There’s something about rivalries in sports. Whether it’s the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, the Texas Longhorns and Texas A&M Aggies, or the Taylor Ducks and Rockdale Tigers, a rivalry can bring out the best — or worst — in people.
There’s one “rivalry” where both sides insist that it’s a war instead of a rivalry — the one simmering between two universities in border states Kansas and Missouri.
For the first time since 2011, the teams will “go to war” at 2:30 p.m. Saturday in Columbia, Missouri.
The reason for the 14-year hiatus was the University of Missouri’s “defection” from the Big 12 Conference — the University of Kansas’ conference affiliation — to the Southeastern Conference.
This edition of what has been nicknamed the “Border War” will be a non-conference game.
The Kansas Jayhawks and the Missouri Tigers “went to war” 120 times from 1891 to 2011.
The only year in that timespan when the game did not take place was 1918 — the year of the Great Influenza Epidemic. Fittingly, the first recorded case of the epidemic on U.S. soil was documented in Haskell, Kansas.
Before the schools established athletic programs, the states of Kansas and Missouri fought guerrilla-style against each other during the Civil War. The University of Missouri was founded in 1839, while the University of Kansas was founded in 1865 — the same year the War Between the States ended.
During the Kansas-Missouri War, Missouri was pro-slavery and tried to influence Kansas to enter the Union accordingly.
Kansas, however, was anti-slavery.
The height of the war came in 1863. A Missouri fighter named William Quantrill led a raid on Lawrence, Kansas — which is now the home of the University of Kansas.
Quantrill and his group of Bushwhackers, also known as Quantrill’s Raiders, raided Lawrence. They killed 150 men and burned down all but two buildings.
This story was told by former Kansas football player and Coach Don Fambrough during Border War Weeks from the 1980s to 2010.
Fambrough, who died a month before the 2011 Border War, was more famous for his annual anti-Missouri speeches than his two tenures as the coach of the Jayhawks — 1971-74 and 1979-82.
Legend has it Fambrough upon being referred to a medical specialist in Kansas City, Missouri, responded, “I’ll die first.”
Not to be outdone, former Missouri men’s basketball Coach Norm Stewart had similar sentiments toward Kansas.
Stewart, a Missouri alumni and coach of the basketball program from 1967-99, essentially boycotted the state of Kansas by claiming he would never spend a dime there.
When his teams traveled to Lawrence or Manhattan, Kansas — the latter being the home of Kansas State University — Stewart would have the team lodge the night before in Kansas City, Missouri. The team bus would fill up with gas on the Missouri side of the border and the team would eat pregame and postgame meals in Missouri as well.
I have family and friends on both sides of the Border War. It’s great to have it back in session.
I’ll be sporting crimson and blue and sing “Hail to Old KU,” as well as embark in the “Rock Chalk Jayhawk KU” chant on Saturday. After the game, I’ll speak to my family and friends on the other side of the battle lines, though I might give it two to three days.
Just remember, when Kansas and Missouri face each other, it’s not a rivalry. It’s a war.
Chlapek is the area editor of the Elgin Courier and Taylor Press. He can be reached at jason.chlapek@granite mediapartners.com.
