Rivalries

Friday night my friends and I went to the New Trier Homecoming football game.  As we walked to the field, we passed a group of Loyola students wearing maroon shirts that said "Beat New Trier!" on them.  They were shouting and making obscene gestures at other New Trier fans.  Now in case you didn't know, New Trier played Main South for homecoming, not Loyola.  This struck me as a rivalry gone way to far.  I would have understood if it was Loyola fans at a NT vs. Loyola homecoming game but it wasn't.  The came to a New Trier game that had nothing to do with them just to watch New Trier lose and be obnoxious.  This just seems absurd to me.  Why do two High school football teams have such an intense rivalry that kids see going to NT games to be obnoxious as a good use of time on a Friday night.  If you think thats ridiculous, think about this, after every New Trier vs. Evanston basketball game at Welsh-Ryan Arena there are multiple fights which often results in kids spending the night in the hospital, or prison.  Last year, one fan was beat over the head with a brick, this resulted in serious head injuries, the perpetrators were arrested and expelled.  Its hard to imagine a stupider and more pointless reason to ruin your life and harm another's.  Sports were invented as a fun passing of time but they have become a cause for violence and animosity even at the High School.  I also believe the schools are contributing to it.  Do you think that a basketball game versus Evanston would be as big a deal if it was held at the school like all the other season games?  I don't.  Yet the schools continue to rent out Welsh Ryan Arena and heighten the rivalry and anger.
Let me know what you think.