Growing up in Indianapolis, I didn't have a home town baseball team. Lots of people were Cincinnati Reds Fans because our local team was the AAA affiliate of that team. I never really got on that band wagon. Instead I became a cubs fan, mostly because my father's family is from Illinois and they're all cubs fans. My grandmother didn't miss a game it seemed. Every time we were visiting I remember watching games.

So I'm a Cubs fan and therefore I'm supposed to hate the Cardinals, right? Well I don't. They are our biggest rival, but I don't hate them. I think that's one of the reasons I enjoy the rivalry so much. Tim Peters is a die hard Cardinals fan. Actually, die hard might be an understatement. We talk a lot about the teams, without any resentment from each other.

Lots of rivals simply hate each other. Ohio State and Michigan graduates don't even talk to each other, Yankees and Red Sox games are filled with brawls, and games between the Browns and Steelers don't even make it to kickoff without arguments. I don't think that the hate between two teams is what makes the rivalry. Its the history of the games and what those games mean that mattes. Sometimes geographical location of the teams is what makes the rivalry as well, but overall history dominates.

I would rather have a rivalry like the one between the Cardinals and Cubs than one where I have to be separated from the other team. I've had more fun times talking about the game of baseball with Cardinals fans than I ever would hating my biggest rival. That's why I think the Cardinal and Cubs rivalry is the best, because its enjoyable. I'll be watching the Cardinals and Cubs games this summer most likely with some Cardinal fans and I'll never have to ask the age old question "why can't we get along?"