So Falmouth and Barnstable are playing each other this Friday in the boys MIAA hockey tournament and everyone is freaking out. I’m reading all kinds of stories about the rivalry and how the coaches played against each other in the tournament in 1980 etc. etc. What I’m wondering is if the rivalry is still really that intense or not.
I’m a Falmouth guy, and when we used to play Barnstable it was the most important game of the season no matter what. Beating them on Thanksgiving is still one of the great memories of my life. We hated Barnstable with the fire of a thousand suns and they hated us just as much.
When I say we hated Barnstable, I mean if you were from there we wanted you dead, we wanted your family dead, we wanted your house burned to the ground and we wanted to piss on the ashes. Our hatred certainly wasn’t just on the field either, it was genuine. We used to have 60 person Falmouth vs. Barnstable rumbles on the lawn at Steve Miller concerts and shit. Random kids getting knee capped with bats in the parking lots after games. I’m talking Anchorman rumble scene type stuff.
Now that the world is smaller, the kids from each town are friends with each other on Facebook and they have all this no guff, anti bullying, everyone gets a trophy stuff, do they still actually hate each other, or is it just an on the field, friendly rivalry type of thing?
So some of you younger cats chime in, does the rivalry still run that deep or has it become all civil? Of course the minute we graduated from high school we stopped hating people from Barnstable (the sane ones stopped anyway), but in those four years we didn’t hate anything on earth more than we hated them, and the feeling was mutual.
I really hope the rivalry is still the same for kids these days, because it was pretty awesome.
P.S. I know this blog alienates people from other towns on the Cape, but what the hell could anyone write about their rivalries? They all started like two weeks ago. Falmouth and Barnstable go back to the 1800’s, that’s some Greece and Turkey shit right there.
Facebook: The Real CapeTwitter: Hippie - Insane Tony
I'm from Falmouth and a lot my good friends are from Barnstable, so I wouldn't say that theres a huge thing going on, but I will say that Barnstable is pretty much toned down Wareham.
I'm an 09 Falmouth graduate, so I can't comment on the current status of the rivalry, but I will say it was still very much in effect my senior year. Before the thanksgiving game a few kids from Falmouth recorded a Barnstable diss and put it on youtube. The impending youtube comment war quickly proceeded. Barnstable came back with a few falmouth rap disses until it made it's way to school supervisors where suspensions and thanksgiving game bans were given. Apparently Barnstable played the song that sparked it all in their locker room before the game. Didn't work though as Falmouth took home the W on Barnstable turf and stormed the field. A few fights/scuffles broke out in the parking lot but nothing major that I can recall.
Anyway, I realize we traded bats and brawls for a keyboard and an internet connection, but we still hated Barnstable. Their graduating class is probably double or triple that of Falmouth now though, so that doesn't help the rivalry.
I found the YouTube video. Looks like it still gets comments here and there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhYQ4stPvks
Hey now, the "Island" rivalry goes back that far (whaling thing) and the 'Island Cup' is pretty effin intense lol
My kids are from Sandwich, where I live now…. and since most cape kids can pick their schools now, they have friends all over… I laugh because my son goes to school at Sandwich public wearing Sturgis Lacrosse pants (he ended up owning from a friend), Barnstable Football sweatshirt and his Sandwich soccer varsity pins on his backpack … I would have got my a** kicked if I showed up at school representing anyone but MVHS lol