Hey Everyone, we’ll be live blogging the USA vs. Mexico soccer match at 4:00 p.m. EST on Wednesday. Come join us and contribute!
CM’s Quick Hits: Monday, June 29
6.29.09 4:55 pm by CM
Editor’s Note: I’d like to welcome another contributor. CM Sexton has his own blog at http://www.oursamedifference.com/. He’ll be bringing some of his perspective to TSG every Monday with his Quick Hits. If you enjoy this post, be sure to check out his blog and follow him on Twitter.
- Could the draft have gone worse for David Stern? The three most marketable players are now in Golden State, Clipperville & Minnesota? The NBA should rig these lotteries, get the big players in the big markets.
- The Big Cactus is now the Big Shaqalier. But really, he should be called the big ego. If Shaq helps Lebron win his first title, he will be responsible for Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade and LeBron getting their first titles. His ego will need its own wing in Springfield.
- Manny playing for the Isotopes is unacceptable. If he wants to rehab or they want to allow suspended players to play in the minors he should have played every game down in the minors without pay.
10 Rivalries That Are Bigger Than Red Sox-Yankees
6.13.09 8:26 pm by Will
Editors Note: I’m happy to introduce a new writer to theSportsGeeks.com. This is Will’s first, but hopefully not last article here, and its very impressive if I do say so myself. -Alex
As a Boston Red Sox fan, I was very excited about this week’s series between my beloved Sawx and the hated Yankees. NESN, the network that carries Sox games in New England, knew that the clash between the titans of the AL East was something that fans like me would get really amped up about, so they started showing commercials for the games about a week in advance. The one that really struck me was one that featured Jason Bay. It showed him sitting in the locker room, talking about how exciting the prospect of a Sox-Yanks series was. He mentioned how “[Red Sox-Yankees] is the biggest rivalry in sports.” Jason was very, very incorrect.
Before I point out 10 rivalries that are bigger/more ferocious/more important than the Sox and Yankees, it would be unfair to completely discount the intensity of their feud. The Boston and New York clubs have a humongous, all-consuming rivalry that is probably the biggest in American professional sports. Sure, someone could make an argument for Cowboys-Redskins, Mets-Phillies, Celtics-Lakers, or Maple Leafs-Canadiens, (I know that last one isn’t exactly “American” sports, but they play in the NHL, so whatever.) However, oftentimes these rivalries go stale for extended periods, because, unlike baseball, other American sports have salary caps, which makes it difficult for teams to amass the same kind of talent that the Sox and Yankees attract every off-season by virtue of their greater resources, keeping each team competitive and relevant every single season, something that teams in the NFL, NBA, and NHL just can’t do. For example, the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacremento Kings had the biggest rivalry in the NBA for a short period in the early 2000’s. Shaq called them the Queens, Phil Jackson called Sacremento a “Cow Town,” and the two played in one of the most entertaining and controversial NBA playoff series of all time, the 2002 Western Conference Finals, which included a Robert Horry buzzer beater in Game 4, and a Game 6 that disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy has insisted was fixed by the referees in the Lakers’ favor. This series was followed by a 2003 preseason dust-up between Rick Fox and Doug Christie. Then, Shaq got traded and the Kings faded away, and the rivalry was dead. The Sox and Yanks will never fade away, until a salary cap comes in, or they are purchased by a more frugal ownership group, neither of which looks like happening anytime soon. Also, very few, if any rivalries in American sports have the history, mythology, and twists and turns that are intrinsic in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. However, The Sox and Yanks fans don’t share the same devotion, investment, and antipathy towards the opposition that some rivalries on this list suggest, nor does the rivalry have the same extreme outlandishness of others. Sox-Yankees is a great rivalry, but not as great as the ten that I will present to you (in no particular order).
New Zealand vs. South Africa – Rugby
