Roy vs. Pete

It's like Coke and Pepsi. Or how about, Ragu and Prego. Nike and Reebok. Jay-Z and Nas. Better yet, 2pac and Biggie. It's like the Cubs versus the Cardinals and Ali versus Frazier all wrapped into one.

What you have here is the greatest rivalry in the history of the universe.

It all started about a year ago when Roy and I were leisurely playing one on one basketball. It was always a huge ego boost for me because he sucked and onlookers would get to see me look pretty awesome on the basketball court.

But then, one day he beat me. He was all smiles that day and I just winked at him and congratulated him on a job well done. Then the next day he beat me again. And again. And again. I could not believe it.

From that point on he would imply that he was better than me. I was incredulous, because it seemed like his transformation was overnight. He was suddenly faster, stronger, and a better shooter.

I would come home from the rec center throwing my sweatshirt around my bedroom, angry and frustrated. One day Dave came into my room during one of my tantrums and asked me what was wrong. "It's that bastard Roy," I said. "He thinks he's better than me, that idiot."

Dave smirked at me and said, "Maybe he is."

From then on, it was ON. No more Mr. Nice Guy. I vowed to elevate my game to the next level, and document every single one of our basketball games. Thus the greatest rivalry in the history of the universe was born.

I'll give credit where credit is due: Roy is pretty good. He's explosive to the hoop and deadly with the three-point shot when given enough room. He plays solid defense and is a very intelligent decision maker. But if that kid thinks I'm going to sit here and publicly state he's better than me, well he's wrong.

Roy and I played 200 games total, with him winning 117 of them to my 83. We've agreed that 200 would be the number we would stop at, and we will never play one on one with each other ever again. The series is over. But I still don't think he's better than me. Because he's not.