A sports rivalry is defined as “intense competition between athletic teams or athletes.” This is a very broad definition and it does not appear to cover the true meaning of a rivalry. Rivalry games are always more intense than other games, they mean more to both the players on the field and the fans in the stands. Beating a hated rival provides fans with bragging rights that are comparable to nothing else while losing to a rival gives the fans an unbearable pain as well as a fear of going to school or work on Monday.

We all have our favorite teams and along with cheering for these teams, we learn to hate their rivals. However, what makes these hated teams “rivals?” Is a rival a team that shares the same geographic region? Or, is a rival a team that may be in the same division as your favorite team and is always competing for the division title? Are rivals two teams that may not play often, but have rich histories and possibly only meet in championships? Can teams truly have multiple rivals?

Local rivalries are always fun for territorial bragging rights, but sometimes both local teams are not equal as competitors. If one team is clearly better than the other and always seems to win, I do not feel that it is a true rival. If both teams are on a level playing field, but are both bad it may be a good game and provide the fans with bragging right, but what is the point if nobody cares and the results of the game do not matter? Territorial rivals are only as good as the teams that participate. If a region has two teams that tend to be towards the top of the standings and both are able to beat each other then the area has a true rivalry that is able to be enjoyed by both sets of fans. Yes, we all want our team to win all the time, but rivalry games are not nearly as fun if we know our team will win or if we have to pray for the upset.

Divisional foes are sometimes the best types of rivals because of the importance of the game. Watching a game where a postseason berth is on the line makes a rivalry game all the more dramatic. This is what gives so much appeal to rivalries such as the Red-Sox and the Yankees as well as Ohio State and Michigan. Both of these sets of rivals always compete with something on the line. There have been plenty of postseason series involving the Red-Sox and Yankees that add to the rivalry. The Ohio-State and Michigan football game usually decides the winner of the Big-10 Conference. The bigger the magnitude of the game, the more intense the rivalry.

What about teams in opposite conferences, but are each rich in tradition? Rivals such as the Celtics and the Lakers or Notre Dame and USC have plenty of appeal to historians and true fans of the teams, but lack the appeal to the casual fan. Although these games may be fun to watch, the true significance of the rivalry may be lost to the casual fans as well as the younger fans.

Boston took 38 free throw attempts compared to the Lakers 10 last night. 38-10, you have got to be kidding me? There is no way a game should be that unbalanced especially when people talk about Boston's great defense that plays physical and all that othet stuff that the Boston D gets praised for. I already know that Boston fans will say the officiating was fine, but you can not convince me that a team is able to play tough physical defense without committing a foul? It just doesn't add up. Honestly, besides the technical free throw the Lakers get one free throw attempt in the first half???? WOW. Lean Powe got more free throw attempts that the Lakers!!!!!!

Any thoughts?

Big players make big plays in big games. Kevin Garnett shrinks and dissappears constantly in the 4th quarter of games and he did it again las night in game 1 of the Finals. As KG went to the line in the first quarter the crowd began chanting "MVP." Why? The guy is an amazing player for the first three quarters. Last night he hit one field goal in the fourth quarter and had a stretch where he missed 10 of 11 from the field. Yes, it is just one game but Kevin Garnett is always invisible in the fourth quarter box score.

The other thing that bothers me about Garnett are all the fadeways and the jumpshots. KG, you are 6' 11. GO INSIDE!!!!!!!! Someone that has that kind of size has no business pretending that they are a guard. Garnett needs to learn to attack the rim and score some points in the paint. Among forwards in the NBA, Garnett ranked 45th in field goal percentage this year. Why? because he shoots to many jumpshots and does not command the paint the way centers and power forwards are supposed to.

KG, you are 6'11 not 5'11 let Ray Allen and Paul Pierce shoot the jumpers.