Morning Extras: Who is Philly's Biggest Rival?

This is not a new topic by any means, but it comes on the heels of our good friends at Mr. Irrelevant posting this photo over the weekend. I don't know how we missed it, but in our defense it was posted on Sunday and we were in the midst of kissing our sisters. Or the Bengals were kissing our sisters. Whatever.

Some person in Virginia spent MONEY to have this license plate. Really? PHK-FLLY? You hate Philadelphia that much, you're getting that on your license plate? Who are you, this guy?

It's clear someone in the DC area hates Philly. So it does introduce the question...who is Philly's biggest rival?

There are two ways rivalries are born – regional proximity of division teams and consistent competition on the largest stage of play. That's why for many years the Lakers and Celtics had a better rivalry than say, the Lakers and Clippers or why for a few years the rivalry between Duke and Maryland was almost as intense as that of Duke and North Carolina.

Since the Philadelphia teams have not been consistently on the grandest stage all that much in the last, say, forever, let's leave that one aside. I know people tried to make the case that Philly has some strange rivalry with Tampa because the Bucs won a football game and the Lighting won four, but that wasn't a rivalry. It was annoying. And now it's over.

So, if you go with the assumption that Philadelphia's rivalries are rooted in division play, by looking at football you'd have to limit the choices to Washington, New York or Dallas. Now, adding in the other sports, you eliminate Dallas – as much as we hate them in football – because they have no connection to any of the other sports. So that was easy; Washington or New York.

The Case for Washington:
Is there really a case for Washington? Their baseball team stinks, and it seems the biggest rivals we have associated with the Gnats are their "beat" writers. The Caps and Flyers have had some heated games over the years, but once they moved Washington to a different division, they cut that rivalry off at the skates.The same thing goes for the NBA. It's like Washington is in the south and Philly is in the east. I never thought of it that way, but from a winter sports standpoint, that's how it goes. And you can't have a regional rival that's not in your region.

Obviously the Redskins aren't well liked, but it seems like the Skins fans (much like many Eagles fans) get more excited for Dallas week than Eagles-Redskins week.So...on to New York.

The Case for New York
While writing this, it became pretty damn anti-climactic. Clearly our biggest rival is New York. Let Dallas and Washington have each other, the Eagles biggest rival is and should be New York. I know people think they hate Dallas more, but regionally it should be New York.

When you think about hockey, what teams do you immediately hate first? The Rangers and Devils. Or Devils and Rangers, depending on the year. You can make the case that the Devils are in the New York market. Even without them, the Rangers are not well liked in these parts.

If the Knicks weren't a laughing stock over the last how many years, there might be some juice when they play the Sixers. Let's look forward to that vitriol.

And oh yeah, those Fightin Phils have a rival, don't they? Let the Yankees and Sox get all the headlines. The Mets-Phillies rivalry is as good as any in sports. My best friend from college – a Mets fan – has still yet to call me since the World Series. This one's not just for the cameras. Those guys really don't like each other.

Conclusion:
This is a no-brainer. New York is our biggest rival. So why the hell does that guy in Virginia hate us so much? Find your own damn rival! Maybe Charlotte is available.Feel free to agree/disagree in the comments.

LINKS:

• Our own Matt P wrote up the Flyers post for Illegal Curve's State of the Atlantic Division.

• More on the Gnats writer who didn't vote for Howard...with TEN spots open. I hope his privileges are revoked. From Zolecki.

• WashPost's Mark Maske thinks the Cowboys are the second best team in the NFC.

• ESPN gets the BCS through 2014. If we believe Obama, let's hope it won't be around long enough to care.

• Some fallout from the Mullet getting the axe. And some shots from Rick Tocchet as well. Who wants to bet he doesn't make it to next year? What, too soon? (via Puck Daddy)

• The GOP lost another seat. How could this Ted Stevens race be this close after he was indicted? Ah, Alaska.

• Howard Kurtz commented yesterday, wondering if it's that big a deal that we'll have the first African-American attorney general now that we have the first African-American President. Still a good step, no? Congrats to Eric H. Holder, if he takes it.

• Finally, two dogs in China have joined a swim club. I don't want to know what happens if they lose.

PHOTO PHUN:

Yesterday's Winner: NOTE: Do not attempt to use necktie as a noose. For more effective method, soak tie in ammonia and stuff in oral cavity. - ill

Honorable mention to the other few, but this echoes the sentiments we were looking for

Today...come up with the best license plate for DC fans.We'll post the winners tomorrow.