Where are the rivals?
Elon continues to go without true competition in Division
I Brian Giuffra/ Reporter
With only four seconds left last January, Montell Watson
sank his final shot of the game and the Phoenix beat Furman
in overtime. The ensuing celebration involved both the
rushing of the court and the hoisting of Watson onto the
crowd’s shoulders. Rarely is there this much enthusiasm
shown at an Elon sporting event, but there should be.
A rivalry between two schools extracts passion from fans and
greatness from athletes. It increases the importance of every
play in a game and every second on the clock. Rivalries
amplify the importance of the game to everyone, the fans, the
players and the coaches.
The passion found in the rivalry between Duke and UNC is not
present between Elon and any another university. There are
teams Elon calls its rival but the proximity, prestige and
passion aren’t there. There are many reasons why Elon
doesn’t have a serious rival. If it hopes to find one,
Elon should look to neighboring schools with a strong overall
athletic program.
One of the main reasons Elon hasn’t established a
serious rivalry is because it’s new to the Southern
Conference. Elon joined the Southern Conference in 2003 and
hasn’t had the time to develop a long-standing
rivalry.
All rivalries take time to develop and until Elon has
established a long standing athletic relationship with a
quality opponent it will not have a rival. This is one
problem Elon Director of Athletics Dave Blank knows can be
challenging. He said that despite the challenges he is happy
with where Elon athletics are now.
“Being relatively new to Division I and the Southern
Conference is where the challenge lies,” Blank said.
“I think Elon athletics is in fairly good shape. There
is much to be proud of.”
UNC-G is the only school in the Southern Conference within
30 miles of Elon. Proximity wise they are a natural rival for
Elon but UNC-G Director of Athletics Nelson E. Bobb said he
doesn’t think there is a rivalry between the two
schools.
“[There is no rivalry] yet but it will mount,”
Bobb said. “Proximity usually creates the
rivalry.”
If proximity was the only factor then Elon and UNC-G would
be rivals. But the quality of play and passion of fans does
not exist between the two schools. At last years men’s
basketball game between the two schools, Alumni Gym was half
filled with 1,550 fans.
Another factor in a rivalry is the teams playing the major
sports, football and basketball, against each other.
Football itself is the largest grossing athletic venue for a
university.
According to Miles Brand, president of the NCAA, Ohio State
University grossed more than $100 million from its football
program last year. Brand pointed out that Elon will never be
Ohio State, but should aim for the top.
Elon doesn’t have to look in only its conference for a
rival. Elon has started an ongoing athletic relationship with
Wake Forest University.
Wake Forest holds a dominant lead in the basketball series,
having won 22 straight games against Elon.
Last year, Elon held tough in the first half but got blown
out in the second half and lost 78-59.
The game was also a hit at the ticket booth for Elon. There
were 500 student tickets originally requested by Elon for the
game. Those tickets were gone in a few days, so Elon
requested an additional 200 tickets for the game, which were
snatched by eager Phoenix fans.
The best rivalries occur between schools close in proximity
and equal in athletic ability. Because most of the members of
the Southern Conference are located far away, Wake Forest is
the more natural rival for Elon.
The only thing left is for Elon to beat Wake Forest. But
while there is an obvious possibility for a rival, because of
the drastic gap in talent between Elon and Wake Forest, the
Phoenix should look elsewhere for a true rival.
When Watson sank that final shot, culminating an incredible
comeback, he actually began a rivalry that may continue with
Furman, but we will have to wait and see.
Contact Brian Giuffra at pendulum@elon.edu or
278-7247. | 
