I just read an article from Men’s Vogue (I didn’t even realize there was a Men’s Vogue magazine until today!) about the 10 Best Rivalries in Sports. It focused about individual rivalries rather than teams, and ran the gamut from horse racing to chess to F1. Here’s their Top 10 in descending order:
10. Greg LeMond vs. Bernard Hinault (cycling)
9. Alydar vs. Affirmed (horse racing)
8. Ayrton Senna vs. Alain Prost (F1)
7. Garry Kasparov vs. Anatoly Karpov (chess)
6. Arnold Palmer vs. Jack Nicklaus (golf)
5. Martina Navratilova vs. Chris Evert (tennis)
4. Richard Petty vs. Dave Pearson (NASCAR)
3. Bill Russell vs. Wilt Chamberlain (basketball)
2. Bjorn Borg vs. John McEnroe (tennis)
1. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier (boxing)
Hmm, this certainly isn’t the type of list you’d find in a sports magazine, is it? I mean, Alydar vs. Affirmed? Seriously? And how exactly does chess factor into a freakin’ sports list? Hasn’t the writer ever heard of, oh, I don’t know… Ohio St. vs. Michigan, perhaps? If Russell and Chamberlain earned a spot on the list, why not Larry Legend vs. Magic?
Sorry, but this list is pretty worthless IMO!