On Rivalries:

A lot has been made of sports rivalries this week - at least, a lot has been made if you have been living anywhere near a radio, TV, or computer connected to a sports news portal.

There are two or three large scale rivalries in US college athletics - Duke v. UNC; Notre Dame v. USC; and of course, the mother of them all, Michigan v. Ohio State.

Of these, however, none has the nationwide intensity and appeal of Michigan v. Ohio State. Don't believe me? See for yourself. Using Google search results was an indicator of the amount of attention each rivalry gets, Michigan v. Ohio State tops them all by a significant margin.

• Duke v. UNC: 1.5 million hits


• Notre Dame v. USC: 2.2 million


• Michigan v. Ohio State: 36.8 million

Disclaimer - I recently discovered Google's Elmer Fudd language setting, hence the bizzare English for the above Google links.

Still don't think so? Then consider that an Ohio jail has provided inmates with a pizza party for the big game (story here). I would be surprised to find out that a similar situation occurred in relation to another college rivalry.

And if that does not convince you, well, you had probably get back under that rock you have been living under for all these years... (Sorry Dick Vitale - this means you, too).


Bo, rest in peace.