"The Rivalry"
By Lesley Visser

I grew up listening to Curt Gowdy on cheap transistors and I met my husband in Fenway Park – I guess that covers my objectivity.

I suppose Athens and Sparta had some heated discussions...But I don’t think there's a better rivalry in sports than the Yankees-Red Sox.

Sox fans grew up on the memory of Babe Ruth, and we always had to explain why we thought Ted Williams was better than Joe DiMaggio. In thirty years of covering sports, I've only been nervous to talk to two people – Michael Jordan and Ted Williams. I’ve come to know number 23 a little, but I never got to know number 9. Still, nothing is greater than the image of Williams following through his swing as his hips twisted to the right.

The most painful moment of being a Red Sox fan (and I was there for both Bucky Dent and Bill Buckner) was the first pitch of the 11th-inning, Aaron Boone off Tim Wakefield in 2003.

The most glorious was last October. Winning the World Series was fantastic, but the real Grand Slam was Game 7 of the ALCS. For Red Sox fans, that night in New York was Sinatra and a Jack Daniels on the side.

There are plenty of reasons for the rivalry – if we didn’t grow up loving one team, we’d probably love the other. I bet most of our ancestors are the same – Hispanic, Italian, Irish, Polish, German, African-American, Jewish or WASP. We’re close in both geography and genealogy. Even the devo-tion gets twisted; I actually loved seeing Don Zimmer chasing down Pedro a couple years ago.

After over 100 years, the only difference is that now, when their fans talk about the Pride of the Yankees, we can say “Yeah, we know about that, too.”

Lesley Visser is a CBS sportscaster who met her husband, Dick Stockton, the night he called Carlton Fiske's historic home run in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series.

What Is The Best Rivalry In Sports?

John Clayton, ESPN
The Yankees and Red Sox come as close as pos-sible to the Steelers-Raiders of the 1970s – there is the same good guy-bad guy aspect. The Raiders were always the Bad Guys; the Steelers were the Good Guys. Unless you are a Yankee fan, who likes the Yankees? They’re bullies. The Red Sox are the Good Guys with the characters and fun players. It's the best rivalry in sports.

Bob Pompeani, KDKA-TV
Rivalries drive sports, and currently, there is no question the Red Sox-Yankees is the best rivalry running. What happened last year with Boston exorcising their 86-year old demons just added to its magnitude.