I Miss These Rivalries in Sports

I Miss These Rivalries by Joe Brackets:

You’ve got your great rivalries like Yankees-Red Sox and Bears-Packers and Canadiens-Leafs that are great because of how frequently the teams meet.  (That’s something these BCS conferences don’t get with their endless expansion, but I digress.)  Then there are the great rivalries that exist exculsively because of the postseason.  Your Celtics-Lakers.  Your Yankees-Dodgers.  For whatever reason, some of these rivalries have fallen by the wayside in recent years.  Some of them were so long ago that you can’t even envision the two teams having any animosity towards each other.  But others…Well, I miss the others.  Like these:

UConn vs. Tennessee: This game was always THE matchup in women’s college basketball.  It would be the only women’s game that anyone would even care about and/or be nationally televised.  They usually met for the National Championship, but there was usually at least one regular season matchup a year as well.  But they haven’t played since 2007, when a disagreement about UConn’s recruitment of Maya Moore led to both schools making the decision to discontinue the series.  They can still theoretically meet in the NCAA Tournament (UConn’s beaten Tennessee in the Championship Game four times), but that hasn’t happened either.  You’ve gotta figure they’re eventually going to play again.  They’re both too good not to cross paths in the Final Four one of these years.  When they do, I guarantee it’ll be like it never stopped.  And women’s college basketball will be better for it.

Mets vs. Cardinals: These two were in the same division from 1969 until the NL Central was formed in 1994.  But the rivalry was at its height in the mid-80s.  From 1985-88, the Mets and Cardinals alternated the division title every season, with the Mets finishing second the two times they didn’t win (1985 and 1987).  The Mets won 98 games and didn’t make the playoffs in 1985, when the Cardinals lost the World Series in seven!  They’ve had some memorable run-ins since (the 2006 NLCS, the 19-inning game a couple years ago), and they, of course, still play every year, but Mets-Cardinals hasn’t quite been the same since they stopped playing in the same division.

Red Wings vs. Avalanche: Detroit and Colorado absolutely hated each other when they were both good in the late 90s.  And that’s part of what made it the best rivalry in hockey.  Of course, one of the reasons why it was such a bitter rivlary is because they were both really, really good teams.  In the seven seasons from 1996-2002 (when the Nordiques moved to Denver), they met in the playoffs five times, including three times in the Western Conference Finals.  Colorado won the Cup in 1996 and 2001, while Detroit won back-to-back Cups in 1997-98 and another in 2002.  Unfortunately, these regular playoff meetings are a thing of the past.  With the Red Wings moving to the Eastern Conference next year, the only way they can face-off in the playoffs would be in the Finals.  While that would be great, it wouldn’t be the same.

Cowboys vs. 49ers: How good were those games between the Cowboys and 49ers in the early 90s?  To call that the NFL at its absolute best seems like an understatement.  They met in the NFC Championship Game three years in a row when the NFC was still the dominant conference.  The Cowboys won the first two and the 49ers won in 1994 before blowing out the Bills (twice) and Chargers, respectively, in the Super Bowl.  The Packers ruined it by beating San Francisco in the Divisonal Playoffs in 1995, and Dallas-San Francisco lost its luster when both teams began to struggle.  But the 49ers were in the Super Bowl last season and Dallas is always in the mix.  If the Cowboys can return to prominence and the 49ers can stay at the top, this one could be reborn.

Bulls vs. Pistons: Before Jordan’s Bulls were the thorn in the side of Ewing’s Knicks, the Pistons were the thorn in Jordan’s side.  (I’m sure the vitriol between the Red Wings and Blackhawks probably came into play, too.)  Four years in a row they met in the playoffs.  Three years in a row Detroit won, en route to back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990.  The Bulls finally broke through in 1991, and we all know what happened from there.  Sure, the Bulls and Pistons are in the same division and, as such, play regularly, but I have no idea if the rivalry is anywhere near as intense now as it was then.  They haven’t really been good at the same time since.  I’d love to see it if they were.

Raiders vs. Steelers: This could really be Raiders vs. Fill-in-the-blank.  It’s been so long that the Raiders have been relevant that it seems like forever since they’ve actually had a rivalry with anybody other than the Broncos, Chiefs and Chargers.  I picked the Steelers because of how intense those games in the 70s were.  (And the Dolphins could easily be included here, too.)  Had I been alive in the 1970s and experienced it, I’m sure I would absolutely hate one of these two teams.  Mainly, I just want the Raiders to be relevant again.  They’re one of the NFL’s cornerstone franchises, yet they’ve been a laughingstock for 10 years.

Patriots vs. Colts: Sure, they’re going to play this season.  But everybody already knows it’s not going to be the same.  This rivalry died the moment Peyton hurt his neck (remember the Patriots-Colts game getting flexed OUT of Sunday Night two years ago?), and the funeral was his trade to Denver.  Patriots-Broncos is the hot rivalry now.  This rivalry was never really Patriots vs. Colts.  It was Manning vs. Brady.  And it was glorious.  Since they both always won the division, it was always twice a year that they’d play.  The Patriots always won.  Then the Colts always won.  But the game was great pretty much every single time.  The Colts-Patriots rivalry will always be special because it was two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks in the peak of their prime, with great teams around them, in all-out wars in games that were usually significant.  As good as Andrew Luck might become, it’s never going to be the same.

Kansas vs. Missouri/Texas vs. Texas A&M/Nebraska vs. Colorado/UConn vs. Syracuse: Chalk these up as casualties of the ever-revolving conference carousel.  Nebraska-Colorado was the first to go, and Nebraska-Oklahoma suffered the same fate (who else is waiting for that Nebraska-Colorado Rose Bowl?).  Rivalry lost at the cost of the almighty dollar.  But that’s nothing compared to Texas-Texas A&M.  As I’ve made well known in the past, I’m not a fan of Texas A&M.  I blame them for this neverending cycle.  ‘Cause they’re the ones who started it going again.  Texas A&M doesn’t like it that Texas has the Longhorn Network and decided they didn’t want to be in the same conference as Texas.  Texas’s response?  “Bye.  Have fun explaining to your alums why we don’t play each other anymore–in anything.”  Ditto for Kansas-Mizzou, and that one went back a century.  The final chapter of UConn-Syracuse played out a few months ago, and that’s a loss for all of college basketball.  Syracuse leaving was the Big East’s deathblow, and UConn is the biggest loser in that deal.  Of course, they’re trying to get into the ACC, themselves, so this rivalry isn’t quite dead yet, but the games in Madison Square Garden are no more.  Likewise, Syracuse-Clemson doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.  Forgive me for not getting excited about UConn-SMU, either.