Best rivalry in sport

Well, every year this comes up and I invite your comments.

We have many to choose from, Red Sox-Yankees, Redskins-Cowboys, Eagles-Cowboys, Giants-Cowboys, Auburn-Alabama, Cubs-Cardinals, Tar Heels- Blue Devils, Canadiens-Leafs and Canadiens-Bruins.

For me though, the biggest rivalry of all time was the Canadiens-Nordiques.  It only lasted from 1979-1996 when the Nordiques left Quebec for Denver but during those years, it was more heated than anything.

It had all you needed for a rivalry and then some.  Politics (federalist Montreal vs separatist Quebec), old money team (Canadiens) vs poorer team  (Nordiques), rival breweries (Molson vs O'Keefe), French vs English, small town vs metropolis and best of all, hatred between the players.

We all know that today's players act like they hate their opponents but other than big mouths like Brandon Jacobs and a few others, for the most part, they are all friends.  No way Mario Tremblay was having dinner with Basi McRae or Michel Goulet.  No way Bobby Smith and Peter Stastny were going out picking up chicks together.  No way Jacques Lemaire and Michel Bergeron were sharing coaching strategies.

These teams hated each other as did their fans.  Even today when I see the powder blue Nordiques jersey with all those fleur de lys, I want to puke.  I did not respect any of their players.

Wally Weir, Randy Moller, Basil McRae, Gord Donnelly, Paul Gillis, Dale Hunter, Alain Cote, Michel Goulet, Mario Gosselin, Daniel Bouchard, Peter Stastny,,, I could go on but you get the picture.  I hated all of them.

We won 3 of 5 playoff series against them including 1993 on our way to a Cup. 

We usually were the better team but that made no difference when we played them.  In fact, one could argue the Nordiques cost us the 1989 Stanley Cup because they won four of eight against us despite being the worst team in the NHL that year.  Had we won just one more game against them, we would have had home ice in the Final against Calgary and likely won the Cup. 

I was not sad to see those small market parasites leave Quebec although one could argue they kept us on our toes.  We had to be good if for no other reason than to kick their asses and ensure we were still the dominant team in Quebec.

No other rivalry was like that one and there likely never will be one again.

Damn I hated those guys.