The Yankees and the Red Sox, Cal and Stanford, the Celtics and the Lakers. Every team, professional, college or high school, has a rival –that victory that tastes the sweetest and that loss that stings more than the rest.

“There is a lot more energy in rivalry games than others because both teams are really intent on beating one another,” said senior Graham Low, men’s varsity basketball and baseball player.

Low said that the baseball team is rivals with Saint Mary’s High School, while the basketball team is rivals with Encinal High School.

“We’ve always been fighting Encinal for first place with them in league,” Low said. “The games are generally close and evenly matched, so there is a lot of competitive spirit.”

Rivalries often seem nerve racking and tense, however, according to Nathan Heflick in his article “Enemies Enhance the Meaning of Life” in Psychology Today, rivalries are essential.

“If we can attribute many of the ills in our lives to our enemies, then we have a stable set of schemas and expectations,” Heflick said. “We know what to expect, even if something bad happens, and we know who to attribute it to.”

Heflick additionally describes studies, which claim that having rivals creates a secure feeling and helps maintain a clear perspective.

Contrastingly, sophomore Caroline Dunlap said the women’s varsity lacrosse rivalry stems from a need for revenge.

“Last season we only lost one game during the regular season to Clayton Valley by one point, and that was extremely aggravating,” Dunlap said, “Going into a [second] game against them, our team was super focused and competitive. Eventually we won the game and then went on to win league championships.”

However impolite rivalries may get, onlookers are in agreement that they are fun to watch and useful to teams.

“Rivalries pump everyone up and get everyone excited to fight and win for themselves and their team,” Dunlap said.