Rivalries? So they really exist?

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January 10, 2009

By JOHN VERSER The Glasgow Daily Times Sat Jan 10, 2009, 11:09 AM CST

Last weekend seemed to be rivalry weekend.

Things started out in this area Friday night with the Glasgow/Barren County hoops doubleheader, then moved on to Sunday with the men’s college basketball rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville.

It was quite an weekend for area sports fans.

But if you’re an Arkansas native, like me, rivalries for the in-state kind seem to be overrated.

Sure, in-state schools play each other in sports. Arkansas State is in the same conference as Arkansas-Little Rock. Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Central Arkansas, both members of the subdivision formerly known as Division I-AA, played a football game against each other in 2008. And several of the state’s Division II schools play each other as members of the Gulf South Conference.

But there’s one notable exception to the rule – the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

That school hasn’t played an in-state school in any sport, unless forced to in post-season competition, for well over 50 years. Probably even longer than that.

An occasional – and forced – match up has happened over the years. In 1987, ASU and UA played in the men’s basketball NIT. The Pigs came back in the second half, after trailing by 20 points at one time, and went on to beat ASU in overtime in Fayetteville. The last time I saw any data on the event, it was still the highest rated TV program in state history. It still very well may be. But nobody cares, right?

The tables were turned in 2005 when ASU outbid that school in the women’s basketball NIT and hosted the game. What happened? Not only did ASU win, 98-84, but a sellout crowd of 10,892 fans witnessed the event in Jonesboro. The crowd was not just the most-ever for a basketball game, men’s or women’s, at ASU, but was also the fourth-largest crowd for a women’s basketball game in state history.

Again, not bad for something that nobody wants to see.

There have been several times over the years where the Pigs have chickened out in playing in-state schools. They backed out of a baseball tournament at Texas-Arlington about a decade ago because ASU was in the four-team field. That school in the northwest part of the state also backed out of a women’s basketball tournament in Philadelphia a few years ago because there was a chance they would have to play ASU. I’m sure there’s many more examples, including events with other in-state schools, that we just aren’t aware of.

There’s not a good reason why teams in the same state, especially those at the same NCAA level, can’t – and shouldn’t – play each other. No matter which argument you use, it’s just not a good one.

It shouldn’t matter which team won – and it would more than likely by Arkansas, no matter which in-state school was battling them. But the game should be played.

As it was shown last weekend, the sun still rose Monday in Lexington even though the Wildcats lost to the Cardinals. And even earlier than that, it didn’t end the program because Louisville lost to Western Kentucky.

It’s way past time to toss the antiquated anti-in-state scheduling policy over the boat. It’s time to play the game, Arkansas. Any game.

They did it. The Arizona Cardinals proved their once-a-decade on-field excellence with a playoff win over the Atlanta Falcons last weekend.

As one of seven Cardinal fans in existence, I couldn’t be happier. Maybe the Cards will beat the Carolina Panthers on Saturday. Two playoff wins in one season. Could that be possible? Maybe. But again, I’m not getting my hopes up. Any other playoff win is just icing on the cake.

And if you’re counting, that’s two playoff wins for the ‘Zona Birds since the last time the Dallas Cowboys won one. But who’s counting?

John Verser is the sports editor at the Daily Times. E-mail him at jverser@glasgowdailytimes.com

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