Rivalry games bring out good competition
By
Stephen Forsha-sforsha@gmail.com
If you like competitive, fair, but tough competition, Week 10 of the NFL season is the thing to watch this weekend.
For starters, the Cincinnati Bengals are facing heated rival and defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh, with a stake of first place on the line.
I am not fan of either team; in fact, I like the NFC better in the NFL, but that aside, this game should be a fun one to watch. The Bengals obtained the upper hand earlier this year by defeating the Steelers, in Cincinnati.
The game I am looking forward to the most though, in what has been billed as the Rivalry of the Decade, is the Sunday night game between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots.
Sure the Colts and Pats played each other before this decade, but with each team having probably one of the all-time greatest quarterbacks on their respective side, that in itself, makes the rivalry even better.
Any game involving New England quarterback Tom Brady, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and Super Bowl XLI champion and three-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning, that is must see TV.
This rivalry was dominated by the Patriots early in the decade, as they won the first six meetings, keeping the Colts out of the Super Bowl on two separate occasions.
Indianapolis turned it into a rivalry matchup by winning a regular season game, and then Manning and Co. finally defeated the Pats in the ’06 AFC Championship game.
That is what is so good about rivalries; it can bring out the best and worst in all participants involved. Both Brady and Manning have played some of their best games against each other, but also have had some of their worst games they have played in their professional careers.
Isn’t that what tough, rivalry games are about? These types of games coming up Sunday are also about the competition.
As for competition, isn’t that why most of us watch sports? There is nothing wrong with competition, and I for one, love competition. If it is throwing a baseball, playing pickup basketball or even fantasy sports, winning is the name of the game (which I rarely do), but winning fairly and playing by the rules makes it more gratifying for the winner.
The competition in a rivalry usually escalates to a higher degree, and if things are treated on the up-and-up, then those are the types of rivalries fans of any sport come to respect and remember, like the Colts vs. Patriots, and Steelers vs. Bengals this weekend.
Maybe the late Howard Cosell said it best: “The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.”
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com[[In-content Ad]]
For starters, the Cincinnati Bengals are facing heated rival and defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh, with a stake of first place on the line.
I am not fan of either team; in fact, I like the NFC better in the NFL, but that aside, this game should be a fun one to watch. The Bengals obtained the upper hand earlier this year by defeating the Steelers, in Cincinnati.
The game I am looking forward to the most though, in what has been billed as the Rivalry of the Decade, is the Sunday night game between the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots.
Sure the Colts and Pats played each other before this decade, but with each team having probably one of the all-time greatest quarterbacks on their respective side, that in itself, makes the rivalry even better.
Any game involving New England quarterback Tom Brady, a three-time Super Bowl champion, and Super Bowl XLI champion and three-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning, that is must see TV.
This rivalry was dominated by the Patriots early in the decade, as they won the first six meetings, keeping the Colts out of the Super Bowl on two separate occasions.
Indianapolis turned it into a rivalry matchup by winning a regular season game, and then Manning and Co. finally defeated the Pats in the ’06 AFC Championship game.
That is what is so good about rivalries; it can bring out the best and worst in all participants involved. Both Brady and Manning have played some of their best games against each other, but also have had some of their worst games they have played in their professional careers.
Isn’t that what tough, rivalry games are about? These types of games coming up Sunday are also about the competition.
As for competition, isn’t that why most of us watch sports? There is nothing wrong with competition, and I for one, love competition. If it is throwing a baseball, playing pickup basketball or even fantasy sports, winning is the name of the game (which I rarely do), but winning fairly and playing by the rules makes it more gratifying for the winner.
The competition in a rivalry usually escalates to a higher degree, and if things are treated on the up-and-up, then those are the types of rivalries fans of any sport come to respect and remember, like the Colts vs. Patriots, and Steelers vs. Bengals this weekend.
Maybe the late Howard Cosell said it best: “The ultimate victory in competition is derived from the inner satisfaction of knowing that you have done your best and that you have gotten the most out of what you had to give.”
Stephen Forsha is the sports editor of The Highland County Press. He can be reached at sforsha@gmail.com[[In-content Ad]]