On game day, it is the talk of the campus. Students and professors alike itch for nightfall to come and to hear that first whistle at tip-off. If “The Game” is held at Azusa Pacific University’s Felix Event Center, fans will walk into the gym and be surrounded by people clad in black for a blackout. If it is held at Biola University’s Chase Gymnasium, people will walk into a Sea of Red. Face paint is a given. Chanting, yelling and stomping add to the excitement. Every foul or basket scored is followed by cheering from the home crowd and boos from the visitors’ section. This is none other than a Biola and Azusa basketball game; the focal point of this traditional rivalry.
“Rivalries are something that really fuels us as a team and pushes us as individuals to really play our best,” said sophomore Biola basketball player Kyle Bailey. “No matter what sport, you just get really excited and it’s a heightened atmosphere and it’s rivalries in general that every athlete looks forward to.”
The rivalry between Biola and APU was sparked more than 40 years ago, long before most current college students were even born. It has lasted so long, most people do not even know how it started in the first place. All they do know, however, is that this rivalry is one of the most well known in the NAIA and likely the biggest in the Golden State Athletic Conference.
“It always makes games more interesting when it’s a rivalry like this,” said junior Azusa soccer player and team captain Hiroshi Metzker on Sunday, a day after defeating Biola 2-1. It was the Cougars’ last regular season soccer game against the Eagles as a member of the GSAC. Since Azusa is transferring to the Pacific West Conference in the NCAA Division II next year, games against the Cougars will no longer have the intensity of a conference game.
Both sides have not always acted with good sportsmanship
Rivalries definitely make athletic games much more interesting, but many people feel that it has created unnecessary enmity between these two Christian schools.
Metzker admits that, at times, it can get out of hand on both sides of the spectrum.
“People just say whatever’s on their mind and kind of just go with their emotions … I think some fans get into it more than the actual athletes,” he said. “My freshman year, I went to a basketball game and some of the Biola fans were just crazy … just shouting at our players and shouting at the refs and I think just trying to outdo the APU fans in a very demeaning way. But I think it goes both ways as well. I’ve seen some APU fans do the same.”
As an athlete, he strives to play in a way that represents his school well, and he understands that there is a fine line separating being competitive and playing dirty. He makes sure that he stays on the competitive side, while not getting too intense about the game.
“In the end it’s just a game and it’s a gift from God that I can play every day and I have to at least be able to enjoy it,” Metzker said with a laugh.
Nothing wrong with good competition
Bailey believes healthy competition within a rivalry is a positive thing, but as long as it is done in a respectful way.
“I think that on both sides, seeing how we both claim to be Christian institutions, we understand that we’re representing not just ourselves,” he said. “I think that our rivalry here between Biola and APU is a little different than other schools just because we claim that and we try to represent Christ in our actions.”
Two final conference rivalry games
Basketball is arguably the sport that draws the most attention in the rivalry, and the 2011-2012 season is about to gear up. With a completely new team from last year, Bailey is the only returning Biola player. Biola will face Azusa for the last time in a conference matchup with players who have yet to perform in a Biola uniform.
“Seeing how it’s a completely different team from last year, it’s definitely going to be a different approach, a different rivalry,” Bailey said. “We’re definitely excited.”
The Eagles and the Cougars men’s basketball teams will meet in two conference games in the upcoming season, and whatever the outcomes are, they will be undeniably memorable. With Azusa leaving the GSAC next year and Biola staying put, these games will most likely mark the end of a historical and storied rivalry between these universities.
