Winning rivalry games, is it a skill?

[KUJustin]

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The presumption that rivalry games are different from other games makes the assumption that people aren't always trying their hardest to win, which I think for the vast majority of the folks involved in high level sports is kinda silly and insulting.

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I generally agree with the OP, but I don't think I can agree with this. Most coaches will tell you that it's really hard to keep players motivated for every game. Though I suppose it applies less to a college football season due to there being so few games.

This can be a matter of game day motivation against a bad team, but it can also be a matter of preparation motivation. I could see skipping out on some extra film study to play video games or something if my team was playing a 1AA team that week.