Yeah lived there for years. I understand local rivalry but not to the point where a team such as Sunderland who (as far as I know) haven't had much success in terms of European qualification would be wished the worst by their rivals. I mean, Newcastle aren't in much of a better position than them and personally, I'd rather wish North East teams all the best no matter who I support.
It's the same sort of deal with my own local rivalry with Everton and Liverpool. Everton haven't done anything for years but I still hate them with a passion and hope they lose about 95% of their games a season.
Think what makes the rivalry is the ''banter'' between the fans. Heard a lot of daft shite from both sets of fans over the years but I think my all time favorite was Arteta being twice the player of Xabi Alonso. Hard to hope another local team does well when they revel in anything bad happening to LFC.
I bet it's the same in the North East as well.