The Rivalry Still Exists

I'm not going to dance around this one. Sports need more rivalries. They really don't exist much anymore. Not even the sacred Yankees/Red Sox rivalry was interesting this year.

Today USC head coach Pete Carroll will suit up his team in their scarlet red uniform tops against the baby-blue uniform tops of the UCLA Bruins. This is a violation of NCAA rules, which requires visiting teams to be adorned in white, costing Carroll's Trojans two timeouts, one per half. Carroll was fine forfeiting the timeouts since USC is a 33 point favorite and will likely walk to another PAC-10 championship.

Carroll purposely violated this rule because he wanted to restore the rivalry between USC and UCLA. While it came off as smug and arrogant to sacrifice two timeouts in a championship game, I think Carroll is on to something. With Rick Neuheisel taking over the reigns at UCLA, it is largely expected the Bruins will to return to prominence in college football in the not too distant future. Basically, this game that few will watch today, could be must see television for the next decade. Neuheisel is on the record saying he didn't feel disrespected by Carroll's decision and would like to encourage the rivalry building effort himself.

Last year, even before the Celtics and Lakers battled in the NBA playoffs, restoring one of the oldest and greatest rivalries in professional sports, the Lakers had a similar idea to Carroll's. As the Celtics visited Los Angeles for a regular season game, the Lakers took the court in short shorts, in homage to the way players wore them back when the Celtics/Lakers rivalry meant something. After being down at the half, the Lakers switched back to the baggy shorts for the second half, but the point was made.

Army had the same notion as they unveiled camouflage uniforms for their annual season finale against Navy this afternoon.

I can't tell you how much I like this concept. Rivalries are what make sports great. History and tradition are what sports are all about. The more ways organizations can find to accentuate their current rivalries or restore older ones, the better. It takes away from the 'me' concept in sports and brings back the 'team' concept.

I think this trend will only continue to increase and for good reason. The excitement built around a good rivalry game is unparalleled by much in sports. I hope coaches everywhere take note of what is going on and implement their own twist to expand their biggest rivalry.