The power of rivalries

Politics may not be kind to rivalries but sports breeds and fosters them to keep passion and interest alive.

In the NBA, there have been the great Boston Celtics-Los Angeles Lakers duels. Each generation of the two teams have had their own versions of sports wars, especially when the squads are loaded with stars and playing for the title.

At home, the Yco-Ysmael rivalry of the MICAA of the 1960s was way ahead of the current media explosion but would fill the old hoop house at Rizal Memorial to the rafters. Fans would follow the late Willie Hernandez’s vibrant radio play-by-play and on TV later on and devour the game stories in print.

The Toyota-Crispa duels of the early PBA years would empty streets because fans were either glued to their TV sets or were at Araneta Coliseum.

College sports has the Ateneo-La Salle and San Beda-Letran rivalries. For a time, University of Santo Tomas and the University of the East had its own intense sports duels but this rivalry seems to have diminished of late.

In individual sports, boxers Muhammad Ali and Joe Fraizer had their trilogy and later, Juan Manuel Marquez and Manny Pacquiao had their own quartet of fierce fights. Tennis had some of the best with Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe battling for major titles the way Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal do today.

The objective of the game is to win and a familiar rival seems to bring out the best in athletes. Ali lost the first fight against Fraizer, rebounded in the second and went through 15 rounds of torture to win the third. Fraizer hated the way Ali touted him in public to build interest in the fights. Ali apologized years later but the proud Fraizer took time to understand the loquacious Ali.

There are the delightful moments like the recent pictures and stories of Nadal and Federer teaming up for doubles in the Laver Cup team competition between Team World and Team Europe. There have been unforgettable matches between the two but there is clearly a mutual respect that draws out the best from the two greats. The mutual admiration seems sincere and is not merely a script that each one follows.

For a sport to succeed, a rivalry rooted in passion must exist. It cannot be forced or simply marketed. Rivalries stem from a drive for excellence and fate can be generous at times, when two athletes or teams simply match up and rise to the occasion over time.