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Message: [QUOTE="Townie72, post: 376847, member: 780"] Seems to me that before you can tell whether a "Rivalry" exists, you have to define what a "Rivalry" is and what it is not. You might try and answer the question, "You can tell its a real rivalry when ..." Let me suggest some Rivalry Tests: 1. You can tell its a real rivalry when if you lose that game the season cannot be viewed as a success or not-much-of-a-success. For example if Auburn goes 10-2 and one of the losses is to Alabama their season has not been a real success in the eyes of the fans. Or if Florida State has a bad year (e.g. 4-8) but beats Florida, is the season considered a success? 2. You can tell its a real rivalry if you talk about that year's game with the opponent way before game week. Army v. Navy is the best example. I think we were getting to the Rivalry stage with Virginia Tech. SU v. Georgetown during the 1980's and early 1990's would be a good example of a true rivalry that SU fans might understand. Talking with Rutgers fans about rivalries is like talking to hogs about Easter Sunday. They have no understanding of the concept. They think Princeton was a rival and Princeton has no idea Rutgers exists. Princeton thinks Yale, Harvard and Penn are their rivals. Games that are really just part of the schedule that don't pass either test aren't rivalries. They are just games with particularly annoying opposing fans. You can then lay out what causes a "rivalry" to exist. How does one come about? Seems to me you have to have a period in which there are a great deal of very meaningful games that decide championships of bowls or NCAA berths. You have to have a lot of games that are "knock down, drag out' battles. Look at SU vs. GU during the 80's. Many of those games were wars. You have to have some villains and heroes of these games. Like Michael Graham and Pearl. Anybody that thinks that Rutgers is an SU rival has the rivary bar set way too low. [/QUOTE]

Verification: What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?