November 23, 2007
"It's not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that." --Former UCLA coach Red Sanders on the storied UCLA-USC football rivalry.
When it comes to college football rivalries, yes, UCLA and USC have a great one, but it pales in comparison to the oldest one west of the Mississippi, the Missouri-Kansas enmity that will be played out on the football field Thanksgiving weekend 2007.
This column is not about sports, but for right now, this writer cannot resist the pull of one of the greatest college sporting events in memory, the MU-KU battle for the championship of the Big 12 North.
If you have not heard about the football game yet, you must be living in a cave. It is being billed as "Armageddon at Arrowhead Stadium," the possible end of the world as we know it. It has made the front page of the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Sports broadcasters nationwide talk of little else.
Every black-and-gold Mizzou fan and every crimson-and-blue KU fan wants to be there.
Every writer wants to cover the story.
Speaking of stories, here are some wild ones overheard this week about this college rivalry that began so long ago on Oct. 31, 1891.
Some MU fans will not wear any garment that is blue until after the game is decided because it might bring bad luck.
Some KU fans are planning Harry Potter style sorcery. They will try to place a curse on MU's Heisman trophy candidate by chanting and staring at him from the stands.
MU fans say that will not work and plan counter magic against the KU quarterback.
I did not ask for details.
As the end of the world draws near, fans are turning Biblical according to Pat Forde of espn.com.
He writes about Paul Flemming, Florida Capital Bureau editor for Gannett News Service and a Missouri alum who describes the MU-KU phenomenon: "That the Tigers and Jayhawks should meet on the football field with a possible national championship on the line is nothing less than a sign of the End Times."
He says a Big 12 version of the Book of Revelations could read: "And there came a pair of beasts, the one striped and fanged and the other winged and fierce, if cartoonish. And, lo, these beasts were ranked, second and fourth, and from this field of conflict one will emerge and go forth and vie for the greater praise of men and adoration of women. Woe unto the loser, for him awaits only pain, regret and recrimination. Beat KU!"
Far be it from me to take sides, but I have to tell you this. I just got a paper cut, and I am bleeding black and gold.
On one thing both MU and KU can agree, they love to beat Nebraska.
