By Stephen Sears
Rivalries are always fun. They provide a nice excuse for people to spew profanities at each other without remorse because they attend the high school across town or wear an opposing jersey.
Red Sox-Yankees. Capulets-Montagues. Bayside High-Valley High. Ninja Turtles-Shredder. These are just a few that come to mind. If there’s one thing human beings need, it’s more reasons to hate other people. Every time I see a pinstriped Yankees jersey or a fuchsia Yankee hat, I immediately sneer. Is this a personality flaw? Maybe.
This brings me to a rivalry that I never really took part in: Northeastern and Boston University. The Huskies versus the Terriers. Huntington Avenue versus Commonwealth Avenue. Any way you put it, I have never cared all that much. Does this make me a bad Northeastern student? Should I be exiled to the New England Conservatory of Music?
As I have stated, I do participate in rivalries. I went to Cranston High School East in Rhode Island (Thunderbolt pride!) It only took me a few days to learn to dislike the evil minions of Cranston High School West. I still don’t know why. I had friends that went there and no one over there ever did anything to me. It must have been an acquired taste.
Cranston West is located in the rich part of the city, so maybe it was jealousy. Sure, they drove luxury cars to school while I slopped around in a broken down 1988 Toyota Tercel that emitted green fumes from the muffler, but I hope I’m a better person than that.
When I moved on to college, it became evident rather quickly that you are to hate all things BU. In a sense, they are the Cranston West to Northeastern’s Cranston East, the Marcia Brady to our Jan Brady. They had Hamid Karzai speak at their graduation last spring. It was on the front page of the Boston Globe. The only time we appear on the front page is with the obligatory disclaimer of the school that rioted after Super Bowl XXXVIII. Nonetheless, when it comes to this rivalry, all I can say is, eh?
Confession time. I applied to Boston University and was accepted. I heavily considered choosing them. Instead, I ended up in this hellhole. (Just kidding. Northeastern is a lush paradise of higher learning and richer experiences.) So this can be a reason for my ambivalence. BU is a good school with a very good reputation. I did not go mainly because I hated the campus. It was nice in parts, but to me, a big-shot senior at the greatest high school in Rhode Island, the campus was one long street.
It has also been my experience that this rivalry is one-sided. BU kids do not care about us or our Sucks to be BU facebook groups. They direct their hatred at Boston College. It is the same rationale Yankee fans used to point to when they haughtily dismissed the Sox. How can there be a rivalry when one side always wins? Some Yankee shills compared it to the hammer and the nail. Ha! Not anymore!
But how can we at NU get their attention? We cannot humiliate them on their own field on a beautiful October night with a Johnny Damon grand slam or Mark Bellhorn solo shot off the right field foul pole. We could forget all the business about Top 100 or academic reputation and just have a fight, like the one between the dueling news teams in “Anchorman.” We have burly football players at our disposal and they do not. Though some BU kids I know like to boast that their football team is undefeated since 1997. Har, har. With our size advantage, I think we could take them on. Then, once CUP has Tim Robbins show up in an afro, it is game-set-match.
OK, so maybe there are more civilized ways to settle things. Either way, without the hatred flowing from the other side, I cannot loathe Boston University.
Back in my heady high school days, when I was the captain of the football team (I mean, worthless member of the computer team), I was ribbed on a constant basis by Yankee fans. Rhode Island may be the front-running Yankee fan capital of the world. If I ever brought this up, or I asked them why there were no Mets fans around, they would give me some sob story about their heritage. Joe DiMaggio was Italian so my dad loved the Yankees and then he passed it down to me. How nice. Your dad is a Burt Bacharach fan but I don’t see you listening to him. Should I just root for any team Troy O’Leary plays for?
As a result of all the trash talk during those years, I hate the Yankees with a passion. So until some BU students drive by in a limo and start heckling me, I will continue to sit this rivalry out. Why hate BU when our most dangerous rivals are right next door? Yeah, that’s right. I’m looking at you, Forsyth Dental Institute.
— Stephen Sears can be reached at [email protected]
