Ranking The Greatest Sports Rivalries

In the last week or so, I have watched the Giants play the Dodgers, Louisville play Kentucky, and the Yankees will be playing the Red Sox over the next few days.  It gave me pause to think about rivalries.  I have seen other media outlets reports of their lists of the greatest sports rivalries of all time, but what do I think?  How would I rank the greatest sports rivalries of all time?  

That is what I will attempt to do in this column.  In MY world, based on what I have seen myself, and what I have heard, researched or read about, here is how I would rank the top rivalries in sports history.  I will only include teams vs teams or individual athletes vs individual athletes in individual sports.  I will not put Brady vs Manning in this list, as they play team sports.  Everyone does either a top ten list or a top 100 list.  I don’t have time for a top 100 list, and I could not possibly limit my list to just ten, so here is my top TWENTY sports rivalries of all time list…

20.  Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins.  Sure it doesn’t have the luster lately, but these two teams played each other twice a year for 46 years.  They played some legendary games in the 1990’s, and anyone living here in Western NY all their life who is over 40 knows how intense “squishing the fish” used to be.

19.  Philadelphia Flyers vs Pittsburgh Penguins.  This is the ONLY hockey rivalry on here.  I don’t have Montreal vs Toronto simply because both teams have not been good at the same time in the last forty years.  The Pens and Flyers have both been pretty darn good for decades.  Both have rabid fans and fairly close proximity–at least in the same state.

18.  Tiger Woods vs Phil Mickelson.  The best golfer of the last thirty years and his closest competitor for that same mantle during the same time frame.  Both have shared the same prime years, and when one didn’t win, the other usually seemed to.

17.  Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Dallas Cowboys.  The two greatest teams in the 1970’s and early part of the 1980’s, these two franchises played many big games, mainly in Super Bowls.  Two of the best Super Bowls ever, played in the span of three years, and then another matchup in the 1990’s.

16.  Jeff Gordon vs Dale Earnhardt Sr.  Ahhh, what NASCAR was all about–this was the rivalry that defined it.  The squeaky clean California boy who used his napkin, wiped his feet before entering his own house, and was the boy women wanted to bring home to mommy and daddy.  Earnhardt was the redneck incarnate Southern boy, who wiped his mouth on his sleeve, tromped dirt in his neighbors house and hit on his date’s mom and shared beers with her dad.  Fans haven’t taken up sides for any two guys since like these two.

15.  Martina Navratilova vs Chris Evert.  Even more than Venus vs Serena Williams, Martina and Chrissy was the ultimate rivalry in women’s tennis.  For more than a decade, it seemed as if these two met up in at least half the Grand Slam finals.  Martina’s power game vs Evert’s baseline game and strong ground-strokes.  They usually always went three sets and often, there were long tie-breakers.  These two knew it would be a duel whenever they matched up.

14.  Kentucky vs Louisville basketball.  Every year, these two teams are good.  Competing for the National Championship type good.  It has been this way for a half century, and then some.  Currently, Pitino vs Calipari is as good as it gets as far as a coaching rivalry goes.  The two in-state rivals divide the loyalties of most residents in the whole state of Kentucky.

13.  Dallas Cowboys vs San Francisco 49ers.  Same can be said about these two as I said about the Cowboys and Steelers, with two exceptions causing this to be rated higher.  One, the 49ers and Cowboys were the dominant teams of the 80’s and 90’s, instead of the Steelers 70’s and 80’s.  Two, these two teams are in the same conference, which means they have met up more times on the football field.  Because each has been good for much of the last thirty years, there have been many many important matchups, including three in a row in the 90’s.  SIX times since 1970, these two have met up in an NFC conference final, far more than any other two teams.

12.  Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal.  Another tennis rivalry.  This one was one of the classics.  Two guys, matched up against each other dozens of times, primes intersecting.  Federer–in his prime slightly earlier–dominated the first half of the matchups with Nadal.  Once Nadal hit his prime and beat Federer, he has dominated since.

11.  UCLA vs USC.  Forget about in state rivalries, this is basically an in-CITY rivalry.  This is like the Bloods and the Crips.  This is like brother versus brother.  Most other rivalries tore up the loyalties of residents in a state. This rivalry tore up loyalties in families.

10.  Alabama vs Auburn.  Not quite the proximity of UCLA and USC, this rivalry made up for it through passion.  SoCal fans often have lives away from college football.  Down in ‘Bama, Louisiana and Florida, football IS life for many folks.  The passion they have is what makes this rivalry.  How else do you explain an Alabama fan poisoning the landmark oak trees at Toomer’s corner on the Auburn campus?  The rivalry made him do it!

9.  Army vs Navy.  I know, most sports fans younger than about 80 would never have this rivalty on their list.  I have to, if only due to tradition.  This was the BIGGEST and BADDEST rivalry in collge football in the early century and before 1900.  From the first game between the two in 1890, they were two of the best football teams over the next three or four decades.  The game has such tradition, it has it’s own weekend devoted to it to this day.

8 and 8 1/2.  Jimmy Connors vs John McEnroe vs Bjorn Borg.  The rivalry between these three was so strong, it has to be mentioned together.  The three dominated mens tennis in the 1970’s through the mid 80’s.  All three seemed to HATE each other…their games….their personalities….their wardrobe…everything.  

7.  Boston Celtics vs Los Angeles Lakers (Bird vs Magic).  I know I said I would not include individual players in a team rivalry, but this is the one lone exception because it meant so much to this team rivalry.  Both teams were struggling until Bird and Magic joined each team.  From that point on, their primes intertwined as both were the dominant teams in their respective conferences for a decade, resulting in several memorable finals matchups.

6.  Jack Nicklaus vs Arnold Palmer.  They weren’t in their primes for much of the rivalry, but it didn’t matter.  Arnold was the golden boy of golf in the 60’s and early 70’s when Jack came along.  Nicklaus was the guy trying to steal Arnie’s title, and would eventually do so, becoming even more dominant.  Fans were divided.  Either you were a fan of the Golden Bear or a member of Arnie’s army.

5.  Muhammed Ali vs Joe Frazier.  The two dominant prize fighters of the 1970’s and early 80’s were more or less in their simultaneous primes.  They had totally contrasting styles.  They fought three times in title bouts and nearly fought to the death in all three.  Heavyweight boxing may never have been the same since.

4.  Los Angeles/Brooklyn Dodgers vs San Francisco/New York Giants.  These two teams have been good, more or less, for the past seventy plus years.  They often have had to go through one another for any successes they have had.  They have also had proximity–in state rivals for the last fifty or so years, and in-city rivals before that.

3.  Duke Blue Devils vs North Carolina Tar Heels basketball.  Separated by scant miles, these two teams are ALWAYS good, always battling for ACC supremacy, and hate each other.  It’s a rivalry that has everything going for it–passion, proximity and success.  Rivalries aren’t much better than the one on Tobacco Road.

2.  Michigan Wolverines vs Ohio State Buckeyes football.  The tradition is rich.  The two teams success rate is glowing.  The Big Ten is probably the most storied conference in college football history, and the yearly matchup between the two teams is always the highlight of the year for both–usually with a trip to the Rose Bowl and often a National Championship on the line.

1.  New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox.  So many storied moments, especially in the last twenty years or so.  The two teams spend the whole offseason trying to match each others moves, and the whole season trying to beat each other up on the diamond.  Baseball’s ultimate player, Babe Ruth, played for both, and the “Curse of the Bambino” lasted for 70 years.  Taking into consideration the past, present, and probable future, I would have to put Yankees-Red Sox at the top.