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EricNCSU · 12-26-2020, 02:22 PM

It would be easy to take the cliché route and say Texas has no rival, but of course that's not true. I'd have to say based on my experience our rival would be either the LA Panthers or New Orleans Specters. New Orleans is simply proximity, they are the closest team to us, a little bit of a Gulf Coast rivalry going on there. The rest of the Western teams are pretty far flung. The next closest would probably be Minnesota, but no history there yet as a expansion team. The LA Panthers are a team that get mentioned a lot in the locker room, and I feel like that rivalry is more based on "who we're chasing". LA started the FHM era as tops in the West both S53 and S54, they've dropped off a little but with a slight rebuild and a new GM, but I wouldn't expect them to stay down for long. Texas won the SW division last season, and is leading so far this season but LA is hot on our heels. It's gonna be close the next couple seasons between Texas and LA and I think that's why a lot of the team considers them our rival.

raymond3000 · 12-26-2020, 03:06 PM

The Renegades don't really have any long-standing rivalries at the moment. It's hard to form rivalries when you're always losing, and the Renes are still recovering from their seven season playoff drought from S48-S54. Throughout this time, their closest rivals were probably their divisional opponents New Orleans and Los Angeles due to their geographical proximity, but these contest were definitely one-sided affairs as LA and New Orleans had Challenge Cup aspirations while Texas was still rebuilding. In the past few seasons, the balance in the southwest has shifted somewhat, and these teams roles have reversed. While NOLA is heading straight into a rebuild, it appears LA has decided to retool instead and continue to fight for the divisional title. there isn't much animosity between the Renegades and Panthers currently, but based on the trajectories of these two teams, I can forsee a rivalry building up in the near future. It would be great to have some playoff matchups between these two, but with our current playoff format, I doubt that will happen any time soon.

Jala · 12-26-2020, 03:29 PM

Way back in the day the biggest rivals for the Dragons would have had to been the Texas Renegades. There was a clash of personalities between the two teams and that made victories against them so much sweeter. They were also perennial championship contenders and when we started to reach that level we faced off against them a lot. In more recent history Edmonton seems to be the new target which makes sense geographically with the Battle of Alberta and also how they've become the team to beat in the West. A tough loss last season in the playoffs against them just cements my opinion on that even further. The thing with being one of the oldest franchises in the league is that rivalries are constantly changing as teams come and go and the ebb and flow of who's good and who's not. I was also gone a long time so I can't speak to a lot of rivalries going on nowadays but from what I've seen the Edmonton Blizzard are our current biggest rivals.

Word Count: 180

Kraagenskul · 12-26-2020, 03:34 PM

When I started in the SMJHL three seasons ago, the Whalers were at the bottom of the league but were slowly climbing the way up; they had a ton of close games in my first season, and a few winning streaks kept moving them closer and closer to the middle tier of the league. And they might've even finished near the top of that tier if hadn't been for their fellow British Colombia team, the Kelowna Knights.

For whatever reason, season 55 saw the Knights beating the Whalers in game after game, ending winning streaks or just handing them brutal losses. I for one developed a special dislike of the team, hoping to see them lose even when we were not playing them. Alas, they had our number for the whole season.

With the Whalers' rise in Season 56 I took special pleasure in beating the Knights and being far above them in the standings. This season I still hold a special effort in my heart every time we play them.

Steve · 12-26-2020, 03:35 PM

juniped · 12-26-2020, 03:49 PM

PBE Affiliate

Tayjay · 12-26-2020, 04:54 PM

PBE affiliate

CanadianDuck · 12-26-2020, 05:05 PM

Rivalries are a major part of any sport. When two teams hate each other so much that that losing is worse than anything else, you know the players will pull out all they have to claim victory. Rivalry games are always must watch for any sports fan, regardless of which team they support. The New Orleans Specters haven't been around as much as other SHL teams, but their early successes have made them a rival of multiple teams. The Specters biggest rival has to be the Buffalo Stampede. Two SHL Finals have taken place between these two behemoths, with both ending with Buffalo lifting the grand prize and the Specters watching on with anger and disappointment at their own failures. With both teams now on different levels of success the rivalry is not as strongly promoted, but don't tell the players that. The Stampede vs Specters games get circled on the calendar by the players and will always be hard hitting and full of emotions.

JstMaro · 12-26-2020, 05:32 PM

Biggest rival of Quebec City Citadelles is Nevada Battleborn. They were established at same time as Quebec (3 seasons ago) so they have similar history and also similar strength right now. In first season Quebec was better team, but in second season Nevada was better team. This and next season should be great for both teams. By looking on rooster both teams should be favorites to win the cup this season and it will be very interesting if/when they will face each other in playoffs. Right now cards are much better for Quebec but playoffs are completely different story. As a Quebec player I do hope this year we will eliminate Nevada if we play them in playoffs and same goes for next season since both teams will still be very strong.
Now let us see if any expansion team can get the cup in this or next season. Both teams for sure have the quality to get it.

*kenvald* · 12-26-2020, 06:39 PM

Even though the team is still a baby in terms of years existed in the league. The main rival of the New England Wolfpack is the new division opponent the Atlanta Inferno.

While the two teams are almost a full day drive between them, the rivalry comes from something other than proximity or history. The driving factor between this rivalry is the fact that, when Atlanta Inferno was first founded and they were hunting for management staff, they stole the co-General Manager for New England at the time.

While the separation was mutual and no hard feelings shared. The history the former co-GM has with New England has sparked a friendly rivalry. Maybe not one that the entire league is in agreement with. But from New England's side these games always have that extra edge to them. Atlanta is the team that we really want to beat. But at the same time, we wish them all the success in the world. As long as it's not against us.

mee · 12-26-2020, 07:38 PM

ISFL PT

Serpe x 13 · 12-26-2020, 08:55 PM

I think that my team's biggest rival is the New Orleans Specters. The Specters have been a terror to the league since they entered the league as an expansion team. The Specters have went to town versus the platoon since they have entered the league and every game played between these two teams are very tough battles. Both teams do not like each other as some players have played on both teams before and explain the culture as being two completely different types of atmospheres. The Specters have seen a lot of success in the past couple seasons and now they have entered the end of their great success and are beginning to fall off. The Platoon are trending in the other direction and that is a positive one. With great drafting in recent years and a very flexible salary cap going forward the Platoon are going to be on the better side of this intense rivalry pretty soon.

160 WORDS

Bongo · 12-26-2020, 10:16 PM

Since the move from West Kendall (or Kendall West.. idk) It's really been hard to solidify whether or not Baltimore has a true rival. It is no secret that Baltimore has struggled for the past few seasons. Without sounding facetious, can a team with little success truly have a rival?
I'd argue no. However, since Seattle and Atlanta were afforded franchises, I'd argue that they are in a rivalry with Baltimore: who can start from a disadvantage and build their franchise to a level of success first? Atlanta specifically, since they're closer geographically, and we've had some very heated and close matchups.
I think that rivalries are born and bred in the playoffs. Teams like Hamilton, Buffalo, Calgary and Edmonton are going to clearly have rivals: Those teams who they've played year after year after year. I think Baltimore will get there, but we have a few seasons of retooling.

treant · 12-26-2020, 10:39 PM

It is not easy for me to decide the team that I think is the biggest rival of the Nevada Battleborn!

Because we are a team that has not been in the league for a very long time there has been no chance for us to make rivalries with the teams that we have played.

The only team that I can think of would be the Quebec City Citadelles. The reason for this is simple. The Citadelles were the only other team that joined the league at the same time that the Battleborn did. This is a fact that means we are racing against them to be the first of the two expansion teams to win a Championship!

Even though we are friends with the players on the team, everyone who is playing for Nevada is working very hard to win before Quebec City is able to win so I would tell you that they are our main rivals and I am hoping we can show to be the best team and win that Championship!

Total word count: 175 words!

HanTheMan_ · 12-26-2020, 10:54 PM

I think that the Hamilton Steelhawks’ biggest rivalry is almost the entire Great Lake Division, but more specifically the Buffalo Stampede. All the teams in the Great Lakes Division have been incredibly strong contenders and have shown that in the last couple of seasons. The Buffalo Stampede was the S55 champions and was in the finals for S56 where the Hamilton Steelhawks claimed their victory. With only 3 of the 4 teams in the divisions making it to the playoffs, it’s sure to be a tight match to see which ones go through. Hamilton, Buffalo and Chicago all have a 2 win difference between each other and are at most 8 points from each other. Toronto is not too far behind but will have to crank out some wins to catch up. Once in the playoffs, these teams will definitely be up against each other with games coming down to the very last point.

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