Quote Originally Posted by Hoosier Red View Post
There was a good piece from an IU based writer a week or so ago about this.

Basically the thinking was the "Rivalry" in terms of "hatred" really only goes against the more successful team. The more successful team rarely hates the less successful team with nearly the same venom.

You'd rarely hear a "Red Sox suck" chant at Yankee Stadium, especially not in a non Yankees-Red Sox game. But the Yankees suck chant breaks out all the time at Fenway.

Bengals and Browns fans hate the Steelers, but Steeler fans hate Baltimore much more than either Cincinnati or Cleveland because the Ravens have been a much larger thorn in the Steelers side in recent history.

So it wouldn't surprise me if Cardinal fans don't hate the Reds with the same venom that many Reds fans hate the Cardinals. It's not an arrogance thing, but what have the Reds achieved that the Cardinals haven't recently?

The Reds have won a few division crowns but haven't advanced as far as the Cardinals in the last two years.

By any objective measure, the Cardinals are the more successful team historically.

So why would they hate the Reds? Why would they consider the Reds a rival?
Because we're in the same division?
Are the Pirates the Reds rival?

I suppose you could say the Reds have been the most successful challenger to them over the past three years, but three years do not a rivalry make.


*Terms like Hate and rivalry are obviously subjective.
Yeah... Good point, but it's much more fun being subjective in this instance.