"Rivalry Games" The Public Doesn't Care About

[selmaborntidefan]

Last time I pulled up my VOD and found a rebroadcast of ESPN's 'ten greatest college football rivalries.' I anticipated disappointment, but here's the list.

10. Florida-Georgia
9. Lafayette-Lehigh
8. Southern-Grambling
7. Harvard-Yale
6. USC-Notre Dame
5. Texas-Oklahoma
4. Miami-Florida State
3. Army-Navy
2. Michigan-Ohio State
1. Alabama-Auburn

Now first of all let me say that they basically got the rivalry correct. I expected the Big Ten rivalry to beat us out, but OK. But some of those others?

Who outside of Pennyslvania gives a hoot about Lafayette-Lehigh? And Harvard-Yale? I remember the late Lewis Grizzard relaying a story of UGA color commentator Bill Munday going to call the Harvard-Yale game and being asked by a Harvard fan who he was pulling for in the game. Munday said, "Neither one. You're all a bunch of Yankees and I wish there was a way you both could lose."

The Bayou Classic? Talk about politically correct. Who cares? Unless you have ties to that school then it means nothing. (Nor am I impressed with the bands - oh, and I have a Music Degree for what it's worth).

I also think there's a problem with FSU-Miami. For a window of time that game was a vicious rivalry. But you have to remember that many years FSU-Miami is not even the biggest game in the state of Florida (1996, for example). Furthermore, this rivalry only really began on the national stage in 1987 when it became the one difficult game that each team scheduled that was the main obstacle to the national title.

Sometimes, it wasn't even that. Miami won the 1989 national title but lost to Florida State. FSU lost to Miami in a head-to-head battle but played OU in 2000 - so did it really wreck their season?

But truly the most pathetic waste of time in college football has got to be the televised game between Army and Navy. Never once have I watched this game in its entirety nor am I impressed with the push-ups and the hoopla (Brent Musberger would have you believe this is Ali-Frazier I, II, and III all rolled into one). Most years these teams stink. In 2002, for example, the two teams COMBINED for three wins and - of course - one of them was against the other one. They have not met in a game where both teams have winning records since 1996 - and that solitary instance was the only time since 1967 where both teams had winning records.

I understand that the service academies are not national powers and never will be - nor is that their reason for existence. But mediocre football does not deserve an audience even if it is being played by holy angels.

Can you think of any other 'rivalry' games that don't live up to the hype?

 

[Tide64]

Whether anyone outside the local area cares or not does not diminish a rivalry. Would Alabama-Auburn be any less of a rivalry if no one outside Alabama cared anything about it? No.

 

[Johnwants#15]

The Army - Navy game is outstanding and is a contest of amateur athletics in it's purest form.
Seeing the fierce competition and pagentry yet knowing that 6 months later these guys may be covering each others back in a fire fight and would gladly sacrifice themselves for each other.
That makes it great in my book and it should never be desparaged by anyone!
Just because you can not see past the fact that these men are Academic scholars and soldiers who happen to enjoy playing football AS A PASTIME , and not as their life, should not take away from the validity of their rivalry or dimish the quality of the contest. Watch it for what it is and what it means and put aside your pitiful preconceived notions that Wins and losses and BCS rankings are what dictates the quality of the contest.

GO NAVY !!!! BEAT ARMY!!!!!

 

[crimsonaudio]

The Army - Navy game is outstanding and is a contest of amateur athletics in it's purest form.
Seeing the fierce competition and pagentry yet knowing that 6 months later these guys may be covering each others back in a fire fight and would gladly sacrifice themselves for each other.
That makes it great in my book and it should never be desparaged by anyone!

Agreed.

 

[deltatider]

The Army - Navy game is outstanding and is a contest of amateur athletics in it's purest form.
Seeing the fierce competition and pagentry yet knowing that 6 months later these guys may be covering each others back in a fire fight and would gladly sacrifice themselves for each other.
That makes it great in my book and it should never be desparaged by anyone!

GO NAVY !!!! BEAT ARMY!!!!!

I agree. I plan on going to one of these games soon. Next year I hope!!!!!!!:BigA:

 

[ReturnToGlory]

I love the rivalry games. When you see two teams who want to win a game more than anything in the world and losing makes you sick, that is fun to watch no matter which rivalry it is.

 

[JagNCrimson]

You'll probably get blasted many times over about your Army-Navy comments... but it won't be from me. I agree 100% and I'm glad someone finally said it. I appreciate major rivalries outside of the state of Alabama, love watching them throughout. Army-Navy? Don't care. And it's no offence to what and who they are.

 

[selmaborntidefan]

You'll probably get blasted many times over about your Army-Navy comments... but it won't be from me. I agree 100% and I'm glad someone finally said it. I appreciate major rivalries outside of the state of Alabama, love watching them throughout. Army-Navy? Don't care. And it's no offence to what and who they are.

Look, I appreciate 'local area' contests if the teams are any good. Michigan-Notre Dame, USC-UCLA (when they were good) and even a long-lost rivalry like OU-Nebraska. That's because in many cases you have two good teams.

The 'six months from now they'll be on a ship' - so what? What does that have to do with the quality of football? I guess I could go further and say that if any of the football players on either Army or Navy (and you can include Air Force in this as well) were potential NFL stars then they would be at decent schools (football-wise) trying to make the NFL. Yes, there are exceptions like Chad Hennings or Roger Staubach - but there's a reason they're called 'exceptions.'

Again - I don't understand the 'love' for the Army-Navy rivalry. If I had my way it would be broadcast on Raycom - that way I wouldn't have to skip the channel for three hours waiting on the SECCG.

 

[bamanut_aj]

I've tried numerous times to watch Army-Navy, and it's just brutal. I appreciate the service those men perform for our country, but the football game is just awful.

 

[TexasBama]

UT/TAMU is the biggest rivalry in the world for the Aggies - for everyone else, its a mildly entertaining ball game. I prefer the Egg Bowl over this one.

 

[Cox036]

UT/TAMU is the biggest rivalry in the world for the Aggies - for everyone else, its a mildly entertaining ball game. I prefer the Egg Bowl over this one.

Agreed. I grew up in Texas and on Thanksgiving day weekend the Cowboys take all of the football attention. The Tex TAMU game is just something else to watch on TV.

When I came to ALabama for undergrad, the anticipation up to the Auburn game was similar to the Super Bowl.

 

[Johnwants#15]

Look, I appreciate 'local area' contests if the teams are any good. Michigan-Notre Dame, USC-UCLA (when they were good) and even a long-lost rivalry like OU-Nebraska. That's because in many cases you have two good teams.

The 'six months from now they'll be on a ship' - so what? What does that have to do with the quality of football? I guess I could go further and say that if any of the football players on either Army or Navy (and you can include Air Force in this as well) were potential NFL stars then they would be at decent schools (football-wise) trying to make the NFL. Yes, there are exceptions like Chad Hennings or Roger Staubach - but there's a reason they're called 'exceptions.'

Again - I don't understand the 'love' for the Army-Navy rivalry. If I had my way it would be broadcast on Raycom - that way I wouldn't have to skip the channel for three hours waiting on the SECCG.

If pagentry and passion do not mean anything to you and "quality of play" is your only concern then why bother with college football at all?
I mean the NFL has the ultimate in "quality football" right?
I also suspect you skipped the iron bowl for quite a few years as well because we have put quite a few less than stellar teams out there during our down years.
As far as taking up airtime on whatever channel you are wanting to watch, the game is played on championship weekend and there are very few other games to televise anyway, It is unfortunate that our servicemen proclude you from watching another infomercial or rebroadcast of "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" . But hey ,,,that's why there are 200 channels avail. or better yet pop in a dvd .

 

[RVTIDER]

I think what selmaborntidefan is trying to say is he is just not big of a fan of the rivalry. We all have to admit that sometimes the game is not that good(competitive lately). I have nothing but RESPECT for our men and women in uniform cause god knows I would not have made a good soldier, but after I watch the intro to the game and a few minutes of the play I find myself changing the channel.

 

[gmart74]

I have a brother in the Navy, I live in Baltimore (where the game was just played) and I still could care less about that game. I completely separate football from service. How about an analogy:

I appreciate the skill and dedication surgeons have and that my life depends on their abilities, yet i don't go watch them play basketball against each other. In the same fashion I respect and care about what happens to our military people but they play some very crappy football. Also pageantry only matters when you are at the game, otherwise it is just filler on tv.

 

[NBF_Bama_Cavalry]

The Army - Navy game is outstanding and is a contest of amateur athletics in it's purest form.
Seeing the fierce competition and pagentry yet knowing that 6 months later these guys may be covering each others back in a fire fight and would gladly sacrifice themselves for each other.
That makes it great in my book and it should never be desparaged by anyone!
Just because you can not see past the fact that these men are Academic scholars and soldiers who happen to enjoy playing football AS A PASTIME , and not as their life, should not take away from the validity of their rivalry or dimish the quality of the contest. Watch it for what it is and what it means and put aside your pitiful preconceived notions that Wins and losses and BCS rankings are what dictates the quality of the contest.

GO NAVY !!!! BEAT ARMY!!!!!

I agree 100%. Many of the rivalries are based on tradition. While some are now only important to locals or alumni, it doesn't diminish the fact that they are traditional rivalries.

Go Air Force - Beat Navy and Army! (I'm USAF Ret.)

 

[jdatide]

Last time I pulled up my VOD and found a rebroadcast of ESPN's 'ten greatest college football rivalries.' I anticipated disappointment, but here's the list.

10. Florida-Georgia
9. Lafayette-Lehigh
8. Southern-Grambling
7. Harvard-Yale
6. USC-Notre Dame
5. Texas-Oklahoma
4. Miami-Florida State
3. Army-Navy
2. Michigan-Ohio State
1. Alabama-Auburn

Now first of all let me say that they basically got the rivalry correct. I expected the Big Ten rivalry to beat us out, but OK. But some of those others?

Who outside of Pennyslvania gives a hoot about Lafayette-Lehigh? And Harvard-Yale? I remember the late Lewis Grizzard relaying a story of UGA color commentator Bill Munday going to call the Harvard-Yale game and being asked by a Harvard fan who he was pulling for in the game. Munday said, "Neither one. You're all a bunch of Yankees and I wish there was a way you both could lose."

The Bayou Classic? Talk about politically correct. Who cares? Unless you have ties to that school then it means nothing. (Nor am I impressed with the bands - oh, and I have a Music Degree for what it's worth).

I also think there's a problem with FSU-Miami. For a window of time that game was a vicious rivalry. But you have to remember that many years FSU-Miami is not even the biggest game in the state of Florida (1996, for example). Furthermore, this rivalry only really began on the national stage in 1987 when it became the one difficult game that each team scheduled that was the main obstacle to the national title.

Sometimes, it wasn't even that. Miami won the 1989 national title but lost to Florida State. FSU lost to Miami in a head-to-head battle but played OU in 2000 - so did it really wreck their season?

But truly the most pathetic waste of time in college football has got to be the televised game between Army and Navy. Never once have I watched this game in its entirety nor am I impressed with the push-ups and the hoopla (Brent Musberger would have you believe this is Ali-Frazier I, II, and III all rolled into one). Most years these teams stink. In 2002, for example, the two teams COMBINED for three wins and - of course - one of them was against the other one. They have not met in a game where both teams have winning records since 1996 - and that solitary instance was the only time since 1967 where both teams had winning records.

I understand that the service academies are not national powers and never will be - nor is that their reason for existence. But mediocre football does not deserve an audience even if it is being played by holy angels.

Can you think of any other 'rivalry' games that don't live up to the hype?

Mixing apples and oranges. The reference is a list of "best rivalries" followed by a discussion which criticizes some of those rivalries because they do not display the "best football." That would be a different list.
A rivalry is the action or position of rivals, and rivals are those that equal one another in desired qualities. By the very definition of the word, the Army - Navy game belongs on the list. In 108 meetings, Navy has won 52, Army 49 (7 ties). In the last 20 games (Navy has 11 wins, Army 9), 9 of those games were decided by 5 points or less. In the Iron Bowl, the number one rivalry, only 5 were decided by 5 or less during the same time frame. I enjoy watching a game between two evenly matched football teams with similar standards, abilities, and goals, a rivalry. If one desires only to see the best football talent, then spend Saturday with the family and watch football on Sunday.

As for not televising the game, the Army - Navy game averages about the same ratings as the ESPN Prime Time game on Saturday nights. Last year the Army - Navy game drew a higher audience (2.4 vs. 2.3) than the Auburn - Georgia game, "the south's oldest rivalry."

Roll Tide!!!

 

[SavannahDare]

I steadfastly disagree with the original poster's opinion on the Army-Navy game. These guys sacrifice more than any other college athlete to play football for their respective academies. They are held to a very high academic standard at the service academies and would have more than enough to do academically (and in preparation to become military officers) without adding football conditioning and practice into the mix. They play with their hearts, not dollar signs in their eyes, and within months after graduating many of them are overseas leading men in combat.

I love the Army-Navy game and always make time to watch.

Go Navy, Beat Army!!

 

[TidePrice]

Here are a few I could care less about
1. The Holy War- Utah v. BYU
2. The Civil War- Oregon v. Oregon St.
3. The Bedlam Game- OU v. Ok St.
4. The Game- Cal v. Stanford
5. The Battle for the Little Brown Jug- Mich v. Minnesota
6. Paul Bunyans Ax- Minnesota v. Wisconsin
7. The Governors Cup- Louisville v. Kentucky
8. The Ballle of the Palmetto State- Clemson v. South Car
9. Clean Old Fashioned Hate- Georgia v. Georgia Tech
10. The Old Oaken Bucket- Indiana v. Purdue

 

[jeremy]

I feel like Bama vs Tennessee deserves a 10 top vote too...but I guess they dont want us in the top 10 twice.

 

[DiamondDust]

Here are a few I could care less about
1. The Holy War- Utah v. BYU
2. The Civil War- Oregon v. Oregon St.
3. The Bedlam Game- OU v. Ok St.
4. The Game- Cal v. Stanford
5. The Battle for the Little Brown Jug- Mich v. Minnesota
6. Paul Bunyans Ax- Minnesota v. Wisconsin
7. The Governors Cup- Louisville v. Kentucky
8. The Ballle of the Palmetto State- Clemson v. South Car
9. Clean Old Fashioned Hate- Georgia v. Georgia Tech
10. The Old Oaken Bucket- Indiana v. Purdue

Although the Holy War and the Bedlam Game will have national implications this year.