Sports rivalry

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A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans. The intensity of the rivalry varies from a friendly competition on one end to serious violence on the other that, in one case (the Football War), was suggested to have led to military conflict. Team owners typically encourage rivialries as they tend to improve game attendance and television ratings for rivalry matches, but a rivalry that gets out of control can lead to fighting, hooliganism, and rioting.

Many factors can lead to a rivalry developing. Simple geographic proximity as well as frequent meetings in important games can lead to rivalries. Social and political tensions can also be played out by proxy in a sports rivalry, such as when Glasgow's sectarian differences are expressed in the Celtic-Rangers derby or when the Spanish-Catalan political conflict spills over to a Real Madrid-FC Barcelona football match. Rivalries of the friendlier sort are common between college athletic programs in the United States and often involve pranks that rival student bodies play on each other such as by stealing the other school's mascot or painting school colors somewhere on the opposing school's campus.

In some leagues rivalries are officially regarded as important games and the winner gets an unusual prize (i.e. grill, trophy, high-definition television, El Capitan, etc.)

Contents

[edit] Famous sports rivalries

[edit] Original

Since before 1820

[edit] Baseball

[edit] Major League Baseball

See List of Major League Baseball rivalries

[edit] Rest of the world

[edit] National Football League

See Rivalries in the National Football League

[edit] Basketball

[edit] National Basketball Association

See Rivalries of the NBA

[edit] Rest of the World

[edit] Ice hockey

[edit] National Hockey League

See National Hockey League rivalries.

[edit] European leagues

See also: List of ice hockey leagues and City rivalry in Finland

[edit] International

[edit] College athletics

See College rivalry.

[edit] Arena football

[edit] Canadian football

[edit] Association football (soccer)

See List of Association Football (soccer) Rivalries.

[edit] Curling

[edit] Club rivalries

[edit] Team rivalries

  • Randy Ferbey vs. Kevin Martin - Both these curlers have been considered the best in the world, and are from the same city (Edmonton)

[edit] Cricket

[edit] Rugby league

[edit] National Rugby League

[edit] State of Origin

[edit] European Super League

[edit] Rugby union

[edit] Test Matches

[edit] Super Rugby

[edit] Top 14

[edit] Currie Cup

[edit] Air New Zealand Cup

[edit] The Varsity Match

[edit] Formula 1

[edit] Australian Football League

[edit] Traditional Rivals

[edit] Local Derbies

[edit] More Recent Rivals

[edit] Past Rivals

  • Collingwood v Fitzroy (Fitzroy Merged with Brisbane Bears to from Brisbane Lions in 1996)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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