Rivalries Can Actually Be Healthy

This is Super Bowl week, culminating with Super Sunday. The Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks should be a classic matchup.

Old school football fans remember when these two teams used to face each other regularly as part of the old AFC West before Seattle moved to the NFC. It was a bit of a rivalry, including all star players such as John Elway, Steve Largent and Cortez Kennedy, among others.

Rivalries can get heated, especially for the super competitive folks. However, they extend beyond sports, and can actually be good for overall competition, fan bases, and obviously business.

SPORTS:

Two of the best rivalries in all of sports are the New York Yankees/Boston Red Sox in baseball and the North Carolina Tarheels/Duke Blue Devils in college basketball. Both of these rivalries are intense, have lots of history, and the games often have championship implications. The same can be said for Auburn/Alabama and Ohio State/Michigan in college football, The New York Knicks/Boston Celtics in the NBA, and many others. You live for the days when these types of teams play each other.  Often houses, and even families,  are temporarily divided depending upon the magnitude of the games and fan bases. 

BUSINESS

There are also rivals in the business world.  Some notable ones are Google/Apple, Xbox/Playstation, Ford/Chevrolet, Nike/Reebok, and McDonalds/Burger King. It can get intense in these respective boardrooms as the executives and marketing teams want to stay ahead of their counterparts.  Like any other rivalry, it's almost natural to pick a side.

ENTERTAINMENT AND CELEBRITIES

There will always be certain yings and yangs in this realm. It became extreme and fatal in the 90s with Tupac and Biggie. Some rivalries that have been lesss fatal include Beyoncé/Rihanna, Michael Jackson/Prince, Adam Sandler/Ben Stiller, AC/DC/Metallica, Jay-Z/Nas, and even networks such as CBS/NBC/ABC, MSNBC/FOX news, and soap operas such as The Young and The Restless/All My Children. 

Paraphrasing a line from the movie "Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby", having a good competitor can make you better. Katie Couric needs Diane Sawyer, the Today Show needs The Early Show, The View needs The Talk, American Idol needs The Voice. George Lucas needs Peter Jackson. LeBron James needs Kobe Bryant. Jimmie Johnson needs Matt Kenseth. The Beatles needed The Rolling Stones. The list goes on and on.

A friendly rivalry is usually fun and not hate filled. You want to be on your game and do your best. This rival can often be your greatest motivator. You compare each other constantly, always striving to do better.

So as you tune into the Super Bowl this weekend, remember that the game imitates life in many ways. We all want to be on the biggest stage of our careers or passions, and it always feels better to win.