they simply hate (and vice versa)?

In Oregon, there is the University of Oregon (UO) Ducks and the Oregon State University (OS) Beavers. I am an avid fan of the Beavers... in sports they excel at. I haven't payed close attention to their basketball team for years, because they haven't been good since 1990. I went to their games through the mid 90's and rooted for them, but yeah; they've never crossed that threshold of being a good team again (except one year when they went to the NIT's.) I also went to their football games during that time, when they were in the midst of 27 losing seasons. They finally snapped that streak in '99, a couple years after I started caring less about basketball and more about football.

Meanwhile, the Ducks were having much more success in their sports programs, going to the Rose Bowl in '94 (where they got killed) and such. I heard a lot of "Beavers suck!" throughout my childhood, and it still boils my blood when I see Duck trolls on the internet talking smack. I remember in grade school getting into a shoving match with this other little kid over the Beavers and Ducks. It consisted of me yelling "Beavers!" and the other little kid yelling "Ducks!"

In any case, the Beavers have gotten much better in the past decade. They've won two National Championships in baseball, finished ranked #4 nationally in football in 2000 and kicked Notre Dame to crap in the Fiesta Bowl that year, have beaten the #3 team two years ago (USC), the #2 team last year (Cal) and the #1 team this year (USC again) and are on their way to the Rosebowl for the first year since 1965. If they beat the Ducks, they will go. As you can imagine, there is a lot of trash talk going around. We have beaten them the past two years, so they're looking for some retribution now. Particularly knocking us out of our first Rose Bowl in 44 years sounds enticing to them (the Rosebowl is played New Year's Day.)

They think we're overconfident because they have a high-flying offense. But they have no defense, and we have an awesome Defense and a pretty good offense to boot. And it's at Oregon State. I like our chances, but the last two years have been very competitive. I'll update this post with the final score from Saturday's game to let you all know how it went down. Even though you probably don't care.

So... any sports rivalries you care about? Or even only care about indirectly because they happen around you and you more or less can't avoid them? Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[Pete]

Let's see. I'll round all the sports, and I'll try to keep my rants short.

Baseball.

I'm a die-hard Mets fan. Born 'n raised. That being said, I absolutely hate the Yankees and what they stand for. I also hate the St. Louis Cardinals because of game 7, and the Phillies. **** the Phillies. Their fans and their entire city is obnoxious and shitty.

Football.

Once again, I'm a die-hard Jets fan. I've never liked the Giants and I abhor the Patriots. They're just as bad as the Yankees in my book, and on top of that, they're a bunch of liars and cheaters. Bellicheck was a piece of shit who said he was gonna coach the Jets back in 2000, and then bailed out after a single day. If you don't want the job, don't take it; don't string the fans along.

Hockey:

Islanders all the way. I hate the Rangers, mostly because their fans aren't classy at all, and they're just a scummy kinda bunch. I also hate the Devils because of Marty Brodeur, and because the Isles franchise is constantly disrespected, despite being a freakin DYNASTY. It took the Rangers almost 100 years to come up with 4 championships, where as it took the Isles 11.

College Football.

I'm a big Notre Dame fan, but I'm not into them nearly as much as I am the Jets. I don't really follow the same rivals as ND, but I do hate the following schools. USC, Florida, Florida State, LSU and Alabama. Zero recruitment standards for athletics, that's why they're always tops.

As for college sports in general, I hate those programs above, but for a more regional standpoint:

I went to Binghamton, we're considered one of the most hostile environments for other schools to play in, and we're damn proud of it. That being said, we hate SUNY Albany and Univ. of Vermont. Our Safety School and a bunch of dirty hippies, respectively.

[Govinda]

Celtic and Rangers - The Old Firm in Glasgow. I'm talking football (or, if you like, soccer).

Both are steeped in history and carry a heavy religious weight - historically, Celtic was a Catholic institution and Rangers a Prodestant one. Celtic has a history apparently steeped in the large Irish influx into Glasgow in the 1800's; though that is, like most of it, rhetoric, since only 25% of the Irish immigrants were Catholic.

Rangers has ties to William of Orange, and like to hold Orange Marches every year to celebrate the Battle of the Boyne, which happened in the 1400's and didn't really matter too much.

So, basically, all of this leads to an Old Firm full of violence and sectarian aggression. Fans are routinely ejected from stadiums (it has to be said, they're usually Rangers fans) for singing sectarian songs with horrible lyrics like 'Bathing in a river of Fenian blood'. They also like to scribble **** THE POPE on walls, and the most distgusting part in all of it is that none of them really understand what they're saying. When they spout this shit, it offends, and rightly so, Irish people who had to live through the Troubles in Northern Ireland, when those insults led to hundreds of deaths.

However, when the thugs aren't ruining it, Celtic and Rangers have a great, ancient rivalry. I have to support Celtic, because if I didn't, my dad would disown me.

I was out at the pub tonight, caught the closing minutes of Celtic's Champions League match. ****ing insane drama! It was 1-1 for most of the game, and then the other team scored with four minutes to go; cue the entire Celtic team losing the plot completely in a desperate attempt to score a goal. The ****ing GOALKEEPER was up in the box with the strikers trying to get a header in!

Long story short, Celtic are now out of the Champions League. Such is the nature of the rivalry that Rangers fans in Glasgow will be out on the streets tonight celebrating. Celtic fans, like my dad, will be in hiding.

[Rocky]

Boo for me being raised in a place where there are no professional sports to be played for miles around. Therefore, this caused me to develop quite a different taste for different teams.

Baseball:
Chipper Jones for leader of the UN. Enough said. I also have developed a partialism for the Orioles, as one of my favorite cousins lives on the east coast in Maryland and when I flew down there for his wedding a bit early, he took me out to a game, and I was hooked.


Football:
I don't follow football much anymore these days (except of course the fact that the Patriots got combo breaker-ed at superbowl was an epic LOL), but if I had to pick a team to go with, I would choose the Chiefs, since there are so many Packers fans, and Packers fans are annoying at best.

College Football:
Hawkeyes ftw! I hate the Cyclones with a fiery brimstone passion, and I want them to get smashed by us every year we play them! A good friend of mine goes to ISU, and I made fun of her garbage team this season after the awesome game, and she cried. I felt awesome. Last season, it was the complete opposite. I hid in my dark room for a couple of days after the game.


I don't follow sports too much in general, but I like the atmosphere of games, and I like being a fan in the crowds, so everytime I get a chance, I will go to games, even if I don't care for the sport/team at all.

[Lunasa]

Baseball
I'm a serious Mets fan(although, the bullpen performance makes me want to reconsider sometimes. I hate the Phillies. Horribly. A named Arch-Rival.

Football
Haven't gotten into it in some time. I'm a Giants fan. Not sure of any rivals, but I'm anti-Cowboys because my sister and I like the Rival.

And Saint Rose is barely developed, so nothing against them, yet.

[Walter Sobchak]

I only watch football. My team is the Miami Dolphins, and we share our division with the Jets, Patriots, and Bills. Now, for as long as I have been a Dolphins fan, the Jets and Bills have more or less sucked, and the Patriots have beaten us all the time. So I hate them. I also hate their lack of respect for the game, but if I continue, my blood pressure will rise.

[Sean]

Baseball -

Cards fan, because I live in St. Louis. I hate the Yankees and the Red Sox. 'Nuff said.

Football -

Colts fan mostly, but I rarely follow football much. I despise the Patriots with every ounce of passion I can muster towards football.

Hockey -

Huge Blues fan, secondary teams being the Avalanche (Though less in the past 5 years, I just used to have a ton of respect for Forseberg, Foote, and Sakic, amongst others) and the Penguins (Soo pissed Detroit picked up Hossa)

I hate the Red Wings with an insurmountable passion. Every game I see the Red Wings play in is a ruined game of hockey for me. Chris Osgood is a piece of shit and doesn't deserve his Stanley Cup rings. I used to just hate them years ago because it was a rivalry, even though I really liked Yzerman and Federov, and recently Dallas Drake, Shanahan, and Hasek. After last year though, I fully despise this team.

[Sasquatch]

Baseball:

Being a Cubs fan (and living in Wisconsin), I can't stand the Brewers. The Cardinals are rivals as well, but I don't have to put up with ignorant Cards fans everywhere I go, so they don't annoy me as much. Also, being a general baseball fan, I hate the Yankees. I'm not too fond of the Giants either (because of Bonds), or the Red Sox (because they're almost as bad as the Yankees), or the White Sox (because they're also Chicago).

Football:

Da Bears. And, again, living in Wisconsin, I hate the Packers. Don't care much for the Vikings and Lions, but since I don't have to put up with Viking/Lion fanboys constantly, I don't have too much of a problem with them. Now that Favre is with the Jets and I have to listen to Packers fanboys with boners for #4 wherever he goes, I can't stand the Jets either. I don't like the Raiders because they're a bunch of thugs and gangsters. And again, since I am a fan of the sport in general, I despise the Patriots -- and thus, I became a slight Giants fan when they creamed those peckerslurps in the Super Bowl last year.

Other than that ... I'm a Chicago and Atlanta fan in prettymuch every sport (though I don't keep up with hockey, and don't give a damn about basketball). As for college, I support quite a few teams, but again, I'm not really into it.

[Taco-Calamitous]

So I said I would update with the score after the game, so here I am...

Ducks 65, Beavers 38. The worst game I've ever seen. I am so dejected right now. My friend called me to tell me it was the worst game he's ever seen, too. I just hate the fact that all those Oregon trash talkers were proven right. It pisses me off. I suppose we'll be gunning for them next year, though.

In the way of professional sports, Oregon has the Portland Trail Blazers in basketball. I root for them, again, when they're good. They've been better the past couple years; Roy and Outlaw have been good, though Oden seems to be a bust (just like that guy we chose over Michael Jordan.) I despise the LA Lakers with a passion. I hate Kobe and I hate Shaq. I loved it the year they had the Mailman and Gary Payton too, but they lost to Detroit in the Finals, even though Gary Payton was from OSU and I probably should've been rooting for him to get a championship ring. Oh well, serves him right for just going to a team he thought he'd win with instead of being loyal to Seattle. That's what I hate about the pros; no loyalty. It's all about the money and the egos.

In football, I root for the Packers, even though my dad roots for the Vikings. I just started watching them one year when they were playing the Denver Broncos, and decided to root for them. They ended up winning the Super Bowl that year, so I was like, "Okay!" I was indifferent to the Jets until this year when Brett Favre went there. Even though I think they were right to not keep letting him come back and that he didn't handle it well, I still gotta root for him, because he's Brett Favre. I don't give a shit what anybody says; he's a good man, a good roll model in a league of inflated egos. I will also root for the Broncos and the Chargers, and teams former Beaver players are on. I hate the Dallas Cowboys, and I always will. Most other teams I don't mind too much, though I lost all respect for Tom Brady last year when I saw in a magazine that he left his wife and child for some other pretty face. Also, the Patriots are cheaters, as has been pointed out. So I hate them too.

I don't pay much attention to baseball, though my dad roots for the Minnesota Twins. I don't pay attention to hockey at all. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom