The other team isn’t the villain. They’re just wearing a different color and wanting the same trophy.

Competition invents a story about the other side because the story makes effort easier. Cast as a villain, they justify whatever you feel, and that shortcut costs you accuracy about people who are doing exactly what you are doing in different colors. A rivalry can be real without anyone needing to be bad.

Talk to one of them after the game this week. Ask how their season has gone. You will usually find someone with the same nerves and the same early mornings, and knowing that takes nothing away from wanting to win.