Red Sox-Yankees: No other sports rivalry can touch it.

I think this Red-Sox-Yankees rivalry just might have legs. Call me crazy.

I know—it’s early to talk about an opening day matchup. Spring training is barely underway. But Sunday, April 3 will not be any average opening day. Yes, hopes, standings and statistics will be renewed—just like every year. But this opening day will be different. April 3 is going to have playoff intensity.

The setup for this day really began last October 20, when the Sox finally—magically—broke the Yankee spell. Cursed back at the Babe. Sent him and Bucky Dent and all the rest of the Sox heartbreakers of yesteryear packing. And got today’s Yanks fuming.

“Somebody is going to pay,” Alex Rodriguez said that day, from a dejected Yankee locker room.

And so it went most of the winter and on into the spring.

David Wells, a new member of the Sox, weighed in (no pun intended) on Rodriguez. Wells didn’t like that A-Rod said “we” when talking about past Yankee championships. And it’s true A-Rod has no rings from those other Yankee teams. “He shouldn’t put himself in that category,” Wells said.

Trot Nixon called A-Rod a clown. Twice. Nixon said Rodriguez “can’t stand up to” some other Yankees, like Derek Jeter. He said A-Rod wasn’t the “Yankee type.”

Other Sox have had no problem weighing in either, even if some were goaded by reporters. In fairness, it seems that most of the recent comments were sandwiched in compliments for A-Rod. But no matter. The digs are still there.

It’s as if the Sox just can’t pound enough nails into the Curse coffin. They’ve got to turn screws, too. And turn them. And turn them some more. Residents in the Sox’ spring home, Fort Myers, haven’t seen this much airborne debris since Hurricane Charley skidded past.

And then we have the opening day pitching matchup. That uneasy alliance—the pairing that once brought an improbable championship to a four-year-old Diamondbacks franchise—now turns inward on itself. Schill. The Big Unit. Hall of Famers, with the end of their careers in sight, square off in baseball’s most bitter rivalry on Opening Day. Schill won another ring without Randy. Randy wants his.

Is there a better, more bitter rivalry now in any pro sport? None come to mind. Some rivals haven’t shared an historical meeting in so long it’s tough to remember why they were rivals to being with (Celtics and Lakers). Other rivals have been ravaged by shared mediocrity (Redskins and Cowboys), leaving the storylines to run on the fumes of past glory. But not Sox-Yanks. If anything, this rivalry, already built on so much history, keeps growing larger. You can’t wait to see what comes next, even if you aren’t a fan of either team.

Oddly, throughout the offseason and into spring training, the Yankees have remained quiet. Almost humble. "The bottom line is (the Red Sox) won. They've earned the right to say whatever they need to say," Rodriguez recently told the Associated Press.

Maybe it’s the devastating way the Sox took the Yankees out in the ALCS. Maybe they’re still nursing a four-game-slide hangover. Maybe the collective Yankee confidence—the fact that they’re the Yankees, darn it—is showing some cracks.

Or maybe it’s something else. Like quiet determination. Maybe the Yanks have decided to let the big bats—and their new big left arm—do the talking. If the Sox would stop talking for a minute, maybe they’d notice that the other side isn’t yapping. Maybe the Sox would even get a bit nervous.

Or maybe the Sox already are nervous.

Either way, a new chapter in this ever-escalating rivalry starts on Opening Day. Like any great story, the 2005 version will have its unforeseen twists and turns. That’s why we watch. That’s why they play. Let’s set the standings and stats to zero. It’s time to get going. C’mon, April 3.