# Was Boca-River Plate the biggest sports showdown in history? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [November 29, 2018, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254 "2018-11-29T07:02:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/21 "2018-11-30T21:01:49Z")
The biggest sports showdown in history was undoubtedly the 1975 CFL (Chicagoland Football League) championship game in which the Newton Nite Hawks\* defeated the Niles Saints. \*you will remember their stellar running back, Lightning Mitchell. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2018, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/22 "2018-11-30T21:16:45Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > I don’t think even Giant fans consider Eli the GOAT. I think you must be confusing him with his brother Peyton, who never faced Brady in the Superbowl. I was being ironic, but no I couldn’t confuse Eli with Peyton (who will almost surely be in the HoF). ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/23 "2018-12-01T02:32:56Z")
I would go with Yale vs Princeton for the final football game in 1888. ---
**Author:** ![russian\_heel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f05b48/32.png) [@russian\_heel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/russian_heel)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/24 "2018-12-01T02:38:21Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > The NFL just doesn’t seem to create the same heated rivalries that college football does. Alabama vs Auburn, Michigan vs Ohio St, Army vs Navy - these are events. NFL games are just important games. Especially in College when teams don’t always regularly meet each other. The Notre Dame v Miami “Catholics v Convicts” showdown in the 80s is a great example. Recently in Philly the Temple-Notre Dame game was a pretty big deal—— Temple wins suddenly they are a top 10 team with a snowballs chance at the Playoff. As it turns out they lost and played the Motor City Bowl. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/25 "2018-12-01T02:47:05Z")
No love for the Miracle on Ice? The Vancouver Olympics is a fucking joke in comparison. Or for that matter, the Summit Series between Canada and the Soviet Union. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/26 "2018-12-01T03:15:53Z")
England v Australia. Pakistan v India in cricket. Germany v Netherlands in soccer. Or Brazil V Argentina. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/27 "2018-12-01T04:40:43Z")
If we’re including individual sports, Ali-Frazier, Robinson-LaMotta, Hearns-Hagler-Leonard, Sampras-Agassi, Nadal-Federer-Djokovic, Nicklaus-Palmer, Tiger-Phil, Ovett-Coe ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/28 "2018-12-01T04:44:49Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > If we’re including individual sports, Ali-Frazier, Robinson-LaMotta, Hearns-Hagler-Leonard, Sampras-Agassi, Nadal-Federer-Djokovic, Nicklaus-Palmer, Tiger-Phil, Ovett-Coe Plus individuals within team sports: Messi-Ronaldo, Bird-Magic, Crosby-Ovechkin ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2018, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/29 "2018-12-01T19:24:42Z")
Well, there goes that idea… > **[River Plate refuse to play Copa final in Madrid](https://www.espn.com/soccer/river-plate/story/3714304/river-plate-refuse-to-play-copa-libertadores-final-vs-boca-juniors-in-madrid)** > > River Plate have released a statement claiming the team won't play in the Copa Libertadores final second leg if the game is held in Spain. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/30 "2018-12-02T20:42:38Z")
Any World Cup final is bigger than ANY national championship in any sport in any country. More than a billion people - at least 25 times the population of Argentina - watched the 2018 final. A World Cup final draws ten times the viewers of a Super Bowl. It’s not a close call. The Miracle on Ice wasn’t even on TV when it was being played. It was a hell of an upset but as a big hyped event, it’s not in the top 10,000 sports events of the 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/31 "2018-12-02T22:05:31Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Any World Cup final is bigger than ANY national championship in any sport in any country. More than a billion people - at least 25 times the population of Argentina - watched the 2018 final. A World Cup final draws ten times the viewers of a Super Bowl. It’s not a close call. > > The Miracle on Ice wasn’t even on TV when it was being played. It was a hell of an upset but as a big hyped event, it’s not in the top 10,000 sports events of the 20th century. Soccer/football (whatever you call it) is the biggest sport in the world so yes, I agree that nothing else is going to come close. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2018, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/32 "2018-12-02T23:22:39Z")
Biggest sports showdown in history? no, it much more important than that 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2018, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/33 "2018-12-03T01:45:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Any World Cup final is bigger than ANY national championship in any sport in any country. More than a billion people - at least 25 times the population of Argentina - watched the 2018 final. A World Cup final draws ten times the viewers of a Super Bowl. It’s not a close call… I can’t tell exactly what is being asked in the OP, but it seems to refer to the greatest rivalries. I’m not sure there have been enough World Cups to have real rivalries between countries. You could point to Brazil-Argentina or Germany-Holland, but they rarely meet in important World Cup games, and never in the World Cup final match. The biggest rivalries are generally within a league for club teams or within a continent for national teams. The OP refers to the Superclassico happening in the finals of the Copa Libertadores. This would be like Real Madrid facing FC Barcelona or Man United playing Liverpool in the final of the Champions League. So if the criterion is to have the most decorated and bitter rivals play for the most prestigious title in their sport, it’s hard to argue with Boca-River in the CL final. ---
**Author:** ![polar\_bear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@polar\_bear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/polar_bear)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2018, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/34 "2018-12-03T08:05:50Z")
1974 was Holland germany in the WC Final. 14 years later it was the semi Final in the European cup. Both tournaments played in germany Verstuurd vanaf mijn moto g(6) met Tapatalk ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2018, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/35 "2018-12-03T11:57:28Z")
> [@Frodo](#): > > Biggest sports showdown in history? no, **it** much more important than that 😛 ITS no it :smack: On the other hand considering the behavior of the fans lately may be talking in caveman language is not out of place… ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2018, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/36 "2018-12-03T13:45:21Z")
Colibri: > [@](#): > > The biggest rivalries are Yankees-Red Sox, Giants-Dodgers, and Cardinals-Cubs. Those that remain, true, but before 1958, Yankees-Dodgers and Yankees-Giants were darned big deals, and they met in the World Series quite a few times. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/37 "2018-12-13T02:53:31Z")
By the way, the Final match was indeed played at the Bernabeu (home of Real Madrid). River Plate (the team that couldn’t play its home game due to fan violence) ended up winning its 4th Copa Libertadores. Interestingly, 4 of the top 5 teams with the most Copa championships are from Argentina, even if Brazil has the top league throughout the history of South American soccer. Independente has the most with 7, followed by Boca Juniors (the 2018 losing team) with 6. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2018, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/38 "2018-12-14T23:53:35Z")
Why would fans sneak flares into a soccer stadium, and why doesn’t such a thing take place in America? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2018, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/39 "2018-12-15T23:25:01Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Why would fans sneak flares into a soccer stadium, and why doesn’t such a thing take place in America? Better funded and more professional security? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2018, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254/40 "2018-12-16T06:38:15Z")
> [@ekedolphin](#): > > Why would fans sneak flares into a soccer stadium, and why doesn’t such a thing take place in America? It’s happened before. [![](https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000zDKrBJ.2BWk/s/750/750/MLSTA111409218.jpg) ](https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000zDKrBJ.2BWk/s/750/750/MLSTA111409218.jpg) I know the current owner of Chicago has tried (succeeded?) in preventing it though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-boca-river-plate-the-biggest-sports-showdown-in-history/825254.md?page=1)