Some sports rivalries are eternal. That is usually the product of one of two things. First, history. Army-Navy — to these eyes, anyway – is the greatest rivalry in all of sports. For 99 percent of the participants, these games — any sports, but especially football – represent the epitome of their athletic careers. The football game goes back to 1890, so we are in the third century of that spectacular feud
Sometimes, it’s proximity. Red Sox-Yankees is the best example of the New York-New England entanglement but you can really mix and match any of the teams from New York and any of the teams from Boston and it qualifies. Same with New York and Philadelphia — and, to complete the circular shootout, Philly and Boston, too. Mets/Yankees qualifies. So does any assortment of Rangers/Islanders/Devils.
Sometimes, it’s both.
Duke-North Carolina is both. Auburn-Alabama is both. The biggest among all of these is probably Dodgers-Giants — once divided by 15 or 20 subway stops and 18 miles, now separated by 380 miles of freeway. They’ve also been going at it for three centuries – the first game, May 3, 1890, was a 7-3 win for the Dodgers (then the Bridegrooms) played at Washington Park in Park Slope.
