This past week has been one of the best weeks to be on Eastern’s campus.

It wasn’t because Eastern’s football team beat up on some unheard of Division II team from California or Pennsylvania or wherever.

It wasn’t because students were finally getting settled into their new homes for the next nine months.

It wasn’t because some empty-headed pretty boy came and spoke to a bunch of star struck girls wanting to make out with him because “he’s so cute.”

The reason it was great to be at Eastern this past week can be summed up in two words – Cubs- Cardinals.

Five games, four days and the best rivalry in professional sports, period!

The best experience for any sports fan, particularly a baseball fan, is a Cubs and Cards game. It doesn’t even matter if it’s in Wrigley or Busch. The Cubs and Cards have the best fans in professional sports and when these two different groups are thrown together in the friendly confines of Wrigley or in the shadow of the Arch in Busch, great baseball and banter follows.

If you couldn’t be at Wrigley this past week, Eastern was the place to be. Because of its convenient geographic location, Eastern has a great mix of Cubs and Cards fans. With a good number of students on this campus coming from both the Chicago and St. Louis metropolitan areas, Eastern was a place where the Cubs-Cards rivalry flourished, especially with the race for the National League Central roaring.

This great rivalry made Eastern an extremely fun campus to be on, but sadly these rivalries tend to go into a stage of semi-hibernation during the winter, so I have compiled a list of all of the rivals of Eastern’s respective teams:

– The football team has a few good rivalries. Last year, Bob Spoo’s men had to settle for a tie for the Ohio Valley Conference Championship with Murray State after the Racers beat the Panthers in the final regular season game at Murray, Ken., on a last-second field goal.

Southeast Missouri State is another good rivalry for Eastern. Not only are they the favorites to take the OVC title this year, but Cape Girardeau is also closer to Charleston than any other OVC town.

– Women’s soccer is one of, if not, Eastern’s best chance for an OVC title. In women’s soccer, Eastern has a very good rivalry developing with SEMO. SEMO has won the regular season OVC title the last two years, but Eastern has beat the Otahkians in the championship game of the OVC Tournament. Last year, Eastern won in a shootout.

– The men’s soccer team has different schools to develop rivalries with. The OVC doesn’t have men’s soccer, so Eastern is an associate member of the Missouri Valley Conference with schools like Creighton, Bradley, Southwest Missouri and one of the best college soccer programs in the nation – Southern Methodist.

Bradley and Evansville are good rivalries for the men’s soccer team. Bradley has consistently been ranked higher than Eastern, but being located in in-state at Peoria, watching the Braves and Panthers is usually a good game.

– The volleyball team has been rebuilding the past two years after winning the OVC title in 2001. Once again SEMO is a strong rivalry. The series history between the Panthers and Otahkians is tied at 13-13. Austin Peay is also a good match to watch with the series tied at eight matches a piece.

Evansville, Ind., is closer to Charleston than most OVC schools and the Purple Aces men’s soccer program has been improving the past couple of years.

Eastern also has a long history playing both ISUs. Eastern plays Indiana State and Illinois State at least once in almost every sport, so the Panthers have long histories with both schools.

Sports are great, but rivalries make sports that much better. The Cubs and Cards proved it this week and Eastern and its rivals will continue to prove as this year unfolds.