Princeton still sucks: why lax rivalries will never die

There are a lot of things that come with being a Hopkins student. Everyone asks you if you're going to be a doctor, you get to take five classes each semester instead of the four that your friends at most other colleges do, you become pretty street smart about walking around a big city at night, and if you're lucky, at the end of it all you'll get a piece of paper with a stamp and a signature saying you made it through. But there is one more thing that comes with being a member of the Hopkins community and it is something that is somehow ingrained in every student, alum and faculty member here regardless of race, pedigree or creed: pure, unbridled hatred for Princeton and the University of Maryland, our men's lacrosse team's biggest rivals.

This year, as always, Hopkins finds itself in the top tier with these longstanding adversaries. The Blue Jays were ranked number one in the 2004 NCAA Division I Lacrosse Magazine Preseason Poll, Maryland was ranked third and Princeton came in at fifth. Of course, the whole world's your rival when you're ranked number one, but games against these two teams hold a special place in the hearts of Hopkins fans just raring to launch into some sideline taunting.

Thankfully, they won't have to hold in their venom for long. This week's matchup, on March 6th at home against Princeton, gives them a reason to scream themselves hoarse right towards the beginning of the season.

Hopkins lacrosse diehards itching for the Maryland throw-down will have to cool their heels awhile. The televised night game featuring players in throwback jerseys from the 1970s isn't scheduled until April 17th -- more than a month away.

Throughout its long and storied history, the Hopkins lacrosse program has considered many schools its rivals. As professor and lacrosse fan Tristan Davies puts it, "When you're as good as Hopkins is and you play teams as good as Hopkins does, everyone is your rival."

Whoever is good is considered a rival and throughout the years mini-vendettas have cropped up between Hopkins and other lacrosse giants like Syracuse, University of Virginia, Duke and Navy. But no matter who they're up against, Hopkins coaching staff treats each and every game very seriously. "From a coaching standpoint, every game is treated the same," says Hopkins men's lacrosse head coach, Dave Pietramala. "We give the same respect to every opponent. We can't afford not to."

Some players have a different take however. "But for a young player, 17,18, 19 years old, they are always very very excited about the Princeton game," Pietramala continued. "You can sense it and it's human nature for young guys to do that. One of Princeton's biggest advantages is that they are very hungry. It will make a heck of a lacrosse game."

So why hate Princeton and Maryland and not, say, Duke and Syracuse? The Princeton game is one that undergraduates have really started to relish in more recent years. This is the game for which rude T-shirts are printed up, banners are painted, and fraternity pledges are made to cover themselves in body paint.

But there is a bit more history to it than that. Hopkins colors were originally black and gold -- take a look at President Brody's ceremonial robes on Commencement Day if you want the proof -- but Princeton's orange and black uniforms made the two teams indistinguishable. Hence the Blue Jay blue was born.

Unless they're lacrosse buffs, most of today's undergraduate fans don't know about such ancient color wars. Their disdain for Princeton exists in the here and now. As Coach Pietramala says, "Princeton is one of the elite teams in Division One and in the last few years we've split wins 50-50 with them, two each. They are well-coached and they are a hard-working team a lot like us. These are two very good schools and a lot of people here probably looked at Princeton." In short, the similarities between the two schools -- both in level of lacrosse play and in level of academics, make for a tension filled game with a lot of pride at stake.

Tradition says however, that Hopkins vs. Maryland is the rivalry in all of college lacrosse and it's hard to ignore years of bad blood. Hopkins vs. Maryland been called one of the oldest and most heated rivalries in men's lacrosse. Sports Illustrated classifies it within the best and nastiest college rivalries of all time and lists watching a Hopkins Maryland lacrosse game as one of the "100 Things You Gotta do Before You Graduate (at All Costs)". The official website of Hopkins sports heralds it as the "Lacrosse's Greatest Rivalry" and the athletic department has even designed an official logo in homage to the grudge which marks it's 100th anniversary this April.

And rightfully so, after all this century long turf war is fueled by a lot of history. For example, in 1947 after Hopkins stole the bronze statue of the Maryland Terrapin mascot from the College Park campus (an impressive feat), the entire population of Maryland's frat row stormed up to Baltimore to get it back. A huge riot ensued and the police had to be called. Soon thereafter, the statue, which now stands in front of Maryland's Byrd Stadium, was been fortified with a couple extra hundred pounds to make it too heavy to ever steal again.

To get an idea of how big the Hopkins Maryland event will be after even nearly 60 years since the famous riot with the "Twerps" as Maryland fans are sometimes called, head to the Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team home page. There you will see a countdown -- days, hours, minutes and even seconds -- to the next meeting between the two legendary lacrosse rivals. And as the numbers depreciate, the fans' anticipation only grows.

Fans like Chris Tsien, Hopkins class of 1974 and one of the founding members of the Blue Jay Bananas, a group of rabid lacrosse fans, mostly made up of alumni, that award a banana to the player they deem had the best play in any game in which Hopkins annihilates its opponent. Tsien remembers when "Go to hell, Maryland" t-shirts were printed up for the fans and classifies the Hopkins Maryland game as "No question, the biggest blood death rivalry in lacrosse. There is none greater."

According to Davies, the basis for the Maryland rivalry goes something like this: "Hopkins thinks Maryland is a blue collar school and Maryland thinks Hopkins is a preppy school. So," he says, "Maryland loves tripping up Hopkins and Hopkins loves showing Maryland what a bunch of boneheads they are."

Coach Pietramala is more diplomatic, saying, "The rivalry comes from the rich tradition of both school's lacrosse programs. We're competing for fans and local support because if you like Hopkins you can't like Maryland and if you like Maryland you can't like Hopkins."So there you have it. We like Hopkins, so we can't like Maryland. Simple as that.