What a week it was. The Pennsylvania State University community found itself in one of the most controversial scandals in sports history. Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was kidnapped in Venezuela (which, amazingly, received minimal media time due to the Penn State situation). Other notable stories from this week include me almost perishing due to food poisoning and Hanover weather shifting from being 60 degrees out to snowing within a matter of 24 hours.
To finish this week of grand events, the New England Patriots squared off against the New York Jets on Sunday night. I have friends who are Pats and Jets fans, and the tension between them had been building all week. Just watching them interact, especially during pong games, was surreal. They shout obscenities for no immediate reason, just due to the fact that they are fans of very different teams. Now that the game is finished and logged away into the annals of sports history, I am sure the friendships will build back up again, but you can bet the first three to four days will be very rocky.
Rivalries add spice to any sports team's schedule. Teams go about their season playing different teams and taking their wins and losses, but everything changes when a rivalry game is around the corner. Interviews with the media get much shorter, as players only make brief statements regarding their rival's ineptitude on the field or court. Players spend more time getting treatment to make sure they are best able to compete against their dear foes, and coaches spend preparing to assure a victory for their team and their fan base.
Just yesterday, the University of Miami traveled to Tallahassee to face its biggest rival, Florida State University. Several of my friends back home made the trek from Miami to the state capital to root for their team, and to have the chance to trash-talk FSU fans. My Facebook news feed was blowing up with inflammatory comments and predictions for this game all week, which I must say was a bit annoying. The Hurricanes ended up losing a close game to the Seminoles, leading to depressed fans posting depressing existential statuses and questioning their role in life now that their hometown team lost.
Fans that just care about their hometown team during a rivalry game can be called fair-weather or bandwagon fans, but I believe that if they care enough about a particular game to become the "seventh-man" by cheering their team to victory, then they should go for it.
Every team loves to see a full stadium or arena with fans rooting and chanting, especially if it's during a rivalry game. In high school, our basketball gym and football field which are quite nice weren't large enough to fit the expected crowd. Games were therefore played at a nearby university, fitting many more people. Even then, however, the games would sell out and the noise levels would be out of control. You could be sure that at least two-thirds of the student body would lose their voices at every game because of all the yelling and chanting, and that is exactly what makes rivalries so special.
I came to Dartmouth knowing sports weren't the biggest attraction here (except for pong, that is). Yet when it comes to rivalry games, the student body knows how to get riled up. Whether it's hockey games against Princeton or football games against Harvard, baseball games against Columbia or rugby games against Army, you will definitely see a demonstration of school pride coming from many of the students. The Big Green's sports venues during these games could be confused with those at smaller state schools because of the noise level, and it's all due to the excitement that rivalry games bring, even at Dartmouth.
The Pats-Jets rivalry game ushered this hectic week to an end, although the effects of the matchup will surely spill into next week. The love one has for his or her team exacerbates the magnitude of a rivalry game. Be sure to draw up some snazzy shirts for when the next rivalry game happens at Dartmouth, and show the Big Green pride that is so popular around the country ... or maybe just in the Upper Valley.