Yesterday was a historic day for fans of Missouri and Kansas, as the two universities’ men’s basketball teams faced off in what is ostensibly the last of their meetups in the historic Border War rivalry. Mizzou is leaving the Big 12 Conference and will play with the SEC next season. Coaches and officials at the University of Kansas have said Kansas will not play Missouri out of conference. KU basketball coach Bill Self even said, “The majority of Kansas fans don’t give a flip about playing Missouri.”
When the teams played their last football game against each other in November, Mizzou won the game and the distinction of winning most of the football games between the two teams.
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THE LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD
Lawrence, Kan.
The University of Kansas’ hometown paper stripped a photo of victorious fans celebrating the “grand finale” of the “epic border battle.” Not that these fans “give a flip.”
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THE HUTCHINSON NEWS
Hutchinson, Kan.
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THE TOPEKA CAPITAL-JOURNAL
Topeka, Kan.
Here’s a close-up of that photo:
So, Bill Self, when you say that Kansas fans “don’t give a flip” about playing Mizzou, what fans are you talking about? These guys seem to give pretty much of a flip.
As they should. Their team was behind and then Mizzou blew a 19-point lead. That’s flip-worthy.
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THE KANSAS CITY STAR
Kansas City, Mo.
This was pretty fitting play for the Kansas City Star, the biggest daily newspaper between Lawrence and Columbia.
It pains me to see that photo of smiling Jayhawks celebrating. But that’s a great photo, showing a majority of beakers… giving a flip.
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THE COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN
Columbia, Mo.
What a heartbreaking photo by Andrew Mitchell of The Missourian, showing Missouri guard Michael Dixon on the court after the game. With the Jayhawk mascot in the background, even.
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THE COLUMBIA DAILY TRIBUNE
Columbia, Mo.
The other daily paper in Columbia picked a slightly less heartbreaking photo, though the disappointment is still apparent.
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THE ST. JOSEPH NEWS-PRESS
St. Joseph, Mo.
The News-Press does a good job picking above-the-nameplate photos. They used a variation of the Dixon scene. This photo shows more of the Jayhawk mascot than the Missourian photo, but it makes sense: St. Joe is a lot closer to Lawrence than it is to Columbia, so News-Press readers aren’t necessarily reading this outcome as heartbreak.
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As a Missouri native and Mizzou alum, I can’t overstate how big this rivalry is. Games against KU were as important to Mizzou sports as the “Battlestar Galactica” episodes when you found out the identity of another Cylon. To Mizzou fans, Kansas was the rival among rivals. Kansas is the Cavil among the other Cylons. If the Big 12 were “The X-Files,” Kansas was Cancer Man among the Syndicate, foiling Mizzou’s Mulder and Scully. Watching Mizzou beat KU was like watching the trailer scene in “Kill Bill” when Darryl Hannah gets what she has coming.
I could come up with dozens more pop culture references, but you get the point: This was a big deal, about which we gave a huge flip.
As you can see, I’m pretty hacked off about that Bill Self comment. A friend of mine who used to cover the rivalry for a radio station put it pretty aptly: “He can say that, but I sure don’t ever see Kansas fans making ‘Muck Febraska’ T-shirts.”
Touche.