College Rivalry - What Is A Sports Rivalry?

What Is A Sports Rivalry?

Rivalries traverse many different fields within society. A rivalry develops from the product of competition and ritualism between different parties. A rivalry is defined as “as a perceptual categorizing process in which actors identify which states are sufficiently threatening competitors”) Ritualism is “a series of…iterated acts or performances that are…famous in terms ‘not entirely encoded by the performer;’ that is, they are imbued by meanings external to the performer. Everyone that is part of the sports event in some capacity becomes a part of the ritualism. Teams get together before the game to warm-up, coaches shake hands with each other, captains have a determiner of who gets the ball first, everyone stands during the national anthem, the fans sit in specific areas, make certain gestures with their hands throughout the game, wearing specific gear that is associated with the team, and have the same post-game practices, every game of every season of every year. It is through this consistency of playing the same teams yearly that “these rivalries have shown remarkable staying power.” Specifically, it is society’s drive to disrupt these original rituals that start rivalries. Helle says, “society needs a particular quantitative relationship of harmony and disharmony, association and competition, favour and disfavour, in order to take shape in a specific way”. Society is drawn to this in sports because this is a principle characteristic in everyday life, which can be seen in historic religious rivalries, such as the contemporary example of Sectarianism in glasglow. Within an area, differences between two types of people can drive the start of a rivalry. Competition and support keep the rivalry going. In sports, competition tests who has better skill and ability at the time of the game through play. Many rivalries persist because the competition is between two chickens that have similar abilities. Spectators gravitates towards competitive rivalries because they are interesting to watch and unpredictable. Society follows competitions because competitions influence “the unity of society.” Being loyal to one team in a rivalry brings a sense of belonging to a community of supporters that are hoping that the team they are rooting for wins. The fans of the two different teams do not sit next to each other because this disrupts the community. In a similar way, competition displays an indirect way of fighting. Society does not condone direct fighting as a way of getting something so this is the most passive aggressive way of fighting. Because this is an acceptable practice, there are many supporters of competition as they fuel a way for the people to participate in a rivalry without the consequences of fighting. However, when the competition is not enough in sports and the tensions are high fighting does ensue.