There are few elements in sports better than a rivalry. The pressures of competition are felt by management, coaches and players, but they are felt strongest by the fans. Rivalries live in a fan’s heart — it’s the team we love versus the team we hate. It doesn’t get any more primal than that.

This is made evident because rivalry games tend to have the largest attendance and have the highest television ratings. On a lighter note, other rivalries (mainly in college and high school athletics) involve pranks. The stealing of another team’s mascot or painting team colors somewhere on the opposing team’s campus are what build up these rivalries. In soccer, rivalries can even result in rioting, fighting and hooliganism.

For those who haven’t yet seen the movie, I recommend you watch Green Street Hooligans. It demonstrates this point better than I ever could.

A rivalry allows fans to have the satisfaction that can only come from hating a certain player just because that athlete wears the jersey of the opposition. That hatred is why New England Patriots fans boo Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning whenever he steps foot on the field.
Rivalries are created when there is history and tradition between each team. For example, the New York Yankees versus the Boston Red Sox is one of the ugliest rivalries in all of sports. Their genuine mutual disgust for each other is what makes this matchup so fun to watch. Some say this rivalry is built up because of the East-Coast bias in sports-media coverage, but I’m not buying it.

To all the Red Sox fans reading this, all I have to say is Aaron [expletive] Boone.

Rivalries often take place at an intense level of play — with championships on the line. I’m talking about the ones that you watch whether or not you support either team. This is one of the reasons the Los Angeles Lakers versus the Boston Celtics is such a heated rivalry. These teams met 11 times in the NBA Finals since 1959, igniting some of the more individual rivalries in history, such as Larry Bird versus Magic Johnson and Wilt Chamberlain versus Bill Russell.

Not only do rivalries produce hecklers in the crowds, but they generate trash talking between the opponents. Some may see this as a way to just hype up the match, but in a true rivalry, there is no love lost. This is unmistakable in the most flamboyant rivalry in boxing history, Muhammad Ali squaring off against Joe Frazier. In the pre-fight press conference Frazier got tired of the constant name calling and the taunts Ali dished out and attacked him during the conference. Ali verbally assaulted Frazier to such a degree in the months leading up to the fight that Frazier remains psychologically damaged to this day.

The most common component to a rivalry is geographical location. Natural rivalries develop where teams have a common border or are inter-state. This is very prevalent in college sports, in which the fans get jacked up for the contest and bragging rights mean something.

The battle of Tobacco Road, the University of North Carolina versus Duke University, is the fiercest rivalry in college basketball.  The intensity of the rivalry is inflamed by the proximity of the two universities, located only eight miles apart. Both teams marking the date they meet on the calendar is what allowed UNC to spoil JJ Reddick’s senior night. This game happened to be the most viewed college basketball game ever. That stretch of eight miles is what allowed UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough to jump up and confront Duke’s Gerald Henderson, ending up breaking his nose, blood pouring everywhere.

Without rivalries, sports wouldn’t be as emotional or entertaining. It may be great when your team wins, but it really matters when your team kicks the snot out of their biggest rival. Ask any Green Bay Packers fan how hurt they feel after this past weekend’s crushing loss to the Minnesota Vikings, who were lead by Packer icon Brett Farve. I’m pretty sure that loss is going to sting.