This morning on SportsCenter, Buster Olney did a little preview of the Yankees-Phillies spring training World Series rematch. (I’m sure everyone was getting geared up to watch that one, right?) Usually, Buster is pretty solid, but today he had his head a little too far up his ass. Olney stated that the Yankees-Phillies rivalry is developing into a rivalry like the one between the Celtics and Lakers in the 1980s. What?!? I was completely baffled. I was unaware the Yankees and Phillies even had a rivalry.
This completely asinine comparison led me to do a little research, from which I drew the conclusion that, yes, Buster Olney is a complete idiot. In the history of baseball, there have been 105 World Series. The Yankees have played in 40 of them, and won 27. The Phillies have played in 7 and won 2. Therefore, the Yankees and Phillies have combined for 28% of all the championships in Major League Baseball (with the Yankees obviously pulling all of the weight). They have only met in the World Series TWICE! Last year, and in 1950. Generally, in rivalries, you have to play each other every once in awhile.
On the other hand, there have been 63 NBA Finals. The Celtics have played in 20 Finals, and won 17 championships. The Lakers have played in 30 Finals, and won 15. Add those numbers up, and the Celtics and Lakers have combined for over 50% of all the championships in NBA history. They have met each other in the Finals 11 times. And during the 1980s, the Celtics and/or Lakers played in every single NBA Finals. Not to mention, the Celtics and Lakers had the great personal rivalry of Bird and Magic. There is nothing even remotely close to compare that to with the Yankees and Phillies. Olney might say Ryan Howard and Alex Rodriguez, but they never go head to head on the field like Bird and Magic did on the court.
There is not one thing about Yankees-Phillies that makes it a rivalry. They’ve only met in the World Series twice, and the championship totals are completely one-sided for the Yankees. Just because the Raiders and Buccaneers met in the Super Bowl one year doesn’t mean they have a rivalry. Rivalries develop and grow over time. You can’t just meet one time in a 60 year period and call it Celtics-Lakers. It just doesn’t work that way. This is just another example of a sports media member overeating to something they think they see.
Wake up, Buster. There’s got to be something else you can talk about rather than making a comparison that is just not there. Stick to baseball. Leave the other sports out of it. It’s not in your job description, nor in your skill set.