Passion is always shown in competitions, but there comes a point where the spirit of rivalry goes beyond the game alone.
Rivalries span from professional league matches to playground sports. However, no matter the level, some games are bound to overflow with intensity. For local high schools Middletown North and Middletown South, this intensity translates into a troubling ritual: during every hockey game, a team of ambulances and police cars wait outside the arena on standby for the inevitable black eye or broken rib.
Hatred is simply a rite of passage regarding crosstown teams; but there is a fine line between spirited competition and pure violence. Since the founding of both Middletown hockey teams, an extra Zamboni run mid-game to clean up blood on the ice has become an expected routine.
Junior Rory Bedford of Middletown South is more than familiar with the hostility that follows competition between these teams. Bedford’s older brother, a recent Middletown South graduate, played for their hockey team throughout his high school career. Throughout her time in middle school and early high school, Bedford would go to these games alongside her mother and father. Therefore, Bedford is no stranger to the violent nature of these rivalry games.
Bedford recalls a game from a previous season when anger on the ice impacted more than just the players. During a frustrating game, an athlete angrily shot a puck into the stands, striking a bystander.
“People have gotten taken out on stretchers,” Bedford said. “One girl had to get stitches on her face from the puck hitting her.”
But the Middletown high schools aren’t the only ones that need to reduce violence from these crosstown matchups. Regardless of the sport, schools all over Monmouth County experience physical and verbal conflicts related to these rivalries. Some of the most notable clashes along the Jersey Shore include Manasquan vs. Wall, Keansburg vs. Keyport and Neptune vs. Asbury Park, according to The Record.
This ferocity isn’t confined to high school sports, though; it’s a thread that runs through every level of competition, all the way up to the nation’s most celebrated opponents.
Rivalry week, the last week of the regular season in college football, sparked many altercations this year, the most prominent being the University of Michigan Wolverines vs. the Ohio State Buckeyes brawl, earning itself the nickname “the game.”
Going into “the game” on Nov. 30, 2024, Ohio State held a record of 10-1, and Michigan had a record of 6-5. Though home team Ohio State was widely expected to win, Michigan caused one of the biggest upsets of the year, coming out on top 13-10, securing a victory in the fourth quarter.
As Ohio State players walked off the field at the end of the game, Michigan players went to the 50-yard line and tried to plant their flag on the Ohio State logo. Feeling disrespected and compelled to defend their stadium, Ohio State players responded, and tensions quickly escalated. Within minutes, the field turned into a war zone, with many chaotic altercations breaking out between players. The fighting got so intense that local police were required to intervene, even needing to use pepper spray to restore order.
The animosity in sports is just as clear on the professional level. One of the most well-known rivalries in Major League Baseball is between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. When the Red Sox play at Yankee Stadium, Boston fans are bound to endure more than just booing. In some sections, if a fan is wearing a Red Sox jersey, they will get attacked by multiple Yankees fans. The same thing is a common experience for Yankees fans at Fenway Park, the Red Sox’s home stadium. Even the players of the two teams might fight each other in the middle of a game, occasionally leading to multiple ejections.
Sports rivalries are evident in all levels of sports, from local high schools all the way to major league teams, and while they are promised to add excitement, they can also quickly escalate any game into something much more harmful. Bedford sums up the experience best.
“I’ve always loved the rivalry games, ever since I started watching my brother play,” said Bedford, “But the goosebumps and anxiety you get as it starts, knowing something bad is about to happen; it’s terrifying.”
