Okay, but are you implying that the Bears exist now? 
We eat Bears and cheeseheads for breakfast! Packers Schmackers!
I agree with that. Who in heaven’s name would want to watch a final between the Florida Panthers and Phoenix Coyotes? Hockey has WAY too many teams right now and I think the cause was for the past several years the only way the league made money was on expansion fees.
From my perspective, THE rivalry is Michigan vs. Michigan State.
Also, the Winnipeg Jets ended up in Phoenix, and the Minnesota North Stars went south to become the Dallas Stars.
Now, i’m not sure whether Phoenix or Dallas really qualify as tourist cities (i know they’re not top on my list for a weekend break), but they are certainly examples of teams moving out of hockey towns and into new, larger, hot-weather cities.
At least when the Nordiques moved, they went to a place that actually gets plenty of ice and snow.
just a minor correction to some posts, it’s Celtic v rangers, never the other way round!
OK, to bring some semblence of order to this thread, let’s try and get the best rivalry in each sport and then pit those against each other:
Baseball - New York vs Boston. Very intense rivalry, they’re in the same division so they play each other a lot. Lots of history.
NBA - Toughie. 15 years ago it would have been Boston and LA hands down. But the Celtics have collapsed since then and the C’s aren’t even on the radar anymore. Nowadays, all the “rivalries” are very shortlived. Sacramento and LA just popped up but that didn’t start until 2002 and it’s pretty much over with now. I might have to go with San Antonio and LA currently.
NFL - Toughie. I dunno.
NHL - I don’t follow hockey too much, but I know that Denver and Detroit don’t like each other.
Premier League - Beats me.
Euro League - Beats me.
Rugby - Beats me.
Lakers v. Celtics (NBA)
Orchid v. Spinal (Killer Instinct)
Petty v. Pearson (NASCAR classic)
As I see it for American sports the best us vs. them games are these:
MLB
- Chicago Cubs v. St. Louis Cardinals
- NY Yankees vs. Boston. It be no. 1 if the Red Sox ever beat the Yankees in the post season or when it counted.
- Los Angeles vs. San Francisco. I loved the story about when Pac Bell Park opened and the advertisement with the huge 3 fingered baseball glove beyond the outfield fence was displayed, someone asked where the 4th finger was and the answer was “We gave it to LA.”
NFL
- Chicago vs. Green Bay
- Dallas vs. Washington
NHL
I have no idea. Colorado vs. Detroit, NY Rangers vs. NY Islanders, Montreal vs Toronto are the contenders, I guess
NBA
None at present. Boston vs. LA Lakers and Boston vs. Philly for historical purposes.
NCAA Football
- Ohio State vs. Michigan
- Florida State vs. Miami
- Florida vs. Georgia
- Texas vs Oklahoma
- Oklahoma vs. Nebraska (bring back the annual game!)
- Notre Dame vs Anybody, when Notre Dame is good that is.
- Kent State vs. Akron
NCAA Hoops
- Duke vs. North Carolina
2-100 None else are even close.
NFL: Steelers-Browns (either version)
I gotta think that when a sports rivalry includes a body count, that we’ve found a winner. 
Yeah, but it wasn’t on the field of play, so it doesn’t really count.
The ones I am personally involved in:
Dodgers 
vs Giants :mad:
USC vs UCLA If they would just relocate the USC campus to Brentwood, all would be right with the world. You have no idea how polarizing this game is in Southern California.
Soccer rivalries:
Premier League: I’d add Man U - Leeds United to the aforementioned rivalries. It’s been pretty nasy over the years.
Scottish League: Celtic - Rangers
La Liga (Spain): Real Madrid - Barcelona.
Serie A (Italy): Roma - Lazio
Argentina: Boca Juniors - River Plate
Brazil: Corinthians - Palmeiras
International: Brazil - Argentina; Scotland - England; Italy - the Ecuadoran referee Byron Moreno (oh, wait, that’s a national vendetta, not a rivalry).
Of all these, I think Celtic - Rangers easily ranks as the most heated rivalry.
NBA - I don’t think Detroit and the NY Nicks send each other Christmas cards.
May I humbly add Cal vs Stanford. Never makes the national radar, but it means a lot to me. And it gave us the certified best college play ever, according to ESPN.
Go Bears.
Not to mention the Civil War - Oregon v. Oregon St. (NCAA football). Never been to the state, but it seems to be a massive rivalry.
Has Nebraska v. Colorado been mentioned? I’d also mention Notre Dame v. Boston College, but I wouldn’t want to get all the BC fans excited thinking that someone actually thinks that’s a rivalry!
The biggest sporting rivalry of all has to be India Vs Pakistan at cricket. When they play each other in a one-day game, the TV audience is estimated to be larger than the population of Europe.
People keep bringing this up.
Why is it such a big deal? Give the particulars, por favor.
So let me get this straight. Yankees v Red Sox would be number one if the Red Sox ever beat the Yankees. But your actual number one is Cubs v Cards?
Explain that logic to me. At least the Sox have been to the World Series since WWII.
I think Dodgers vs. Giants is underrated. They’ve been playing each other since 1884 for Pete’s sake! If they were still in New York, this would be number one, hands down.
Ditka v. a hurricane
USA vs. USSR
A dead rivalry now but what a rivalry while it lasted.
Hockey -
Toronto/Montreal - Like it or not, it’s the biggest.
Toronto/Ottawa, Colorado/Detroit, NY/NY would be contenders
Golf -
Jack Nichlaus/Arnold Palmer (unless I missed it somewhere)
Golf:
Els - Woods