A K-Staters view on MU vs KU

As a K-State student and diehard, the MU/KU rivalry could be a sensitive subject.

There is a lot that can go into an opinion like this. First, we can look at basketball and football. Second, we can look at specific years and decades. Finally, we can look at the success, or lack of success, of each team at any given time. I will try to look at all three and compare the two.This will be kind of like a story and I may go back and forth between times. Everything you are about to read is 100% honesty. Some people may not like it, specifically fans of either school I am talking about or my fellow K-State fans. Lets get to it.

Lets get started with my trip to Columbia, Missouri. As many people know, the biggest basketball game of the year was on February 4, 2012. The Missouri Tigers were facing the Kansas Jayhawks in the last border showdown match up in Columbia. Everybody probably knows that the Tigers are moving out of the Big 12 and to the SEC after this season. A lot of Big 12 fans are bitter about this departure, but for the sake of this post, you should know that I could care less. They have been replaced so it doesn't matter to me. Back to the story, I traveled to CoMo to visit my girlfriend, a Mizzou student and diehard fan. Unfortunately she was not able to get a ticket so we watched it at her apartment with a couple of her other MU fans. At the beginning of the game, she asked me who I was cheering for. This was a very tough question. I knew I definitely wasn't cheering for KU. But I couldn't bring myself to openly cheer for mizzou, either. So my response was "I'm not rooting at all". She wasn't very happy with that, because of course I should root for mizzou.

So the game starts with me as a neutral fan of college basketball. But it didn't take long for me to lean towards the black and gold side. By halftime, I hadn't officially crossed to that side, but i was leaning heavily towards it. I had tweeted (@alhenton) multiple times with intent to side with the tigers, so it was inevitable that I would say those dreaded, ugly, three letters chanted by Missouri fans. After halftime, I knew that I was going to be cheering for Mizzou. I finally made it official with one tweet, but the actions of the Jayhawks is what drew me to the golden side. Thomas Robinson has a knack for showing heavy disrespect towards the game of basketball. I may be in the minority, but real basketball players, who respect the game, don't pull the childish antics that Robinson does every game. After a big play he always has to make it about himself by yelling, or cheering, or flexing, or some other random act of disrespect. True players would make the play, that is supposed to be made, and get back on defense; no showboating or shenanigans, just real basketball. That is what made me the most upset. That is the main reason why I went the way of Mizzou.

Now lets look at football. Missouri and Kansas had both been perennial doormats from the 90s to the early 2000s. Gary Pinkel was hired at Missouri, and Mark Mangino was hired at Kansas. From there, they both had a magical 2007 season. A season where Missouri reached a very high ranking (I think it was a #1, but I'm not sure) and Kansas benefited from an easy schedule to reach a very respectable record. At the time, I was a high school senior, therefore, I had many many MU fans as friends. Keep this in mind. Even though KSU was in a down year, *cough* Prince *cough*, we had routinely beat these two foes in past years. With this year being different, I was torn on who to cheer for in the Border Showdown. I hated KU. Todd Reesing, Kerry Meier, the whole team. But that's just it. I hated the team. Missouri on the other hand, was hated by me due to the fact that, A. I didn't like their team or coach, and B. their fans got very arrogant due to the success of their season. Going back to me having many of those MU fans, it was obvious that the wins got to their heads, and I couldn't handle dealing with it if they had won. So for that game, I supported the Jayhawks. I have no hatred for the people, its just the situation with the schools and teams.

With those two situations on the table, one rooting for MU, and one rooting for KU, I have one final thing to say. Being from Kansas City, the match ups between these two bitter rivals is always highly publicized, so I hear a lot about each team. And every one of these highly publicized games makes me want both teams to lose. There is no way I would want either team to win, but apparently, these two sports eliminate the possibility of the games ending in ties. Its a tough world I live in, and I have a feeling many K-Staters feel the same way, but it is something I have to deal with. One thing that always makes it a little better, is if K-State has already beaten either team. If we have the W in our column, I care even less about the game.

This is just one K-State fan's personal opinion, but I don't think that I am alone in this. I would just like to say that I am in support of an EMAW nation against both jayhawks and tigers. Maybe one day my dream will come true and both teams will end up with a mark in the loss column, when they face each other. Until then, I will rely on my purple to get me through these games.