Fans Never Retire

Top 5: Coast-to-Coast

With the highly contested Stanley Cup Final a few weeks in the rearview mirror, I felt it would be appropriate to let our minds wander into what other East Coast/West Coast Championships we would all be lucky to see. The Stanley Cup features the two largest media markets in the United States, Los Angeles and New York City. For this list, I ignored the middle states of the U.S. and focused more on the coasts.  As fans you cannot ask for more than these epic continental dividing clashes:

5. 49ers vs. Patriots

Starting off is a matchup that may come as a surprise to some. Though these two teams do not have any real rivalry, they actually fit the bill quite well. In this game you have two of the largest cities, San Francisco and Boston, each with their own championship history and eight Super Bowl victories between them. Who wouldn’t want to see the contrasting styles of Harbaugh/Kaepernick going against Belichick/Brady?

4. LA Kings vs. NY Rangers

The Kings vs. Rangers is the best the NHL has to offer so of course they had to be included on my list. Because these two teams are the biggest media markets in the country their series will  excite even the most mediocre hockey fans, causing them to pick sides based on what coast they live on.

3. Lakers vs. Celtics

Do I really have to explain why this is on the list? This is the best rivalry in the NBA and these two franchises have met twelve different times in the Finals. Enough said. These two cities and teams do not and will not ever like each other.

2. USC  vs. Alabama

The biggest shocker on my list comes with USC vs. Alabama, my #2. These two national powerhouses have played only seven times in their history and have not played since 1985. Thus, the reason for my #2 placement. We as fans have been longing for this head-to-head match up in college football and have yet to witness it. How cool would it be to see “Kiffin Bowl” in the new College Football Championship Game.

1. Dodgers vs. Yankees

Finally, #1 on my list pairs the storied rivalry, L.A. Dodgers vs. N.Y. Yankees. Eleven meetings between these two in the World Series and thirty-three Championships between them. What I love most about these teams is their history. This was once a backyard rivalry in the Boroughs of New York that turned into a 3,000 mile battle in 1958. Though much has changed since these two first played, the matchup has remained as desirable as ever.