Thursday, May 15, 2008

Best Canadian Rivalry?

Nation,

One of the best things about team continuity through the open landscape in Canada is the rivalries between cities and teams. The players change each year, but beating certain teams (even if it is just a jersey) means more.

The poll question for those of you stuck at work this Friday is:

What two teams/cities in Canadian Ultimate have the best rivalry?

-Furious/Goat?
-Goat/Invictus?
-Goat/Phoenix?
-Phoenix/Mephisto?
-Firebird/Roy?
-Other?

I feel guilty for not including General Strike, Mangina, and Red Circus in the list, but wasn't sure who they played/ matched up against the most.

Things to consider before selecting your best rivalry

-History
-Geographic Location
-Parity of talent between the rivals
-Key Games
-Key Players

5 comments:

elstagio said...

Great post.

Even if Q is no longer an active team, I think they deserve to be on that survey. Either Phoenix or Firebird had great battle against these guys.

Taylor said...

I think the Firebird/Roy rivalry is strong and is going to continue getting stronger. 2 years ago Firebird won every game. Last year there was a decent split of the games, with Roy losing early season and winning at nats if I recall. This year FB took an early season win and I'm interested to see the results come No Borders. Phoenix/GT have had a decent rivalry, but last year only met once.

T1000 said...

I'd say that across the slate, the Toronto vs. Ottawa rivalry is strongest. Even though GOAT has the upper hand in open, the contest is evident in all divisions, especially since there has historically been a lot of player-trading and collaboration (e.g., GOAT, Capitals) between the two cities.

We also see Ottawa and Toronto make up the bulk of the field at each others' hometown showcase tournaments (TUF, No Borders/Mixed-Up).

I haven't noticed anything as vigorous between Canadian cities elsewhere.

Moonshine said...

hey steve, ill keep this post short

not to call you a chauvinist or anything but why are there no ladies teams on this list? Im pretty sure Stella vs Lotus has one of the best rivalries around in canadian ultimate the last few years and certainly a closer ottawa vs toronto battle then GOAT vs Phoenix has been in recent history. And you might want to add Capitals vs Traffic or Stella vs Prime back in the day.

Sport Management Steven said...

I thought the women deserved their own rivalry post.

I've already started the draft.