MMBSD: Rivalry Week

Rivalries. Sports wouldn't be sports without good rivalries. There's always one team on the schedule that you have circled. That one team that as long as your team beats them, the season doesn't seem so bad or conversely everything could go well but a loss to the arch-rival spoils the season much like the FCC spoils a good movie. Personally I think college football on average have the best rivalries. Don't get me wrong there are ton of other rivalries worthy of watching (Sox v. Yanks, UNC v. Duke, Steelers v. Browns, Cubs v. Cards, Tyson v. the Law) but college football has the most for 3 simple reasons: 1) They typically involve larger geographic blocks, i.e. state v. state, and bigger is better. 2) They typically happen only once a year, so there's no margin for error and no redemption. You screw up and you have to wait for another 364 days and 3) the one rivalry game can determine success or failure for the entire season. In baseball one series does not make or break a season. In college football there are so few competitive games, that rivalry games typically are the difference between playing on New Years day and hanging out in the Tidy Bowl Classic. My top college rivalries (based on history, relevance and hype)

6. USC v. Notre Dame - The original hyped game of East v. West. Southern Cal Hollywood v. Catholic Midwest. When both teams are good the electricity is there.
5. Texas v. Oklahoma - Red River Shootout. I hate Nebraska and/or Cornhuskers so this Big 12 rivalry is the best of the area West of the Mississippi and East of the Sierra Madre.
4. Miami v. FSU - Wide Right is the typical way to end these games. Haven't the coaches learned yet not to try field goals to win games in this series? More importantly if you were a kicker would you ever agree to scholarship to one of these schools?
3. Army v. Navy - This one gets the nod because of history. The series is currently tied 49-49. Would you want to be the team that lets the opposing service to be the first one to get to 50 wins? I think you get shipped to some place awful like Detroit if that happens. However, more than any other game, this one is played for heart and bragging rights.
2. Aurburn v. Alabama- The Iron Bowl has been played for over 110 years and I think the original fight was over who would get the state's only set of encyclopedias. Unfortunately the game was a tie so neither school got the books. Nonetheless lets be honest there is nothing in the entire Deep South except for this game. Now that’s pressure.
1. OSU v. That Team Up North - Woody Hayes never dared to blasphemy by speaking the name of OSU's archrival and neither will this column. Unless it’s surrounded by swear words or humorous pictures. Nonetheless, OSU v. Those People nearly always has Big 10 title implications. There's no friendly pat on the back after a good play or a crowd that doesn't threaten the life of opposing fans. Nope this is gladiatorial combat on the field, in the stands, and in the streets. I've already put fire retardant material around my apartment for the necessary riot. If that’s not the sign of a good rivalry, I don't know what it is. To celebrate Rivalry week I can say with some amount of certainty that supporters of That Team Up North are hairy, smelly people that can go fornicate themselves.

Quick NFL Hits

This week's Bronze Testicle Award goes to John Gruden and his 2 point conversion against Washington. Man somebody is jealous of the accolades Dick Vermeil got for his testicular fortitude. Tampa v. Washington was also home of my surprise of the week. If someone told you that Tampa would give up 35 points, how many people thought that Chris Simms could put up 36 points...in one week?
Big win of the week goes to New England. They needed it for pride sake and overall record sake to avoid losing two in a row and falling into a tie with Miami. The ship is righted and I think New England after a little late game heroics by Tom Brady (yes he is that good) is playoff bound.
The Don't Show Up on Monday Award goes to the Giants special teams. Tom Coughlin will have you killed, your family killed, your house burnt to the ground and possibly your dogs sexually molested. He doesn't mess around when players lose games on special teams. As such your only chance for survival is to skip town and go into the witness protection program.
Finally the Under the Radar Award goes to Seattle. Did anyone actually know that they are 7-2? How can everyone ignore this team? Sure they have questions. Like why should I believe that they won't collapse this year as opposed to every other year, or who the hell do they have on defense, or isn't Seattle in Canada? I don't have answers to any of those questions but this team should be given a second look especially in the suspect NFC.