Throwdowns > Closed

Rudedog: Thankful said 01/22, 01:37 PM
I'm confused as to why you think Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon's rivalry wasn't legit because there were rivalries before it.

That's just doesn't make sense.

Gordon-Earnhardt was a great rivalry for the sport because it got many fans interested. Personally, this is the reason that I began watching NASCAR. It had all the makings of a great rivalry.

*Bad boy vs. pretty boy
*Old vs. new
*Young vs. old

Everything that makes rivalries great was here. NASCAR was expanding for the South at the time and Gordon was the Californian-born, child prodigy that stepped in. He was exactly the opposite of Earnhardt.

And the two were still competitive. Earnhardt won his last title in '94, just as Gordon was starting out in NASCAR.

One year later, Gordon takes his first title after edging out Earnhardt in the final race of the season.

I'll be honest, I know nothing about surfing. But to say that Gordon and Earnhardt's rivalry was "mythical" just isn't true. Maybe the two drivers didn't acknowledge it, but it was there. Ask any fan if the rivalry existed. This rivalry is why I started watching NASCAR.

Rudedog: Thankful said 01/23, 12:16 AM
Just because a rivalry was significant for their sport does not mean it's a better rivalry. A random ping-pong rivalry could make the sport mainstream for some reason, but it may not make it a good rivalry.

Gordon-Earnhardt wasn't only a good rivalry, but it was a very important rivalry as well. NASCAR was trying to expand it's fan base from the South. What better way to expand than with a Californian-born "pretty boy" battling the grizzled veteran that everyone in NASCAR loved.

And it wasn't just a rivalry of significance to the sport, but a rivalry that was competitive as well. The titles during the 90s went like this

90 - Earnhardt
91 - Earnhardt
92 - Kulwicki
93 - Earnhardt
94 - Earnhardt
95 - Gordon
96 - Labonte
97 - Gordon
98 - Gordon
99 - Jarrett

Of the 10 years, Earnhardt and Gordon won 7 of the titles. The decade was dominated by these two. Yet despite Earnhardt winning more titles, Gordon won 49 races to Earnhardt's 35 during the 90s.

It was a competitive rivalry that brought tons and tons of fan support to the sports. I personally starting following NASCAR because of this rivalry and because of Jeff Gordon.

Gordon-Earnhardt was better

Rudedog: Thankful said 01/24, 04:11 PM
Well that argument left a lot to be desired, yet you caught up to me in vote totals. Hmmm.

All you're doing is repeating yourself and not really giving out new information. The difference between your rivalry comparisons is that Earnhardt-Gordon thrust their sport into the mainstream. It wasn't totally because of them it became popular, but that was pretty big reason.

Slater-Irons may have been a great rivalry, but it did nothing for their sport. I honestly couldn't tell you a surfer outside of Kelly Slater and I had no idea about this rivalry.

But lots of people know about the Gordon-Earnhardt rivalry. And that's the difference. It meant more to the sport and it did more for the sport.

If your biggest point is Slater coming out of retirement, then that's not much. Surfing isn't exactly the most physically demanding sport, so it wasn't like he was defying the odds Brett Favre style.

Good TD, but I think I gotcha on this one