Rivalries

As I was perusing the sports section of USA Today I stumbled on this article about sports rivalries. Its authors argue that the idea of a "rivalry" has become overused (kind of like the word "epic" or the hashtag YOLO...per me, not them) and watered down. So, in order to clarify they lay outline the five conditions of being an elite rivalry: (Source)

1.) Meetings between the two teams are appointment television for sports fans nationwide, 

regardless of fandom.

2.) Both teams are generally near the top of the standings in the last five years - the rivalry games have to actually mean something.

3.) Teams must meet every year.

4.) Both teams need to be located near each other. Proximity is the key to an animosity existing among fanbases between games.

5.) Teams may only have one true rivalry counted

Given all the above-mentioned, the article concluded there's only five true elite rivalries in sports:

All that to say, this article got me thinking, about the true, elite rivalries in my own life. Considering the aforementioned criteria, I've come up with five:

1.) Team phone call vs. Team text message

Talk about proximity, these two teams have to battle it out on the reg, considering they operate from the same device. And no matter your fandom, cell phone users, including myself, are tuning into their devices nationwide considering neither task can be completed without doing so.

I'm all about the text message, until that text message becomes too long and I don't feel like typing it out. In that case, the phone call comes out on top. 

2.) Team Nate vs. Team javelina

Make no mistake, Nate's killed a pig or two in his day...

...but just the other night he declared "Those f***ers are easy to kill, but they're so damn hard to find. They get me every time." Nate filled both his pig tags last year...for the win. 0 for 1 in 2014 so far.

3.) Team Carissa vs. Team gynecologist 

If animosity is what's required for an elite rivalry, I don't know anything else I loathe more in life than that-which-shall-not-be-named, am I right ladies??

This rivalry meets every year, once a year, and it's safe to say that it always means something. You know, test results and stuff...it's not a trophy but I'd say it's pretty important. Since it's kind of hard to get out of this one, I'd say unfortunately, it's Team gyno for the win.

4.) Team Peta vs. Team Gale

...because nothing says "rivalry" more than a love triangle right smack in the middle of a battle to the death. All of Panem tunes into watch the Hunger Games, and since you can see these two faces for yourself, you know they're both at the top of the standings in the game for Katniss' heart.
(p.s. don't tell me who wins, I haven't read the 3rd book yet!)

5.) Team cold vs. Team hot    

Climate in my household is an ongoing battle, much like the ongoing rivalries of those mentioned above, except instead of convening every year play, Team cold and Team hot meet roughly every 12 hours - when the temperature drops and it should be time to turn the heater on. Nate thinks his team (team hot) should always win because if you're cold (i.e. me), you can add layers, whereas if you're hot, you can only take so many layers off until you're sitting there in your birthday suit, still sweating. 

Sounds like a personal problem.

And there you have it. Five rivalries that make my life interesting. Or annoying, one or the other.

Linking up with Sarah for Fan Friday!