Lets get this out of the way now, before anything else, Eastern Nazarene versus Gordon College is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a rivalry. Don't embarrass yourself ENC students and feed into the ploy made by student athletes who "think" we are rivals with the Scots.
The moment a student athlete arrives on campus and asks the daunting question, "who are our rival", the automatic response from his or her teammates is Gordon College, but no one ever seems to ask the pivotal question of why? To be frank, it's because it's easy to be rivals with Gordon. We have a natural connection with Gordon. We're a Christian institution, they're a Christian institution, we have the classic look of an "underdog", from sporting apparel, to facilities, to the way our players carry themselves, they have the stereotypical look of a "favorite"m or how I like to call them, the B.M.O.C. (Big Men On Campus). Their facilities are superior, their apparel is high class, and their aura spews winner.
The fact of the matter is that a true rivalry lies between two teams who desperately want to beat each, want to do whatever it takes to win, because even if your record is 20-1, if that one is against your rival, 20-1 doesn't carry the same prestige around campus. Both teams despise each other, they bring their fiercest competitive banter to the game, leave it all on the court, and if for chance your team loses, the players wince because they have to shake their dreaded rivals collective hand. Both teams are emotionally risen for the moment, the moment where they can say "hey, we got em'." But when it comes to the Lions versus the Scots, only one team perceives this as a rivalry, and that one team is ENC.
To get the absolute truth about ENC versus Gordon just ask a Scot basketball player who his rival is. I guarantee he will say Endicott on a drop of a dime. To Gordon we are just another team, they don't care about us in the least. ENC is a speed bump, we are the center of many of jokes, and deservingly so. Endicott is the end all be all to the Scots, the game they get up for, the game they call on "The Pit" to become their 6th man. Endicott versus Gordon is a true rivalry on so many levels. They provide some of the most exciting games in The Commonwealth Coast Conference year after year, you tend to forget it's division III athletics. Don't believe me check out some of these vignettes and game highlights from their past few meetings.
The Endicott vs. Gordon split screen commercial was inspired by a series of NBA Playoff commercials which ran in 2008. Above is an NBA version of the commercial.
Above is a "Where Amazing Happens" NBA commercial where Gordon found the inspiration their own version of "Where Incredible Happens" (I'm sure there were copyright issues there). Below is the Gordon College addition of the vignette.
This should be adequate enough to prove to anyone that Endicott and Gordon are indeed rivals. Where are the ENC versus Gordon promo videos or game highlights? Well you can easily find one of them on youtube and linked to the top of this article. Former Crusader JP Marcellus receiving an alley oop from current Lion, then first year Crusader, DeAngelo Alston. Just like any match up there are highlights and this happened to be one of them. Would the atmosphere have been as electric if ENC didn't market Gordon as their rivals, of course not, but this doesn't mean it is a rivalry, and it certainly doesn't mean Gordon feels the same.
At Eastern Nazarene the Gordon "rivalry" is nothing but propaganda. To each his own but I won't get caught up in this false hype. We should learn from Gordon as they have created an amenity laden, winning environment that is a proven model of success in today's generation of athlete. Prospective student athletes are drawn to the material and the perks of being a collegiate athlete, not all but most. There's a reason why Gordon has been successful.
Coaches use the tiresome excuse of "it's tough to recruit a Christian environment", false, because looking at the success of Gordon's athletic teams, they aren't having much of an ordeal. If a senior in high school is being recruited by ENC and Gordon, the costs are similar, the campus atmosphere is practically identical, but what sets them apart is that their administration is deeply concerned about their athletic program.
At ENC, the hierarchies of the school are just glad we are having "fun" and creating bonds that will last a lifetime. What ENC fails to realize is that at the college level coaches are evaluated, mostly, by wins and losses. The time for creating bonds is over, college athletics is about winning, not relationships. Gordon has realized this a long time ago by investing into the athletic programs and, you know what, they've recieved a return on that investment. The return is winning, and with winning comes better facilities, and with better facilities come more students. ENC is not at that level, they are actual eons away, and until the Lions come to the realization that winning teams equal money, the word rivalry should never be used to describe our relationship with Gordon, or any other institution for that matter.
By no means am I telling people not to support the Lions, make the trip up to Gordon, give the basketball teams a good road crowd on Saturday, I'm just trying to let you know the recent truth behind this so called rivalry.
* ENC vs. Gordon Fact: Competitiveness is an aspect of a rivalry that the Lions have lacked severely. Of the three major men's sports at ENC, soccer (0-4-1), basketball (1-7), and baseball (7-3), are a combined 8-14-1.
Of the four major women's teams at ENC, volleyball (0-5), soccer (0-5), basketball (2-4), and softball (3-7), a combined record of 5-21.
In these seven sports ENC holds a record of 13-35-1, a winning percentage of .265. No competitive games equals no rivalry.
