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re: Where do you rank the Iron Bowl among the greatest rivalries in sports?
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:00 pm to TTsTowel
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:00 pm to TTsTowel
It's up there, probably in the top tier with OSU-Michigan but like others have said, these are all regional. I have a lot of family in the Midwest and they introduced me to CFB, to them and most of their neighbors it was Packers/Bears/Vikings, Wisconsin/Minnesota/Iowa and Wisconsin/Marquette as the most important rivalries with the Game being the only big rivalry game not involving a local team that people cared about. These people enjoyed two things: drinking and sports and I never ever heard them mention the Iron Bowl.
The Iron bowl is big and people in Alabama and the South do care about it, especially recently but it's certainly not a huge deal nationally. I hadn't paid it too much attention until I started college. Even today I know exactly who I root for when Michigan plays OSU but I haven't figured out the Iron Bowl...I enjoy watching, enjoy it more than the Game, but as far as who wins...I just don't give a frick.
That's just my little anecdote but it's what I've experienced. Usually no one cares about the IB outside of the south.
The Iron bowl is big and people in Alabama and the South do care about it, especially recently but it's certainly not a huge deal nationally. I hadn't paid it too much attention until I started college. Even today I know exactly who I root for when Michigan plays OSU but I haven't figured out the Iron Bowl...I enjoy watching, enjoy it more than the Game, but as far as who wins...I just don't give a frick.
That's just my little anecdote but it's what I've experienced. Usually no one cares about the IB outside of the south.
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Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:01 pm to Pettifogger
quote:
Celtics/Lakers. Oh goodness California is going to your head.
They're separated by 3000 fricking miles. They don't really ever have to put up with the bullshite of the opposing fanbase. They just say to each other how much they hate the pther and run into each other once in a blue moon. It's a joke to compare that to any of the great college or European rivalries. The only one even in the contest of hatred between the fanbase a are the Yankees and the Red Sox.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:02 pm to Pettifogger
To much of the nation, Alabama/Auburn is just another game.
Conversely, in Alabama--a state w/o pro-sports--it's tough for anyone to imagine not caring about the IB.
Again, it's all about one's perspective.
And everyone's is different.
Conversely, in Alabama--a state w/o pro-sports--it's tough for anyone to imagine not caring about the IB.
Again, it's all about one's perspective.
And everyone's is different.
This post was edited on 12/1/13 at 10:09 pm
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:02 pm to KSGamecock
SI says hail low.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:05 pm to TTsTowel
I would say best in the SEC but OSU/UM is a bigger rivalry.
In all of sports I would say nothing beats Yanks/Red Soxs.
In all of sports I would say nothing beats Yanks/Red Soxs.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:08 pm to EKG
You're right, but you can appreciate the absurdity of the Iron Bowl as an outsider.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:08 pm to WestCoastAg
quote:
which is why the 2010 nba finals was the highest watched NBA finals series in years. 28.2 million people watched game 7 in 2010. how many do you think watched the iron bowl this past week>
Out of that 28 million that watched, I bet half weren't avid Celtic or Lakers fans. Station ratings are irrelevant to a rivalry, because who really gives a frick about outsiders in a rivalry? It's between the two of them. I seriously doubt that someone from LA is going to be automatically hostile to someone from Boston. New Yorkers though with Bostonians and vice versa, hell yeah they're going to be hostile when sports are even slightly brought up.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:11 pm to OMLandshark
quote:
I seriously doubt that someone from LA is going to be automatically hostile to someone from Boston
as a city? maybe not. if you are a laker fan in boston and vice versa? um yes you will
LINK
This post was edited on 12/1/13 at 10:12 pm
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:11 pm to OMLandshark
quote:
They don't really ever have to put up with the bullshite of the opposing fanbase.
Putting up with local bullshite isn't something that makes the sports rivalry any greater except to those people that live it. The politics of A&M/tu, to whoever mentioned legislative shite, puts Auburn/Alabama to shame, I promise. But no one outside of the state cares or knows anything about it, so why is it relative?
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:13 pm to TeLeFaWx
its so great that verne and gary had multiple mutual orgasms and the all of espn was awash in splooge after each highlight package of the game was played.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:14 pm to TeLeFaWx
quote:
Because nationally, it isn't as relevant. The most important and nationally relevant Iron Bowl ever happened yesterday. It still didn't have as good of ratings as Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals, or even Texas A&M/Alabama this year.
I really don't see why the national relevance of a rivalry has to do with how great the rivalry is. Was the fact that the Hatfields and the McCoys didn't have statewide or national consequences make it not a great rivalry? You look at it on how each of the fanbases react to someone. A guy from LA is not going to give a frick if someone is from Boston. A guy from Columbus is going to have some strong prejudices against a guy from Ann Arbor though.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:14 pm to TeLeFaWx
I assume you mean relevant, and I think it is. Maybe you're just pro-centric, but I think a football game that impacts the politics of a huge state is a testament to the magnitude of the rivalry.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:17 pm to WestCoastAg
quote:
there is nothing in this world that i hate more than the boston celtics
Good for you, but I don't think a very sizable portion of LA agrees with you.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:18 pm to OMLandshark
sizable population of laker fans would
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:25 pm to Pettifogger
quote:
I assume you mean relevant, and I think it is. Maybe you're just pro-centric, but I think a football game that impacts the politics of a huge state is a testament to the magnitude of the rivalry.
So does a football game that impacts the politics of a state 6 times the size of Alabama make the Lone Star Showdown 6 times as big as the Iron Bowl?
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:28 pm to TeLeFaWx
quote:
So does a football game that impacts the politics of a state 6 times the size of Alabama make the Lone Star Showdown 6 times as big as the Iron Bowl?
You're still completely missing the point. It's not the size but the intensity of the rivalry, hence my Hatfields and McCoys reference.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:31 pm to OMLandshark
quote:
I really don't see why the national relevance of a rivalry has to do with how great the rivalry is. Was the fact that the Hatfields and the McCoys didn't have statewide or national consequences make it not a great rivalry? You look at it on how each of the fanbases react to someone. A guy from LA is not going to give a frick if someone is from Boston. A guy from Columbus is going to have some strong prejudices against a guy from Ann Arbor though.
So what is the difference in hate between the Egg Bowl and the Iron Bowl? Or Packers/Vikings? National relevance makes a rivalry great because it brings in people to the rivalry that don't have the intense local reasons, and they are still on board anyway. I've traveled plenty of places all over this country, and people HATE the Dallas Cowboys. fricking hate us. Is it as intense as some Iron Bowl hate? No, but they haven't even stepped foot inside the Lone Star State sometimes, and they hate our fricking guts anyway. It's easy to hate something when it's obnoxiously in your face all the time, but that is not all that makes a rivalry.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:35 pm to OMLandshark
Which circles the discussion back to the fact that rivalries are important to those involved in them; ergo, Bama/Aub is the greatest rivalry in the eyes of Alabama folks. Oklahoma/Oke State is the greatest rivalry from an Okie perspective.
Bottom line: Rivalries are pretty great. No need to rank em.
Bottom line: Rivalries are pretty great. No need to rank em.
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:36 pm to OMLandshark
quote:
You're still completely missing the point. It's not the size but the intensity of the rivalry, hence my Hatfields and McCoys reference.
So does Baylor killing a cadet, and Aggie cadets commandeering a howitzer on a rail car in order to turn their campus in to rubble, only to be stopped by the Texas Rangers match anything as intense as the might Alabama/Auburn rivalry?
Posted on 12/1/13 at 10:38 pm to TTsTowel
Behind India-Pakistan's cricket rivalry, Giants-Dodgers, Ohio State-Michigan, and others.
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