Was there school rivalry where you grew up?

[Bretrick]

I attended a local, non denominational public school.
Directly opposite was the Catholic School.
There was intense rivalry, almost enmity between to two schools.
Us Public School students used to shout out to our rivals,
"Convent dogs, sitting on logs, eating maggots out of frogs"
I honestly do not remember their comeback.
Today, that would not happen without severe consequences.

 

[Lewkat]

Absolutely. Sports teams were always at each other's throats.

 

[Harry Le Hermit]

Oh yes, each school had an intense rivalry that spilled over into non athletic events. Those intense rivalries have continued into intense collegiate rivalries... at least in my state.

 

[hollydolly]

yes we had a big rivalry with the Catholic school across the road too....

 

[Aunt Bea]

Same here.

I remember one year the boys on the wrestling team stole the purple and gold satin robes from a visiting school. As far as I know they were never recovered and it caused quite a flap.

 

[oldiebutgoody]

The scene took place in God's Country (better known as Brooklyn, NY) ~ Samuel Tilden vs Thomas Jefferson for Saturday scholastic football. Crowds often were as large as 23,000 at old Ebbets Field. Brooklyn was the Mecca of high school football back in the old days. The popularity of the game started to decline but Jefferson rebounded and had great teams in the 1970s under legendary coach Moe Finklestein who passed away a few months ago.

As a spectator I enjoyed watching the Turkey Day Bowl on Thanksgiving which was shown every year on WPIX TV. This game was played by New Rochelle vs Iona Prep. Sadly that rivalry no longer exists.

Why on earth did the schools allow that to happen???

 

[Alligatorob]

Sure, but I don't recall any particular difference between how we saw public schools vs Catholic. In sports all were the enemy, and usually the closer geographically the worst.

Also true of college and professional sports teams, probably much the same all over the world. When I was at LSU (Louisiana State University) a favorite chant was "Go to hell Ole Miss", impressive to hear 70,000 fans, many inebriated, chanting it all at once.

 

[Pepper]

Sadly that rivalry no longer exists.

Why on earth did the schools allow that to happen???

Because now they'd shoot each other.

 

[Alligatorob]

I don't recall any particular difference between how we saw public schools vs Catholic

Now I am a bit embarrassed to remember a very racist chant, which I will not repeat.

It was in High School, when our schools were finally getting around to integrating. One, not very good, idea was to try and delay it by first letting us play sports against the local black school. Guess the school board thought that might stave off integration. It didn't but it did produce some pretty awful cheers. Glad those days are past.

 

[oldiebutgoody]

Because now they'd shoot each other.

Gee, I dunno ~ Iona Prep was always well known as a good Catholic school and New Rochelle has always been ranked among the top public schools in NYS. But, you never know nowadays ...

 

[Fyrefox]

School football rivalry was kind of rammed down your throat when I was a kid in high school. It was even egged on by the administration as a substitute for war and an outlet for all those teenaged hormones. The venerated football players went on to become Al Bundy clones, forever trying to bask in a fleeting moment of adolescent glory…

 

[Bretrick]

T

School football rivalry was kind of rammed down your throat when I was a kid in high school. It was even egged on by the administration as a substitute for war and an outlet for all those teenaged hormones. The venerated football players went on to become Al Bundy clones, forever trying to bask in a fleeting moment of adolescent glory…

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There have been many films made about this. None of them appealed to me. I never bother watching them these days. Too much testosterone flying about.

 

[oldiebutgoody]

There have been many films made about this.

The USA is a large country with many different experiences, depending on where you're from and background. I grew up in a ghetto in Brooklyn, NY. The high school football captain was a scholar & devout Christian. He was also the captain of the school baseball team and of our summer baseball club. For all his accomplishments, he could walk the streets of our neighborhood but most people would not know who he was.

By contrast, when I moved to the Midwest years years later, I had a friend who was captain of his high school football team in a small town. Because of that he was viewed as a local celebrity. Everyone knew his name and he was feted everywhere he went - a tremendous contrast to big city ghetto life. Thankfully he never let all that get to his head.

 

[Pepper]

Ghetto? Are you the New Yorker from East New York? Haven't heard the word 'ghetto' in a long time.

 

[Pinky]

There was rivalry, but not to the point of fisticuffs.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

No, I came from a tiny Catholic school. My graduating class was the biggest they ever had-23 kids, Oh, yeah, we were the first boomers. The class before us had 4. We only had enough guys to play basketball, if nobody got hurt. Our 'rival" was a "Central Catholic High School", with 3,000+ kids. You could literally fit our entire school into their gym. So, all through my Freshman, Sophomore year, we never won a basketball game. When I was a Junior, we actually beat them. We were ecstatic, screaming, jumping, crying. One girl from Central Catholic said, "My God, you act like you've never won". I told her, "We never had". That was our last. and only win. So, for four years, we were 1 and about 48.