Sports Rivalries Never Fail To Excite

A cold, dreary day at Ohio Stadium in 1996. Ohio State has come into its annual rumble with the University of Michigan undefeated for a second straight season. Michigan has stumbled into this game with three losses for a second consecutive year. After Michigan running back Tim Biakabutuka ran wild on OSU for 313 yards in Michigan’s 1995, things are different this time. Michigan is on a two-game losing streak and Ohio St. is now in the confines of its own stadium with a 9-0 halftime lead. The entire stadium went eerily silent when the smoke cleared after the final, desperate heave by OSU quarterback Joe Germaine landed in the arms of Michigan safety Marcus Ray. For the second straight year, OSU had fallen to a clearly inferior Michigan squad. This was not just any loss, this was a bitter loss to the hated, despised rival to the North. In a rivalry, no team dominates forever.

Fortunately for all fans of dramatic battles in any sport, this is the epitome of an exciting rivalry. No matter what a team’s record looks like coming into the game, everything is thrown out when the two teams step onto the field. Emotion and adrenaline overpower talent and the final outcome ultimately depends on a few key plays during the course of the game.

Football games recently between Army and Navy illustrate this perfectly. These teams have been wretched and unbearable to watch in the 1990s, but their games are consistently sold out and watched by millions on national TV. Nothing else can explain this, save for the simple fact that sports fans love a great rivalry. It is almost a given that this game will be close every year because the players respect this meeting like no other on the schedule. Routinely, these teams are near the bottom of the NCAA standings, but for this one game, the players act like they could beat anybody. That feeling is what makes this game special.

Rivalries are not just about upsets and determination. They also tend to showcase the role performed by players not previously known for making the big play. Everybody playing and watching the game knows that the superstars are going to want the final say. But this awareness and concentration on one person inevitably leads to someone else determining the outcome.

Florida State and Miami have played some of the most dramatics games of the 1990s. When we think of the epic battles, the most famous players are not the Charlie Wards, Peter Warricks, or Ken Dorseys. The players who truly decided the final results were the Florida St. kickers. Three times since 1991, an FSU kicker, most recently Matt Munyon in 2000, has missed a deciding field goal at the end of the game. These games have come to be known as “Wide Right” I, II, and III because of the kicks. FSU and Miami, two schools with a plethora of former athletes now in the NFL, play incredibly hard for sixty minutes and the game boils down to a kick by someone whom football fans have never heard of. This is absolutely what a rivalry is meant to be like: small players assuming big roles in the spotlight.

Football is not the only sport with fantastic rivalries. Baseball also has its share of dramatic finishes and fierce competitions. The most famous among these would likely be the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry, which was renewed, in full force in this year’s playoffs. Superstars such as Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, and Mickey Mantle have all taken part in this series. Much like football though, those players are not always the ones making the wonderful play. For many fans, the player remembered most in this rivalry is a skinny, slap-hitting middle infielder for New York named Bucky Dent. This was a man who never hit a mere forty homers in a twelve year career. But with one game-winning homerun on October 2, 1978, he not only put the Yankees into the playoffs, but also became the most reviled person in the hearts of Red Sox fans.

Rivalries are not so much about the games or the final outcomes. They are about the surprises, the atmosphere, and little-known heroes. Games like Michigan-OSU show us that any team can win in any given year, no matter their record. Do people really watch the Army-Navy match-up to see who wins? No, they tune in to see the history and pageantry surrounding the game. Athletes like Matt Munyon and Bucky Dent appear virtually out of nowhere to seal their team’s fate, for better or worse. It is these wonderful aspects that make a rivalry so special to everyone involved.