Prudential Tower Congratulates Yankees? No, it’s not April Foods Day, and NO, that did not happen. Of course our friends at The Pru would NEVER make that mistake!
No one in Boston would make THAT mistake.
BUT, one city, DID:
Empire State Building curiously joins Philadelphia’s celebration of Eagles’ NFC championship. THAT ACTUALLY HAPPENED. Yahoo reports:
Philadelphia is predictably enthusiastic about the Eagles’ NFC championship win over the San Francisco 49ers.
In less-expected news, so, apparently, is the Empire State Building. The New York City skyline icon lit up in green and white in celebration of the rival city’s sports success Sunday night.
Seriously. It tweeted the image from the building’s official account accompanied by a cheer of “Fly Eagles Fly!”
Even the Mayor of New York, Eric Adams walked it back, according to Giants Wire:
Members of the New York Giants were stunned by the sight, while New Yorkers voiced their displeasure on social media. Everyone from NYC Sanitation to City Council members to Times Square street performers were miffed.
“Listen, that got away from us,” Adams said during a CNN appearance. “The way the Eagles game got away from us with the Giants, we should have lit up in real symbolism the colors of the giant. That blue should have been there.
WHAT WERE THEY thinking? Is ANYONE paying attention?
Well I can almost 99% promise you that you’ll NEVER see a headline like:
Prudential Tower Congratulates Yankees, HERE.
Let’s take a look at some of the more famous sports rivalries! How many are Boston a part of?
10-Green Bay Packers Vs Chicago Bears
This is a rivalry about geography: namely, the relative proximity of the Midwest’s main megalopolis to the NFL’s smallest hometown, between which those from the Windy City—on their way to vacations on Wisconsin lakes—drive too fast, according to their Dairy State neighbors, whom Chicagoans disparagingly label “cheeseheads” only to watch them embrace that nickname and wear it on their noggins at Lambeau Field.
9-Los Angeles Lakers Vs Boston Celtics
Try to name better personal rivalries than Magic Johnson versus Larry Bird or Bill Russell versus Wilt Chamberlain. How about better symbolic drama and entertainment value? Exhibit A: Red Auerbach lighting his victory cigar on the parquet floor of the Boston Garden in the 1950s and ’60s. Exhibit B: slick-haired Pat Riley orchestrating the Lakers’ “Showtime” in Armani in the 1980s.
8-Joe Frazier Vs Muhammad Ali
Shouldn’t this be NUMBER 1?
7-Boston Red Sox vs New York Yankees
THIS should be #1!
6-Ohio State Vs Michigan
They all pale next to the annual Michigan–Ohio State game. For starters, in 1835–36, troops from Ohio and Michigan actually skirmished in a border dispute that became known as the Toledo War. Beginning in 1897, the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes renewed this border battle (annually since 1918), more often than not fought with the Big Ten title at stake (prompting the old characterization of the conference as the “Big Two and Little Eight”). The 1960s and ’70s were the rivalry’s classic era—when coaching legends Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes guided Michigan and Ohio State, respectively—but for many football fans this remains The Game. Listen to the sarcastic vitriol in Michigan fans’ voices when they reference “The” Ohio State University. Then try to get a Buckeye to even mention the name of “That School up North.”
5-Duke Vs North Carolina
Every Final Four from 1988 to 2001, except one, included Duke or UNC; in every NCAA tournament since 2004, except one, either the Blue Devils or the Tar Heels has been a number one or number two seed. Obscene, if you are not a Duke or UNC fan. The natural order of things, if you are. And it must be said, fans of these two teams and the Atlantic Coast Conference are basketball crazy, hence Passion.
4-Chris Evert Vs Martina Navratilova
They look like they want a rematch.
Navratilova had a temper. Evert (”the Ice Princess”) was imperturbable. Evert thrived on clay. Navratilova flourished on grass. Navratilova was the master of serve and volley. Evert ruled the baseline. They were the perfect pairing of opposites.
3-Arnold Palmer Vs Jack Nicklaus
In the end Nicklaus would be revered by many as the greatest player in golf history (easy Tiger Woods’s fans, I said by “many”). Palmer had to settle for being the game’s most popular player (adored by “Arnie’s Army”) and having a drink named after him.
2-Canada Vs Russia
Most Canadians of a certain age can tell you where they were on the day in 1972 when they heard the call that Paul Henderson had scored the goal that gave the Canadian national hockey team a victory over the Soviet Union in the landmark Summit Series. The rivalry born of that series continues to be played out on the rinks at the Olympics, world championships, and junior championships
1-New Zealand All Blacks versus South Africa Springboks
With few exceptions, year in and year out, South Africa and New Zealand have dominated international rugby. Since their first official meeting in 1921, neither has fared well on the other’s home turf, but New Zealand became dangerous for the Springboks in other ways in 1981, when local outrage at South Africa’s apartheid policy led to widespread protests and street battles with police. South Africa was prohibited from competing in the first World Cup competitions in 1987 and 1991. In 1995 apartheid was history (at least on paper), and long-imprisoned black activist Nelson Mandela was the president of South Africa when it returned to the World Cup and won it by beating New Zealand in the championship game (a story told in the movie Invictus).
