Death of Tradition
Remember the days of the great rivalries in the SEC, when it was not just you and your neighbor who discussed the soon to be played game between the powers of good and evil, but was on the minds of the entire country. The stories I have heard from my father about the great matchups between Tennessee and Alabama. The truly great matchups that left a hate in your blood that would just boil. The competitions were often ferocious and fought until the last whistle blew, often with more significance than in-state bragging rights for the rest of the year. The Iron Bowl and the Egg Bowl are played every year and are talked about from the week before pre-season starts until the stadium is empty after the game. Rivalries are a difficult thing to come by these days though and the question is where did they go? It is hard to find a rivalry in the SEC that really stands out because every game matters so much to the most passionate fan base in sports.
The truly elite leagues have those great rivalries that people know and talk about from year to year. The Ohio State and Michigan game, North Carolina and Duke, and the Notre Dame versus anybody with all of these being examples of hate fan bases by their opponent. When was the last time that there was a truly good rivalry in the SEC because the only one that comes to mind is Tennessee and Florida? Now, what made that such a truly passionate and great rivalry? Was it the Old Ball Coach and Fulmer? If that was the case why didn’t it matter when Spurrier came back to college football at South Carolina? Could it have been that Spurrier was from Johnson City, Tennessee, a mere 105 miles down the road from Neyland Stadium. I personally think it was that both programs were peaking and the personal differences between the coaches might have also played a small part. But, we have also lost other rivalries such as the Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party between Georgia and Florida. One would think with Saban spurning LSU for the pros and coming back to Alabama that hatred would emerge as second nature and a rivalry would ensue but, alas, nothing noteworthy has come forth. Football rivalries can make a league stronger than it is, and the mighty and all powerful SEC could use the publicity and respect a great rivalry brings. The only coach in the league in recent times that brought out that kind of loathing from opposing fan bases was the horrible and despicable Lane Kiffin.
Lane Kiffin was so despised that even Tennessee fans were glad to see him go, but he was always quick to point the finger and this key attribute can be exactly what is needed to start a new glorious rivalry. However, there is no one in the league currently who will spurn another program the way the SEC needs in order to have a rivalry ensue. We have coaches move from school to school without a justifiable rivalry following them. For example, Tuberville and Nutt have both switched schools in the SEC without resentment from the previous schools fan bases that could have led to noteworthy rivalries. When the Babe left Beantown for the Bronx, he ignited one of the most heralded and controversial rivalries in sports, so why doesn’t that same scenario apply in the SEC? Houston Nutt brought Arkansas back to relevance on the backs of Darren McFadden and Felix Jones, but when they left and the pressure heated up, he skipped town quicker than Natural Light turns to piss. Now just reading that makes me a little annoyed, but in reality the true rivalry spirit has been lacking at the past Ole Miss and Arkansas games. The thing to consider is that every game in the SEC has the fanatics that end up on ESPN for their showmanship, but for there to be a rivalry more than that need to show for it to stand out. Back in the Tennessee and Florida days when the game was in Gainesville, the Florida student body would hurl quarters at Tennessee fans. Now in no way am I encouraging such irresponsible behavior, but if you hate someone so much that you believe it is justifiable to hurl quarters at the backs of heads, then you are the ingredient it takes to have one hellacious rivalry.
The only chance of great rivalries we have for now is in basketball, and it is all thanks to John Calipari, who has that incredible ability to get under the skin of every opposing coach in college basketball. The magnetic draw of the Bruce Pearl and John Calipari confrontations will become something of legend and lore. Calipari will get under Andy Kennedy’s skin once he steals all Ole Miss’s recruits from the plush Memphis area, which has been like an orchard ready for the picking with hidden Gems. Calipari’s ability to pilfer a recruit is legendary, just ask the University of Washington. Once he starts poaching recruits from Georgia, Alabama, Florida, and Louisiana just wait and see how long it takes for the uproar to ensue. If it wasn’t for John Calipari we wouldn’t have a great war-between-the-states type of rivalry coming to the SEC for a long time but, luckily, we do. Hopefully, his despicable tactics will breed a rivalry that will be so powerful that it will drift from the basketball court up into the stands and, ultimately, into the hearts of the fans.
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