This isn’t going to be a popular opinion piece, so if you are a fan of any team that enjoys a heated rivalry, you might want to stop reading.

In the world of social media and Internet message boards, we’re able to get more exposure to certain things than ever before. And if there’s anything my overexposure has caused to develop a sour taste in my mouth, it’s the nastiness that seem to surround some of sports’ biggest rivalries these days.

In a vacuum, rivalries are a good thing. I don’t follow professional tennis closely, but it was difficult not to notice the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal rivalry when both men were in their physical primes and dominating the sport. It was intense, but from everything I’ve read, it was never mean-spirited. I suppose it’s possible the two hate each other’s guts behind closed doors, but that’s certainly not the public persona of the rivalry, which is respectful. 

Contrast that with some of college football’s rivalries nowadays. I remember having a bumper sticker on my car for the University of Alabama Alumni Association when I made my first trip to Baton Rouge, La., fresh out of college. When I parked my car, I made sure to remove that sticker and hide it, because I had heard horror stories and didn’t want to return to my vehicle later in the day only to see my tires slashed and my door spray painted by someone who really wanted to let me know what they’d like to do to Alabama. (I had a Mississippi license plate, so I wasn’t worried in that regard.)

It may sound like I’m picking on LSU fans, but sports fans in general seem to take things a bit too far. I recall the story of the one Alabama fan sexually assaulting an LSU fan at a Krystal’s in New Orleans following Alabama beating LSU in the national title game in January 2012. I’m sure everyone knows the story of the Alabama fan that poisoned the Toomers Corner oak trees at Auburn and called the Paul Finebaum Radio Show to brag about it. These are the most extreme of cases, obviously, but you don’t have to look far to find people taking their team’s rivalries to levels of unfriendliness that aren’t good.

Go onto any team’s message board, and try to find a post about that team’s rival. You’ll quickly notice a pattern: With the anonymity of the Internet, people don’t just hate their team’s rivals, they show absolute disdain for the humanity of those who cheer for the other team. I’m not talking about innocent, all-in-good-fun banter like this: “My ABC fan friend said XYZ.” “Well, that’s why you shouldn’t be friends with ABC fans.” No, I’m talking about how people on these messages boards who claim they would “never let their son play football for ABC school because I’m a good DEF school fan even if ABC school offered them an athletic scholarship and DEF school didn’t.” 

Yes, I’ve actually read that sentiment on a message board, more than once. It’s a dumb sentiment. If any hypothetical son of mine wanted to play for a school that was a rival of my team, I’d simply be a proud parent. 

It’s not much better on social media, either. While most people on Twitter or Facebook are using their real names and information, it’s still easy to start a mudslinging contest with just the minimal amount of provocation. That was the case during the height of the Ole Miss football NCAA investigation, where plenty of Twitter posts on the subject were met with responses that quickly caused the thread to descend into a digital spat between Ole Miss and Mississippi State fans.

It’s one thing to dislike the rival team of your team. Goodness knows this Yankees fan doesn’t like the Boston Red Sox at all. It’s something else entirely to get into online flame wars with people you don’t even know over a team you don’t even play for. Again, I’m not talking about playful back-and-forth, I’m talking about these cringeworthy arguments I’m seeing. When the Red Sox and Yankees got into a benches-clearing tussle the other day, I didn’t spend time on Twitter arguing with Red Sox fans about whether Boston pitcher Joe Kelly or New York first baseman Tyler Austin “won” or were “in the right.” I mostly just laughed at how pathetic that “fight” was.

I was at a Northeast Lauderdale-West Lauderdale baseball game a few weeks ago. While I was covering the game, a fan of one team turned to me and said, “These two teams don’t really like each other.” I responded, “Actually, I think that’s mostly just the parents who don’t like each other.”

It’s true. I’m not going to suggest every single kid on every single Lauderdale County school team gets along, but many of these kids grew up playing youth baseball together, and some even play on the same travel ball teams. The only reason these rivalries are considered heated is because some — not all — parents can’t help but run down the other team/school/players. Here’s a newsflash: Whether it’s high school, college of professional sports, these athletes couldn’t care less about you having bragging rights at the water cooler the next day at work just because they, not you, won an athletic contest. 

Rivalries make sports great, but they can also bring about a level of nastiness that isn’t necessary. Maybe it’s time some fans take a step back and let the players alone do the talking, and just root for their teams. Hate who you want to hate, and hope they lose every game, but don’t make it personal with other fans.

Drew Kerekes is the sports editor at The Meridian Star. He can be reached at dkerekes@themeridianstar.com.