Do Players Really Care About Rivalries? - Joe Chacon's Blog

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Joe Chacon's Blog

Do Players Really Care About Rivalries? Stuck

Posted on December 12, 2012 at 02:12 AM.

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I often read and hear about players "back in the day" that bled the colors of their team. Every sport has great rivalries on paper, but do the players really care about them anymore?

I've longed thought about this topic, but the recent news of Kevin Youkilis signing with the Yankees brought it to the forefront for me again.

Sure, Youkilis isn't the best of examples. The long time Boston Red Sox player was traded to the Chicago White Sox during the 2012 season. Youkilis was involved in many rivalry games with the Yankees between 2004 and 2012.

Not many, if any, Red Sox fans could fathom the idea of Youk wearing pinstripes during his heyday with the team. Sure enough, time goes on and the player has found the best situation available for himself.

There's also the issue of Boston trading Youkilis away last season, which couldn't have sat will with the slugger. Perhaps this is Youk's way of throwing up the middle finger to the Boston organization.

As a Dodger fan, I still remember how painful it was to see Orel Hershiser in a San Francisco Giants uniform. Orel despised the Giants during the 80's and early 90's, and there is no way he thought he'd ever wear their uniform.

It's just like you and I. We could hate a rival company, but as the years pass and our options potentially become fewer, we need to take care of ourselves. Even if that means throwing away rivalries and putting the logo of the other company on our business card.

So, no, I don't believe players really respect rivalries much anymore. Then again, the suits running the organizations show us they don't care much for them either by the moves they make.

Sound Off: Are players still as passionate about rivalries as they were a decade or two ago?

Joe Chacon is a staff writer for Operation Sports and a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JoeChacon.

Comments

# 1 Jimbo614 @ Dec 12

Thanks to Free Agency and rules restricting aggressiveness in many of todays sports, many rivalries no longer have the same bite as they used to. A lot of rivalries are now hype created by big money media sources such as ESPN in order to attract ratings.
In the old days, teams didnt need ESPN to tell them who their rivals were. They learned from experiences on the playing field, not watching Sportscenter.
In the 1970's, the Steelers once charged the entire Oakland Raider team with Assault; Oakland retaliated by having the score of their playoff victory over the Steelers engraved on their Super Bowl rings forever. THAT was a rivalry!! Phil Villapiano was NEVER going to put on a Steelers uniform for ANY amount of money.

# 2 Gary Armida @ Dec 12

I think rivalries are really for the fans. The days of players hating each other are largely over because of free agency and changing times. When you go to a Yankees-Red Sox game and see Ortiz laughing with Jeter and Rivera, you know the anger all comes from the fans.

# 3 thescoop @ Dec 12

To a degree I think they do. But they are nowhere as intense as the fans. But yes players will go play for a rival sometimes just to get back at the team.

# 4 Gleebo @ Dec 12

all about the money and opportunity. The media makes more out of it because you have to look for any topic to fill the column.

# 5 onac22 @ Dec 12

I think they are still there but they don't last as long due to Free Agency. Teams grow to despise the players on the other team through intense competition like a playoff series. During a player's time with a team if two groups like Kings and Canucks in the NHL have the same core of player's for a couple of seasons then the rivalry level will increase because of incidents throughout time.

Once these cores break up however due to Free Agency then the rivalries will die down for a bit with that team and may heat up somewhere else. So I think rivalries are just shorter and more intense plus they move from team to team which is also refreshing.

The only real rivalries left are NCAA they are institutional.

# 6 GlennN @ Dec 12

I think they are all gone in professional sports. The players are a fraternity in this day and age. They socialize, they laugh and joke, they bond. The era of rivalries ended with free agency.

# 7 kunner @ Dec 13

I would say that leading up to a game, and during it, that yes, the players do care about the rivalry. But after the game, when you see most of them talking on the field, etc, then it might go away.

I do think that there are some players that the rivalry is still a big thing, just not for as many players as it used to be.