Above It All

This weekend will mark the biggest meeting between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Missouri Tigers since 1960. It’s been over 40 years since this game has had any real meaning or carried any semblance of gravity. This rivalry goes back 116 years on the football field, but it goes back even further in the history books.

As you may or may not remember from your 8^th grade history class, Missouri and Kansas were entrenched in many a bloody battle back before and during the American Civil War. Missouri was a Confederate state and Kansas was a Union State. Most that were determined to abolish slavery settled in Kansas to oppose the pro-slavery state of Missouri.

You might say that since you’re not a redneck flying a Confederate Flag outside your home that you’d side with Kansas, being anti-slavery and all. It’s not that simple. Do you know where Kansas gets their mascot name from? A band of guerillas that led attacks on Missouri towns and cities went by the moniker the “Jayhawkers.” The Jayhawkers were notorious for the raping, pillaging and the slaughter of innocent women and children. On the other hand, the Tiger's home of Columbia is still known as "Little Dixie" and most are still proud of their Confederate roots.

How do I know all this crap? Well, because after living here for a little over a year now and going to college down in Missouri teaches you a lot about the history of each state. And I’ve done a lot of reading about this matchup this weekend. I wanted to see exactly why these two schools and their fans hate (and I really mean hate) each other.

What’s my point with this being a Nebraska Cornhuskers blog? I’m glad to be fan of a team that is above it all. Sure my team stinks this year and is danger of being tied for last place in the Big 12 North, but as you probably know, Nebraska fans are some of the classiest in college football. Of course we have our fair share of idiots, but if you’ve been to a game in Lincoln you are aware that for the most part, fans of the opposing team are treated with nothing but respect and are hardly harassed. Don’t believe me? I went to see Nebraska play Troy last fall and a gentleman was walking though one of the mezzanines and was wearing an Oklahoma jacket. Not one comment, not one menacing remark. That was in 2006 and we don't play the Sooners again until 2008.

The game is set for 7pm at Arrowhead Stadium in my home of Kansas City, Missouri. The gates open at 9am. Do the math. Probably over 100,000 people (20,000 of which don’t have tickets, they’ll just tailgate) drinking for over 9 hours piling into a stadium that probably won’t have the benefit of being split down the middle like the Red River Shootout.

Click to enlarge the above picture to see what I'm referring to.

While my team sits at the bottom and struggles to get into a December bowl when they play Colorado the day before, these two teams will slug it out for Big 12 North supremacy, a shot a the Big 12 title and a chance to play for the BCS National Title. No doubt certain fans will slug it out to show themselves who’s state is better while their respective teams do the same on the field.

When it gets down to it, this is just a game after all. When you’re 45 years old and getting into a fistfight over a bunch of 18 to 23 year old kids, it’s not cool. And fighting over which state did what to whom over 150 years ago is even less cool. Like I said, just happy to be above it all.