The Greatest Sporting Rivalries In History
The Greatest Sporting Rivalries In History
We all experience sporting rivalries, whether as a player during our formative years playing on the school team or as a fan watching as our local soccer or basketball team plays against the one from across town.
Sporting rivalries can get pretty intense, but which rivalries are considered the greatest? Does your team make the cut? Let's examine some of the greatest rivalries in sporting history.
USA Vs USSR
The United States and Russia have rivalries everywhere, from geopolitics to sports. However, the sporting rivalry between the United States and the then-Soviet Union was never as fierce as at the 1980 Winter Olympics. Destined to come down to these two teams, the United States won the gold medal game 4-3, following Mike Eruzione's game-winning goal in the final period.
![[1], Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mike_Eruzione_1984.jpg){kind=link}
Chicago Bears Vs Green Bay Packers
The Chicago Bears and the Wisconsin-based Green Bay Packers are the two oldest teams in continuous operation in the NFL, with a rivalry dating back over 100 years, when the teams first faced off in the 1921 season. The pair have played each other 209 times over the last 103 years, with the Packers having a slight edge in the win-loss category.
Boston Red Sox Vs New York Yankees
Perhaps the greatest rivalry in professional baseball and American sport is the Boston Red Sox versus New York Yankees. Both teams have competed for over 120 years in the same league and have shared many historic games, and with both teams residing in the northeast, it's become a regional legend. Notably, the Boston Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919, marking the beginning of "The Curse of the Bambino", as thereafter Boston didn't win a World Series for 86 years.
India Vs Pakistan
One of the hottest rivalries in cricket is India and Pakistan. Stemming from the political rivalry between the two dating back to 1947, when Pakistan was created out of India during the Partition of India by the British, the cricket rivalry began in 1953, when the Pakistani cricket team toured India as part of a five-match Test series. Since then, the two national teams have shared a heated rivalry over a sport beloved by both peoples.
