Well done SBoyd415. Great point. A true rivalry has to be pretty close, at least that would seem to make sense. And Yankees/Redsox is not that close at all. That's why I have always considered USC/Notre Dame one of the greatest in College Football. Both programs have 11 National Titles and 7 Heisman Trophy winners, it doesn't get much closer than that. Or, my favorite: Lakers/Celtics 14 to 16 in the Championship count. To me that is very important in what makes a rivalry a rivalry.
I disagree entirely on the idea that teams have to be equal on wins or championships for something to be a rivalry. I think there are a lot of other things that can make for a rivalry.The only really good point I thought you had SBoyd was the fact that the rivalry was one of the oldest in baseball. History is a big part of rivalries. I think the Marichal and Roseboro thing was pretty on par for a rivalry thing. Every rivalry starts somewhere, and it's usually with a fight.There's a few different types of rivalry. Some teams are rivals just because of the playoffs, like the Lakers and Celtics, but some are rivals just because of a fight or verbal altercation between the players or fans. Some are rivals because one is the underdog that ruined the bigger team's perfect record or whatever. There are definitely teams that are rivals because of a record during the season or a playoff matchup, but not all of them. I think the Red Sox vs. Yankees thing is a huge rivalry... like yankshater posted, there's pretty much a laundry list from the last 5 years of things they've done, and that's just the last 5 years.My personal favorite has to be Texas A&M vs. texas. People bring up 0klahoma vs. texas all the time, because they've had good teams recently. But you just can't match branding 13-0 on an opponents mascot. That's jawesome.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SBoyd415 @ Jul 14 2007, 04:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Sorry for the double post, but here's another thing about the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry that causes a lot of disinterest in fans:Red Sox: 6 World Series Titles, 11 AL Pennants, 5 East Division TitlesYankees: 26 World Series Titles, 39 AL Pennants, 15 East Division TitlesGiants: 5 World Series Titles, 20 NL Pennants, 6 West Division TitlesDodgers: 6 World Series Titles, 21 NL Pennants, 9 West Division TitlesThe Giants-Dodgers rivalry is a lot closer than the Yankees-Red Sox...Couldn't find that earlier, but there it is- the oldest rivalry in baseball</div>I completely agree. Been a fan of this rivalry since I was little.
Whoever said the Dodgers have the highest attendance I find that hard to believe when the Yankees draw 50,000+ each night.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (SBoyd415 @ Jul 14 2007, 08:10 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_League_...endance_recordsI actually find it hard to believe the Rockies average more than the Yankees...</div>Those don't show last year's average. They show the record year for average attendance (however, last year was the record for both the Yanks and Dodgers, the Yankees' being higher).The Rockies have a higher record average attendance because it was 1993, the year that was their expansion year. Mile High has a capacity much higher than Yankee Stadium, so it isn't all that surprising.
