The Redskins visit Dallas to renew their rivalry with the Cowboys this weekend, in a game that will be shown to damn near everyone in the country. While I personally don't feel like the rivalry has the same intensity it had, say 15 to 20 years ago, this one Redskins fan has his mind appropriately tuned to hatred (Gracias, DCist, via FanIQ):

I dig it. Not because I have anything against Tony Romo, but when you've been to northern Virginia, and you've seen that about 90% of the populace has some kind of vanity license plate, you quickly realize that hatred of a rival quarterback is a relatively worthy subject for a plate. It's nice to see the occasional break from "MEGANSCAR" or "MSTHANGQT."

Back to the rivalry, though. The DC Sports Bog's Dan Steinberg (if I lived in northern Virginia, my license plate would look like this) thinks the rivalry's become one-sided, with the Redskins hating the Cowboys, and the Cowboys sort of having a lukewarm dislike for the Redskins.

I asked the only Cowboy fan I know if he hated the Washington Redskins, and his reply was a wishy-washy, "I do, but I hate the Eagles more." Understandable on two levels. 1) The Eagles are a better team right now, and more of a threat to the Cowboys position of dominance in the NFC, and 2) he lives in New Jersey, has a bias against Philadelphians, and is unable to see that Philadelphia and South Jersey are pretty much the same place.

When I was a wee NFL fan, I assumed that the Redskins/Cowboys rivalry was born naturally from the "Cowboys vs. Indians" game that everyone played as a kid. Then you learn a little about American history, and you think, "I really should be rooting for the 'Indians' here," and then you learn even more still, and you think, "Wait, we've got a team named the 'Redskins', and this is OK? To hell with all of you."

At this point, as an objective outsider, I see it as a divisional rivalry that heats up and cools down appropriately depending on how good the teams are. Right now, the Cowboys are on top of the mountain, and the Redskins desperately want to knock them off, so the Redskins feel it a little more. If they were both projected as 12- or 13-win teams, I think both sides would feel it equally. And then, it would feel like the renewal of a once-great rivalry.