What are some overrated sports rivalries?

[SabresRule]

What do you consider to be an overrated rivalry in sports?

Here are my two choices:

IMO, Giants/Dodgers is slightly overrated.

DodgerKing won't be happy, but please hear me out.

Yes, there have been dramatics between the two (See Finley's HR in 2004), but there have been lengthy dry spells between big moments.

Since the 1960s, the big moments have occured far and few between: 1982, 1991, 1993, 2001, and 2004.

Also, it's becoming very lopsided in the Dodgers' favor, whereas the idea of a rivary is give-and-take.

Also, I think Suns/Spurs is/was overrated.

To be a rivalry, it has to be back-and-forth- recently, it's been too onesided in favor of the bad guys.

 

[SideshowBob]

Red Sox/Yankees. Nobody cared about them until the mid-90's when they started to spend into oblivion and ESPN went out of their way to hype it. Newsflash: everyone else hates both of your teams and doesn't care if you don't like each other.

 

[Peter Parker]

Red Sox/Yankees. Nobody cared about them until the mid-90's when they started to spend into oblivion and ESPN went out of their way to hype it. Newsflash: everyone else hates both of your teams and doesn't care if you don't like each other.

the last part might have some truth to it but the first part is ridiculous. The two teams have hada rivalry for decades and it was always one (but by no means only) big rivalries in that sport.

 

[SandraC]

Not sure if people can accurately comment on the nature of rivalries they're not a part of. I don't get the Cardinals/Cubs rivalry. I mean I don't feel it in any shape or form, whatsoever. I don't even know enough about each city or that part of the country to know if it's a geographical rivalry or not.

But to make an announcement that it doesn't exist, or that it's over-rated or whatever, well, that would be silly.

I feel the same way about Stanford/Cal. I"m so far removed I have no idea what it's about or why, nor do I care about it whatsoever. But I'd never call it over-rated.

If you don't care about the Yankees or the Red Sox you can announce the rivalry is over-rated. Same with just about any other rivalry. But that doesn't make it so. Rivalries are a very personal thing.


Sandra

 

[SabresRule]

Rivalries are a very personal thing.


Sandra

See Rangers/Islanders and Ohio State/Michigan

 

[Jimbo]

Rivalries are a very personal thing.

Sandra

See Ohio State/Michigan

Amen

Jimbo

 

[stevenl]

What about entire groups? Like Big10 vs SEC ?

UF vs FSU has always been a biggie well until FSU started sucking so bad its as if UF is playing Notre dam or something

 

[dantheman77]

Not sure if people can accurately comment on the nature of rivalries they're not a part of. I don't get the Cardinals/Cubs rivalry. I mean I don't feel it in any shape or form, whatsoever. I don't even know enough about each city or that part of the country to know if it's a geographical rivalry or not.

But to make an announcement that it doesn't exist, or that it's over-rated or whatever, well, that would be silly.

I feel the same way about Stanford/Cal. I"m so far removed I have no idea what it's about or why, nor do I care about it whatsoever. But I'd never call it over-rated.

If you don't care about the Yankees or the Red Sox you can announce the rivalry is over-rated. Same with just about any other rivalry. But that doesn't make it so. Rivalries are a very personal thing.


Sandra

LOL! but you spoke about it anyway: east coast elitism. there is life beyond the east coast. have you had a high school geogrephy class?

 

[SabresRule]

LOL! but you spoke about it anyway: east coast elitism. there is life beyond the east coast.

BTW, I live in the Midwest.

 

[dantheman77]

BTW, I live in the Midwest.

well i was not responding to you. im in st louis, you>?

 

[SabresRule]

well i was not responding to you. im in st louis, you>?

Kenosha, Wisconsin.

(My family moved there from Buffalo in July 1994- unfortunately, that coincided with the MLB strike and NHL lockout...)

 

[SamCdbs]

Over-rated:

College football:

Pitt-WVU. Pitt was a worthy rival on an athletic basis long ago, but simply is not any more. Other than geography there is little similarity between the schools, as Pitt is a national level AAU highly selective school and WVU has open admissions, it not like they are competiting for the same students.

Stanford-Cal. Two schools were sports are NOT important playing to see which finishes 8th in the Pac 10. Who cares?

Oregon-Oregon State. "The Civil War". Right. Just another intra-state ag school vs. liberal arts school rivalry. Hardly Alabama - Auburn or even Indiana - Purdue.

Baseball:

Red Sox - Yankees, as noted above.

Any of the stupid "interleague" rivalries based on being in the same state, or the even stupider ones based on the teams having been in the same city 50 years ago.

Hockey:

Montreal - Toronto. Call me when Toronto has a winning team.

Football:

Cleveland - Pittsburgh. Cleveland has delusions of grandeur.

Dallas - Washington. Who cares?

Jets - New England. Jets stink, always will.

 

[SabresRule]

Football:

Cleveland - Pittsburgh. Cleveland has delusions of grandeur.

HD MM and Jimbo would like a word with you...

 

[stone phillips420]

habs/leafs or habs/bruins is the biggest rivalry i can think of, there is no way either of those series is overrated
the most overated series imho is the yankees/red sox i cant go 1 day without hearing about either team yet it can go a whole season before you hear aboutthe following mlb teams kansas city, toronto(i did hear gibby and cpy. fired), tampa bay(heard of them this year), sf giants(since bonds left), pittsburgh, cincinnatti, nationals(heard of new stadium), marlins, A's you will occassionally hear of the teams i mentioned if watching espn(family of channels) but if you only watch fox saturday baseball its very likely you havent heard of any team other than yanks/sox beleive it or not baseball is alive and well away from ny and mass, that region will find that out in november lol
maybe vikes/pack could be considered a overrated rivalry

the habs leafs rivalry it by far and away is the best rivalry in sports imho

 

[SamCdbs]

HD MM and Jimbo would like a word with you...

Q: What does every number between I and XLII have in common?

A: They all number Super Bowls in which the Browns did not play.

 

[webbydude]

Q: What does every number between I and XLII have in common?

A: They all number Super Bowls in which the Browns did not play.

And an absence of a Cleveland SB waters down the Cleve/Pitt rivalry...how?

 

[yourbeliefs]

Q: What does every number between I and XLII have in common?

A: They all number Super Bowls in which the Browns did not play.

As well as the Cardinals, Jaguars, Texans, and Saints.

A great rivalry that has fizzled into nothing now is the 49ers/Cowboys rivalry.

 

[HD MM]

Q: What does every number between I and XLII have in common?

A: They all number Super Bowls in which the Browns did not play.

Q: What is the only sport that discounts records previous to 1967?

A: The NFL.

The Browns pretty much dominated the pre-Super Bowl era. Do some research.

 

[SandraC]

LOL! but you spoke about it anyway: east coast elitism. there is life beyond the east coast. have you had a high school geogrephy class?

What on earth was east coast elitist about my post??? Why do you feel the need to denigrate my education because I could not possibly care less about a possible rivarly between the Cubs and the Cardinals?

Yes I spoke about it, I said it would be unfair of me to comment that it's not a rivalry, even though here in NJ you don't feel the rivalry at all. People say it's a rivarly, so, OK, it's a rivalry.

You calling me east coast elitist speaks more to your insecurities than mine.

When St. John's plays Syracuse in basketball are you glued to your TV because it's another edition of a great rivalry? Probably not. Being in the midwest you probably don't even know why it's a rivalry in the first place.

Syracuse recruits in the city a lot, making it into a game between kids that have been playing with and against each other on school and AAU teams since they were small. Add in St. John's constant struggle to keep the best players in the city 'home', the game, which is played at the Garden when St. John's is home, turns into a mini-referendum every year for uncommited high school players.

You probably didn't know all that, and more importantly, you probably don't care. That doesn't make you a 'midwest elitist', though...it makes you someone removed from the rivalry. Similar to most of us on the east coast who are totally removed from your little rivalry.

And here's a final hint...if you're going to put down someone's education, it may be a good idea to spell it correctly when you do. Or is correct spelling an east-coast elitist concept?


Sandra

 

[AntAltMike]

habs/leafs or habs/bruins is the biggest rivalry i can think of, there is no way either of those series is overrated

Does anyone in Montreal (or elsewhere) even realize that Bostonians think there is a Habs/Bruins rivalry? In the post Bobby Orr era, the Bruins were just roadkill to the Canadians on their way to the Finals.

the most overated series imho is the yankees/red sox

It became a modern rivalry beginning with the 1978 playoff game, and because of the economics of the sport, not to mention the revivable recollections of the Babe Ruth sale and the Ted Williams also-ran era, it will stay a great rivalry for the forseeable future.

And as for Dallas/Washington in football, I wonder what percentage of Dallas fans consider Washington, DC to be their most significant rival. I bet the vote would split between Washington, New York and San Fransisco, with a few Dallas fans even voting for New England or Philadelphia.