Do We Have a Rivalry with Philly?

About a week and a half ago, I was in a hurry so I grabbed a quick meal in my school's cafeteria, and on TV was sportscenter. They were showing the Baseball races and I was watching it, and this guy next to me started cursing about the Mets and tried to see if I agreed with him that they stunk and that the Phillies were better.

I turned around and then he realized I was wearing a Carlos Beltran shirt and quickly “apologized” and started talking about how the Mets' and the Phillies' rivalry is good for baseball.

Looking back at that conversation, where I spent most of my time nodding my head in polite agreement, not wanting to get in a debate in fear of missing my next class, I think I really should have told him what I think at that moment. The Mets and the Phillies do not have a full blown rivalry like he was describing. The competetive nature that comes between the two teams is mostly due to a) they are both good at this moment in time and b) Philly and New York are close, but its only a proximity issue that makes it a rivarly.

The reason I came to this conclusion is I judged my own reactions over the past few years when I pass someone wearing a hat or a shirt from the Phils compared to someone wearing one of the Braves. I normally want to Puke when I see the Phils, but thats mainly because its a reminder of 2007. When I see a Braves hat though, its an entirely different feeling that starts to swarm inside of me. Its very hard to put in words but its like every part of my body wants to be better than that person soley because he or she is a Braves fan. Once I saw these differences in emotions, it became clear to me that although I do not like Philly, and I always want to beat them, it is nothing like beating the Braves.

Even when the Mets were bad, when they played the Braves, there was a different feeling in air than when they would play the Phils. That makes our relationship with the Braves a rivalry. No matter where the other team is in the standings, no matter the season, there is this complete and total feeling of wanting a domination of the other team. In my opinon, the Braves are our rivals, not the Phillies.