EDITORIAL NOTEBOOK: What Rivalry?

Recalling the tailgates, pre-parties, post-parties and slew of other events surrounding this past weekend's Harvard-Yale game, I am hard-pressed to find a student from either college that did not have a stellar time. Harvard's gut-wrenching loss to its long time rival did little to diminish the celebratory atmosphere on campus. In fact, with the exception of the 100 or so students affiliated with Harvard football and a few die-hard football fans, no one on campus was deeply affected by the Crimson defeat.

Though it would seem that a Harvard victory would give students further reason to rejoice, I strongly doubt that any post-game parties were canceled due to the local team's inconvenient loss. Why didn't Harvard students feel as frustrated by the defeat as Mets fans did after their team lost to the dreaded Yankees this past October? Where were all the exciting fights that the recipe of alcohol and rivalry should foster, as are inevitable on any day the Yankees enter Fenway Park? Why does the Harvard-Yale competition seem so much tamer than other famous rivalries?

Though they are by no means the rowdiest students in the nation, Harvard and Yale's populations definitely have the ability to maintain the equal degrees of love for their own team and hate for the other that is required for a good rivalry. The very existence of the hoopla and partying surrounding The Game shows that both schools are capable of, at least, showing some school spirit. Thus, the poor quality of the Harvard-Yale rivalry must stem from circumstances beyond the control of the students.

There are very few permanent rivalries; most are temporary and span anywhere from a few years to a few decades. Such a rivalry stems purely from competitiveness between two teams. When two teams match up well against each other and animosity develops between them, a temporary rivalry is formed. This explains temporary rivalries such as Celtics-Lakers, Bruins-Canadians, and--of course--Crimson-Bull Dogs (notice all rivalries are listed good guys-bad guys). All of these rivalries were created by the competitive nature of specific athletes who disliked their opponents-athletes who have long since retired.

The few permanent rivalries involve socioeconomic differences by not between the teams, but also between the communities that support the teams. A sense of community pride and independence is necessary. Boston has always been a proud little city that is jealous of the grandeur and success of New York, thus creating the hate that defines the Sox-Yankees rivalry. (Even an arrogant Ivy League school such as Yale cannot possibly possess the necessary pride in a city like New Haven, or the state of Connecticut for that matter, that is needed to foster a permanent rivalry.)

Competition between different classes for the limelight of a city explains the endless rivalries present in baseball cities such as New York and Chicago. Even The Crimson's rivalry with a certain semi-secret Sorrento Square organization can be attributed to different types of writers jousting for prominence on campus.

But what socioeconomic differences exist between Harvard and Yale? Yale has the same successful alumni and the same mind-boggling influx of wealth as Harvard. Both are considered among the nation's very best schools. The students who go to Harvard and Yale come from the same applicant pool and thus both have the same cross-section of socioeconomic backgrounds. When the two schools meet during the festivities of The Game, it is a weekend of blue bloods attending an Ivy League reunion.

It is tough to have a serious rivalry between two universities that are so incredibly similar. The Game seems more like an annual convention of intellectuals than a true sports competition. Ah well, at least we still have Sox-Yankees.