By: Nikki Chasteen
If you are like me, an avid sports fan, then you grew up hearing about the great rivalries in sports. For example, for a Florida girl, it was Florida State University and the University of Florida. For those from up north, it was the New York Mets and the New York Yankees. In the NFL, it’s the Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers. Soccer boasts rivalries between Brazil and Argentina. The list could go on and on, but you get the point.
Anyone who knows someone that has gone to a well-known sports college with a large football program knows about rivalry weekend. The University of Florida and Florida State have one. Ohio State and Michigan also have a long-standing rivalry. Students look forward to this every year during football season. Some schools have even gone as far as to prank their rival schools. In 2013, students from the University of North Carolina went to every chapel around the Duke campus and placed the sheet music to the UNC fight song in all the hymnal books. Each year the schools go back and forth trying to prank each other.
The point is, rivalries don’t always turn out bad, and the pranks don’t have to be illegal.
Rivalries can be exciting. Rivalries can keep a relationship interesting by having a little competitiveness in the air. As an avid Miami Dolphins fan, I only have one deal breaker – the person I date cannot be a New England Patriots fan. I have plenty of friends who are Patriots fans, but never my significant other. That’s just my personal preference. Any other team is fine.
We have all seen the couple at a stadium or arena wearing the home and away teams’ jerseys. They are the couple always seen on television. They’re the ones who get a lot of attention from fellow attendees at the game. You hear comments like, “Oh, what happens if her team wins?” or “I bet you fight a lot at home.” Actually, I love the competitiveness and the smack-talk that goes on at the games and at home. Plus, you can leverage the competitiveness to get things you want at home.
During March Madness, my boyfriend and I always create a bracket to compete with each other. We enjoy making bets on the games. If I get the most right in the first round, he has to do dishes for a week. If he gets the final game right, I have to cook dinner every night for a week. It’s so much fun to make bets and see who wins.
Some people don’t like the competitiveness, but I believe that any true sports fan is a sports fan because he or she loves competition. Fans love the rivalries. Rivalries are part of the sports world. Can they be unhealthy? Of course. Rivalries and competition can be excessive, but I am a firm believer in doing whatever it is that makes you happy.
Most of the time rivalries are fun and entertaining. They definitely keep a friendship or romantic relationship on its toes. If you’re like me, then you enjoy a little rivalry in your life and there is nothing wrong with that. Here’s to the Patriots never winning another Super Bowl.
Caption: Chasteen and her boyfriend often root for different teams.
Credit: N. Chasteen
