Why do people take rivalries so seriously?

Okay, so I’m a Taft student. And Taft’s rival is Hotchkiss, and before Hotchkiss day I was really indifferent towards the school. I thought of it as a friendly rivalry and was actually excited to watch the games. Hotchkiss Day was taking place at Hotchkiss this year, and as soon as we got off the bus, a girl yelled “F— Taft!” and threw the middle finger up at us. So, me being a freshmen, I was obviously rattled. My friends and I then proceeded to walk down a steep hill to go watch the field hockey game, when a group of senior Hotchkiss girls (one of them was the girl that swore at us) came up behind my friends and I and took one of my friend’s noisemakers out of her hands and waved it in her face. This was the same girl that swore at us.

We stared blankly at her.

One of her friends had the decency to tell her to give it back to us, and she did. I didn’t see the point of taking it in the first place. About an hour later, my friend and I went inside to use the bathroom and the same girl came in a few minutes after us. She just stood there in the bathroom before leaving and coming back with a boy TO BRING INSIDE THE BATHROOM. I guess my friend and I looked pretty confused, because he said “Just coming in to get water.” (I don’t know why he would exactly need water from a bathroom, but…) As we were leaving, I heard the girl yell quite loudly, “Ew, why are you wearing red gloves? We hate Taft, right?”

Then we went to the volleyball courts because we were already inside, and the varsity volleyball game wouldn’t start for another twenty minutes. So, we watched them practice and warm up. As we were watching, a Hotchkiss boy that passes us yells into his megaphone “Get the f— out to us.” We don’t do anything. Soon, a bunch of Hotchkiss kids were on the same side that we were. It was only three of us, and all of a sudden this senior guy comes up to us. I didn’t even hear him until my friend tells me that the guy asked us, in his exact words “to f—ing move”. Mind you, we were there before any Hotchkiss kids were there and nowhere does it say “Hotchkiss fan section” or “Taft fan section”. He continues to argue with two freshman girls as a SENIOR, when there are plenty other spots available. Literally. My friend was ready to fight him, a guy that was over six foot and pretty buff, so I told her we should just leave. We find our friends on the other side and he and his friends did the same thing to them too.

After that, we went to the soccer game where the same girl that swore at us, took my friend’s noisemaker, and brought the guy into the bathroom, shoved past me and laughed. At this point I’m pretty sure she’s stalking us. On our way to the field, a couple of Hotchkiss boys tell us, “Don’t bother going. You’re gonna lose, as you guys always do.”

I don’t get what the point of any of these comments were. It’s not that serious…?

That’s not taking a rivalry seriously; that’s being downright rude. And it reflects badly on Hotchkiss.

I had my first St. Mark’s Day last weekend, which was home, and walking around by various games I didn’t witness anything like that. Cross country’s own St. Mark’s race was mid-October, and my captains had us pumped up to beat our rivals, but it wasn’t anything more than some motivation.

What you described is just… weird.

@stargirl3 My whole experience was bad. Plus, it was freezing and Hotchkiss had legitimately no service. Maybe that’s why they were so bitter.

I dont understand that either… a few years ago at a Miami vs Ohio State game when I was in sixth grade, after Miami beat Ohio State , Miami students kep saying "f–k Ohio State " to me, and I was 10. Im just going to guess many students are still immature and those ones tend to enjoy sports.

You’ve mentioned that there was this one Hotchkiss girl that constantly bothered you and your friends. Maybe those other people that annoyed you and your friends were affiliated with that girl? But these actions are completely unacceptable for students that are supposed to exhibit mature behavior. I hope that your experiences at these games will not constantly be like this!

I would write a letter to their dean of students…

Yikes. One off bad behavior or something more common? I hope the former. I’d be so embarrassed if I read this and was the Hotchkiss head.

People who have little innate self-worth try to associate themselves with larger groups that provide a measure of identity. This can happen with athletic teams, clubs, neighborhoods, and even schools or colleges.

And, then, the comparisons and the rivalries begin.

Surf n’ Turf tonight for Choaties as a reward for trouncing on Deerfield Day. Every Varsity team won!

At St. Mark’s, we take our rivalry with Groton very seriously. But, it’s respectful.

We get pumped the whole week leading up to Groton Day - called Groton week (basically our spirit week), culminating to Groton Night, which is really just a pep rally, followed by the whole school running outside and having a bonfire where we burn a zebra (Groton’s mascot). So, yes we get super pumped, but nothing disrespectful really happens.

But, from what I hear, SM takes this rivalry much more seriously than Groton… which is also why we won the raccoon coat the last 5 or 6 years! @stargirl3

Hey hey hey… @ambitiouswolf

@ambitiouswolf Though they took it more seriously, we ended up winning.