“Rivalry.” Sports fans hear the word thrown around vigorously but often times without truly examining its meaning. By Wikipedia’s definition, a rivalry is described as “an intense competition between athletic teams or athletes. This pressure of competition is felt by players, coaches, and management, but is perhaps felt strongest by the fans.”
Having covered all of Napa County at one point or another in my former career or another, the biggest rivalries I’ve been in the middle of are Napa vs. Vintage, St. Helena vs. Justin, and Calistoga vs. St. Helena. Since American Canyon has only existed for five years, their truly defined rival is still being established.
At one time, Calistoga had an intense rivalry with St. Helena. But since the two schools do not play each other in every sport and infrequently in others, the rivalry is not there the way most people remember it. In fact, I’d go as far to say there is no rivalry. Or minimal at best.
Part of the reason why the Wildcats’ rivalry with St. Helena diminished is because St. Helena moved from the CIF Sac-Joaquin Section and into the Superior California Athletic League with Justin-Siena in the mid-1980s.
Therefore, St. Helena’s rivalry emphasis shifted toward league foe Justin.
In 2000, the SCAL disbanded and the Saints and Braves went into separate leagues — therefore, also diminishing the “rivalry” notion.
I pose one more question: Does winning that “rivalry” game have the same meaning for both teams?
Based on my observation as an Upvalley sports reporter from 2004-2014, Calistoga vs. St. Helena and Justin-Siena vs. St. Helena do not belong in the rivalry discussion, despite what some want you to believe.
The former is much more of a rivalry to Calistoga than to St. Helena.
If Calistoga beats St. Helena, you would think the Wildcats won the World Series.
If St. Helena beats Calistoga, however, it’s “just another win.”
I saw an example of that earlier this season when Calistoga beat St. Helena 16-4 in softball, which is perhaps the only sport where one would give Calistoga the edge over the Saints. Anyhow, I remember seeing social media light up like a Roman Candle. However, I remember St. Helena beating the Wildcats on many occasions in other sports and it was not a peep from the Saints.
Right now, St. Helena’s rival is Middletown and to a lesser degree, Clear Lake. The rivalry with Middletown has particularly taken off with the Saints football program going 43-5 the last four seasons. Therefore they have become the biggest threat to Middletown.
Calistoga does not have a clearly defined rivalry. Some would say Rincon Valley Christian or St. Vincent but I beg to differ because it is a rivalry to Calistoga, not the other school. It also has not helped that the Wildcats’ league realigns on average of every two years. The closest would perhaps be Tomales because the Wildcats and Braves have generally remained league-mates (for lack of a better term.
As for Justin-Siena vs. St. Helena, when I was a student-athlete at Justin-Siena, the rivalry with St. Helena was very heated.
Now, however, I would say it’s more of a rivalry to St. Helena than Justin, for much the same reason Calistoga-St. Helena is much more of a rivalry to the Wildcats.
To that end, who is Justin’s rival? It’s hard to say because they are isolated from Marin County. I’m finding that it mostly depends on the sport.
So, that brings us to Napa vs. Vintage. This rivalry has lost a little bit of its luster because Napa has had a significant edge in football lately, winning nine in a row and 12 of the last 13, mostly in dominant fashion. To add further perspective, the last time Vintage beat Napa in football, the current graduates-to-be were in third grade. To that end, on the football side, Napa’s rivalry emphasis has turned to Vacaville since those two teams are constantly fighting it out for the MEL title.
No offense to other sports, but football alters the perception of a rivalry more so than any other sport.
However, what gives the Napa-Vintage rivalry its staying power is the social element, and winning that game carries equal meaning to both teams in virtually every sport.
So much so, it can define the success of a team’s season.
In addition, no matter how bad both teams are, the stands are packed.
Both teams could enter the game undefeated or without having won a single game, but when they play each other, the game is played at a fever pitch.
So what about the new school of Napa County, namely American Canyon? Who could be its rival? Too soon to tell, because rivalries develop over time.
Vintage could be a possibility because until AmCan opened in August of last year, many AC kids went to Vintage.
Since American Canyon did not have all four grades until the start of the 2012-2013 school year, Vintage High will had seniors from AC.
Benicia would be a good potential rival for AC as well.
I, for one, have noticed a feeling of tension on both sides when the two schools meet.
Both communities have a similar population, and distance and proximity can be a common denominator in rivalries, too, in that those parents, players or fans see each other on a regular basis.
High school and college fans are more passionate about their teams on the whole than pro sports fans, because our level of sports hasn’t been polluted with lockouts, exorbitant salaries and steroid testing.
With pro sports, rivalries have also been diminished by the free agency culture. Look at the NFL, Dallas Cowboys star running back DeMarco Murray has signed a contract to become a Philadelphia Eagle. With this move being common, it’s hard to give credence to rivalries in pro sports.
In college, the rivalry element has diminished somewhat too because in a business sense, college has become similar to pro. Plus, conferences realigning has taken away some rivalries but there are some rivalries that will always have staying power such as Ohio State-Michigan, Auburn-Alabama, and Duke-North Carolina. While you might have star athletes transfer schools it would never be to a rival. It’s not like you are going to see Tim Tebow transfer from Florida to Alabama.
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