A championship is a championship - the Super Bowl or World Series will always have its buzz. Why then do fans go so crazy when the Yankees play the Red Sox the first weekend of the season, when the playoffs are so far down the road? It's because both sets of fans want the upper hand, the bragging rights, and the ability to say, "We beat you!" It's because the Yankees and Red Sox have one of the greatest rivalries in the sporting world. But what makes a great rivalry?
Geography: Beat your local rivals for bragging rights. When the Mets beat the Yankees, it's the least I can do to rub it in every Yankees fan's face for at least a month. The Mets also have the stigma of being the newer, inferior New York team, so establishing dominance over the boys from the Bronx is always a plus.
Regularity of play: How often do the rivals butt heads? Nobody ever talks about the great rivalry between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays (it's got nothing on the Toronto Blue Jays and Pittsburgh Pirates), since they play each other once every three years. Even teams that play once a year like Michigan-Ohio State or Harvard-Yale do so on a consistent basis, as there is a certain history attached to the sporting event that makes each year's game special and intense.
The personnel exchange: Which players or staff members worked for the opposing side? Sometimes these guys are known as traitors. The New York Jets and New England Patriots have exchanged numerous players and coaches (Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick, Eric Mangini and Curtis Martin to name a few). Rick Pitino coached at Kentucky and now works at Louisville, and yes, Johnny Damon traded his beard for pinstripes. As much as you may have loved your favorite player on your team, the minute he went to work for the enemy, you were ready to tear him apart.
Balance: A rivalry cannot be one-sided. The Lakers may play the Clippers several times during the regular season, but if the Lakers win every game and have won a high percentage of the games in the past 10 years, it's not a rivalry. The same goes for individual sports, such as tennis. How many times has Roger Federer played Andy Roddick, and how many times has Federer dominated without breaking a sweat? Part of the reason the Duke-North Carolina basketball rivalry is so great is that both programs consistently field competitive teams and trade important, thrilling victories season after season.
Many have debated over what is the greatest rivalry of all time. There is one rivalry that fits the mold of each component listed above. The rivals are in close proximity, have exchanged personnel, and have a long history with back and forth action. I'm talking, of course, about Williams and Amherst.
Before everyone shouts, "What are you talking about!" let me explain. For those who don't know the history between the two NESCAC schools, Amherst was founded in 1821, 28 years after Williams. At that time, the president of Williams took about half of the faculty, library and student population and moved down the road to central Massachusetts, starting Amherst College, and nearly forcing Williams to close. As my friend Steve eloquently put it, "Without Williams, there would be no Amherst, and because of Amherst, there was almost no Williams."
Since then, the two schools have competed in academics (they are two of the top liberal arts colleges in the country) as well as athletics. Every game, no matter what the sport, is one battle in the war. A prime example was a volleyball game this fall. It was mid-season in the consolation round of a tournament, and the game had no impact on conference records. Yet the small group of fans was raucous, and when Amherst won, the team acted like it had just won the NESCAC crown.
Let's see. Geography? Check. History? Check. Personnel exchange? Check (if your own president leaving isn't personnel exchange, I don't know what is). What about balance? Using men's basketball as an example, Amherst won the first two NESCAC titles, Williams the next pair and Amherst the following two. This year, in front of a packed crowd at Amherst, Williams overcame a 15-0 deficit and edged its rival by one point in a thriller. The Williams fans rushed the floor and stomped on the massive "A" at center court. The electricity during the entire game was incredible.
What's great about rivalries is that they are not always dependent on the players or coaches. Rivalries such as the Yankees and Red Sox, or Williams and Amherst have withstood the test of time due to the emphasis put on the institutions, rather than individuals. One hundred years from now, Williams and Amherst will still be cutthroat competitors trying to demolish each other in every way possible - just how I like it.
