Counting down the top 10 rivalry nicknames

2008-11-22T08:40:21-05:00

2008-11-21T14:50:31-05:00

2008-11-21T23:52:44-05:00

1595

Klee Irwin

Nome 582256

I mean how many people would turn The Texas - OU game to watch Montana vs Montana State?

31 uh, lots of people who live in Montana? 3417757

2008-11-22T08:40:21-05:00

686

Bedias90

Vidor 190275

uh, lots of people who live in Montana?

35 UHH--ALL 112 OF THEM? GOD WHAT A RUCKUS ! 3418547

2008-11-22T01:49:32-05:00

JGCole

Spring 614207

32 Not sure why temporal qualifications should apply, but the Cocktail Party and the Red River Shootout should win hands-down, for three reasons: (1) the best nicknames, (2) the quality of the match-ups, and (3) the fact that they are neutral-site games. In terms of match-ups and intensity, Michigan-Ohio State (if it had a more clever nickname) and the Iron Bowl would normally be competitive, but not this year! 3418064

2008-11-22T08:38:26-05:00

686

Bedias90

Vidor 190275

Not sure why temporal qualifications should apply, but the Cocktail Party and the Red River Shootout should win hands-down, for three reasons: (1) the best nicknames, (2) the quality of the match-ups, and (3) the fact that they are neutral-site games. In terms of match-ups and intensity, Michigan-Ohio State (if it had a more clever nickname) and the Iron Bowl would normally be competitive, but not this year!

34 yes---all 112 MONTANITES 3418561

2008-11-22T05:52:11-05:00

218

EZWriter

Saint Cloud 55141

33 Seeing that Jack London was an extreme unabashed outspoken racist who was outspoken and active in getting Jack Johnson banned among his other racist White Supremacist diatribes, I don't think he'd enjoy anything about modern sports, or any other part of our modern integrated sexually liberated world. 3418258

2008-11-22T01:49:32-05:00

JGCole

Spring 614207

2008-11-21T20:05:41-05:00

686

Bedias90

Vidor 190275

18 And just HOW did the RED RIVER Rivalry get left out of this? I mean how many people would turn The Texas - OU game to watch Montana vs Montana State? BYU vs Utah? Pitt vs West Va? 3416206

2008-11-21T23:52:44-05:00

1595

Klee Irwin

Nome 582256

I mean how many people would turn The Texas - OU game to watch Montana vs Montana State?

31 uh, lots of people who live in Montana? 3417757

2008-11-21T19:36:22-05:00

FOF

Danville 91903

15 All the great rivalries have a geographic closeness. USC/ND is missing that element. 3415985

2008-11-21T23:49:49-05:00

1595

Klee Irwin

Nome 582256

All the great rivalries have a geographic closeness. USC/ND is missing that element.

30 huh? are you older than 8 years old? The Notre Dame-SC game is the greatest college football rivalry there is from a national perspective. More Heismans, more national championships, more All Americans, more players drafted into the NFL, more Hall of Famers than any other rivalry in football. You are completely clueless. 3417733

2008-11-21T18:03:19-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/482/010/thumb/utes.jpg 6 UT

tonybake59

Lehi 482450

10 As a Utah fan and a practicing Mormon, I LOVE LOVE LOVE "Church v. State" It is hilarious! I have never heard it used but will now. The other used name is the "Deseret Duel" which is both lame and too regional. 3415085

2008-11-21T23:08:06-05:00

scooter-T

Salt Lake City 570460

As a Utah fan and a practicing Mormon, I LOVE LOVE LOVE "Church v. State" It is hilarious! I have never heard it used but will now. The other used name is the "Deseret Duel" which is both lame and too regional.

29 "Deseret Duel" is a corporate marketing scheme dream up by a local financial institution to stick its name (for a price) onto all the BYU-Utah rivalry games - football, men's and women's basketball, etc. and have a a end-of-the-year trophy for the school who wins the most head-to-head contests. You're right - it's lame, it's regional and its often simply ignored. 3417471

2008-11-21T22:11:10-05:00

http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/484/938/thumb/Beaver_in_PAC10.jpg 5 OR

ostatebeavs1

Creswell 485378

28 If you read the article it tells you why the red river shootout gets left out of this one... 3416950

2008-11-21T21:17:14-05:00

GTBuzzNC

Chapel Hill 101550

27 How about them Dawgs..........*&^% on them! 3416586

2008-11-21T21:16:32-05:00

GTBuzzNC

Chapel Hill 101550

26 How 'about them Dawgs.....^$%# on them! 3416585

<div class="photo_container image_center"> <div class="photo"><img src="http://img.fannation.com/upload/si_blog_post_images/t1_choice.jpg" alt="T1_choice" /></div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;">Nothing could describe the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry better than its nickname: Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate. Todd Kirkland/Icon SMI</div> <div class="photo_attributes" style="text-align: left;"> </div> </div> William Hazlitt, the 19th-century British essayist, believed a good nickname could slice through every layer of pretension and boil a man down to his essence. "Of all eloquence a nickname is the most concise; of all arguments the most unanswerable," Hazlitt wrote. Clearly, Hazlitt would have adored college football rivalries. Few other events have inspired the sheer, minimalist eloquence as end-of-season showdowns between intrastate and interstate rivals. The names roll decades of hate, mistrust, frustration and jubilation into a tight, two-, three- or four-word grenade that typically explodes either shortly before or shortly after the Thanksgiving turkey hits the table. Today, we'll look at some of the best end-of-season rivalry nicknames. The Apple Cup (Washington vs. Washington State) and the Egg Bowl (Mississippi vs. Mississippi State) are excluded not because of the lameness of their combatants but because of the lameness of their nicknames. Meanwhile, the World's Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (Florida vs. Georgia) and the Red River Rivalry (Oklahoma vs. Texas) are disqualified for temporal reasons; they take place too early in the season. 10. The Backyard Brawl (Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia): The name evokes images of neighborhood fisticuffs on chilly days amid piles of fallen leaves. In this case, West Virginia recruits western Pennsylvania heavily, and some of these players may actually have fought one another in their backyards growing up. 9. The Biggest Little Game in America (Williams vs. Amherst): You have to admire the pluck of two small, Division III schools who would slap such a grandiose moniker on their annual meeting. 8. The Border War (Kansas vs. Missouri): A general disdain toward unnecessary war analogies has forced a change to "The Border Showdown" in recent years, but Kansas-Mizzou should get a pass because the name has roots in actual hostilities between the free state of Kansas and the slave state of Missouri in the years leading up to the Civil War. In 1856 and again in 1863, raiders from Missouri sacked Lawrence, burning down buildings and attacking residents. 7. The Big Game (Cal vs. Stanford): The rivalry that gave us The Play has a simple, elegant nickname. Less simple are the annual pranks, including <a href="http://alumni.dailycal.org/newsletter/story.phtml?sid=61&eid=6&season=Fall&date=1999" target="_blank">this doozy from 1982</a>. 6. The Holy War (BYU vs. Utah): A fitting name for the game between the flagship state school and the school run by the state's dominant church. Of course, BYU-Utah would be ranked even higher if it went more often by its alternate nickname: Church vs. State. 5. The Iron Bowl (Alabama vs. Auburn): The sheer hatred of the rivalry seems forged in iron. In fact, the schools disagreed so vehemently on so many aspects of the game after the 1907 meeting that the series didn't resume until 1948 -- after the state house had passed a resolution encouraging the schools to play. 4. The Brawl of the Wild (Montana vs. Montana State): Even though he went to Cal, and even though his favorite sporting event -- had he lived long enough -- would have been the Iditarod, Jack London certainly would have appreciated the homage. 3. The Game (Michigan vs. Ohio State): Few schools could get away with such an emphatic statement of superiority. This season notwithstanding for the Wolverines, Michigan and Ohio State qualify. 2. Bedlam (Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State): The name actually came from the rivalry between the schools' wrestling program, but no matter. No one-word nickname better describes a rivalry. 1. Clean, Old-Fashioned Hate (Georgia vs. Georgia Tech): Author Bill Cromartie wrote the book on this 115-year-old rivalry in 1976, and the name stuck. It's fitting, too, considering that to this day the password at frat houses on both campuses is "To hell with (the other school)." 25524 http://img.fannation.com/upload/user_profile/image/245/899/thumb/staples_andy2.jpg 34

Andy Staples

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