Pyle of List

This Sunday is the annual Brady v. Manning bowl. What, you hadn’t heard? You must not own a TV…or an internet machine. This is the yearly occurrence when everyone debates who is better, and then pretends that the outcome of those debates will really bother Pey Pey or Tommy Boy.

The truth of the matter is, they are both multi-millionaires who probably respect what the other does very much.

But respect doesn’t sell airtime. So now we get to hear about this “rivalry” that has sprung up between the two best QBs for the last decade and their respective teams. And that got us thinking: what other rivalries have cropped up on the sports radar since Y2K? Here are some of our favorites. Enjoy!

Red Sox v. Devil Rays

Tired of all the attention payed to the Yankees/Red Sox every year? Apparently, so were the Rays! Tired of being the bastard child of the AL East, they decided to throw themselves into the fray by throwing themselves into the fray…literally. And there is no more perfect of a foil for them than the Red Sox. Red Sox nation will be pissed to no end that you threw “Youk” to the ground, and the rest of the nation will get your back because, well, eff Boston!

City of Cleveland v. City of New York

Listen, Cleveland doesn’t have much going for it right now. The Browns are terrible, the Indians are rebuilding yet again, and I don’t even care enough about hockey to look up if they have a team. And don’t forget the smell. But they do have one thing: Bron Bron. The savior, who grew up in Ohio and is now poised to lead the Cavs to the promised land that Michael Jordan hid from them like some grail that is holy. But wait, what’s this?! The city of New York is trying to steal him away? How dare they! What, you think your stylish hats and rap moguls are better than…Drew Carey? The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? How dare you, NYC!

Phillip Rivers v. Jay Cutler

This one might very well be my favorite. On one side you have a southern QB who screams at refs, opponents, fans…you name it. Rivers is loud and in your face. Kind of like Poochie, the rocking dog, except less rasta. Cutler, on the other hand, looks like he could care less about football. Look at him, sulking around the sidelines. You know who I blame? The parents. “Stop fighting in the stands, mom and dad!”. But these two used to face each other twice a year, and would not mince words about how much disdain they held for the other. Gosh, I’m going to miss those games.

USC v. Notre Dame

Now I know this season has been a bit of a bust for both teams. We have come to expect near perfection from ‘SC and we all thought that this was the year that ND finally found its way. Well that hasn’t really panned out. BUT, this game was still a big one this season. It was the barometer for both teams to see if they could still salvage something this season. In the last few years though, pretty much since Charlie left the Patriots to bring his “genius” to the college game, that this became a huge game every year. Of course we are all used to SC beating the crap out of ND and even though we don’t like acknowledging that we root for Trojans, who would rather root for the team that produced Brady Quinn?

Packers v.  Vikings

Ok, these two have been going at it in the NFC north for a long time. But the fact that the viking started to get good again in the last few seasons, and now the whole Favre thing has really put the spice back in this rivalry. The Packers look at Favre like the colonials looked at Benedict Arnold……. Not hitting with that one? Ok well it’s bad. They feel like they gave him all the love and support and he just up and ran out on them. Sadly their own management is just as guilty as Farve is for the break up. Luckily for the rest of us though it has lead to two great showdown games. So hopefully Favre will be back next year, after the obligatory retirement, then texting, then eventual return and we can help ourselves to another helping of the drama pie being readily served out by #4.

Nick Saban v. Urban Meyer

You’d be hard pressed to find a more modern sports rivalry than this.  Both took over former powerhouse teams and after only one season got them back in the national spotlight.  Meyer by throttling Ohio State to win a national championship; Saban by going undefeated in the regular season to set up a match-up with one-loss but steamrolling Florida in the SEC Championship game last year.

That was the first time these two coaches had every faced each other, and the game was hyped up beyond belief.  And the crazy thing is…it totally lived up to it.  Despite knowing the outcome, I watched the whole thing on Tivo.  It was that good.

Part of what makes for a great rivalry are the stakes involved.  And barring any huge missteps the new few games, these teams will play for the second year in a row with a trip to the national title game on the line.  That’s great football right there.

Got some that we forgot? Leave them in the comments!