Kansas-Mizzou at (Cam)Arrowhead is Horrible

OK. This will get away from politics. Don't tell me how the election worked out; I TiVo'd it and I haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

Anyway, for several years my alma mater, the University of Kansas, was been pressing the horrible, pro-slavery/pro-confederacy University of Missouri to play their annual Border War (renamed, sadly, under pressure from Kansas' otherwise brilliant Athletic Director Lew Perkins, as the "Border Showdown." I guess I am not politically correct enough to think this was necessary or a good idea.) game at Arrowhead Stadium, currently famous as the place the Kansas City Chiefs do most of their out-loud stinking. After years of wheedling by the University of Kansas, Mizzou finally agreed and last year was the first year of a two-year contract where the game was played at Arrowhead.

I was at last year's game as it was included in the KU season ticket package. I will NOT be attending this year's game as it is not in the package. And I don't think I will miss it all that much truth be told. However, I just read that an extension of this series is almost a done deal and I cannot let that contract be signed without saying why this is such a horrible idea.

For those of you who do not know, this series actually stems from a real war. Most schools refer to it as the American Civil War but pro-confederacy places (like Missouri) frequently refer to it as something like "The War of Northern Aggression" or some other name that makes it sound like all the South wanted was "state's rights" even when that "right" extended to the enslavement of a race of people. Anyway, this football game, The Border War, actually stems from a real war. There are descendants of people who were actually affected by this war who are fans of both schools, so it's not a euphemism to refer to it as a "war." It may be hyperbolic, but I cannot for the life of me understand why it would be deemed offensive to refer to it as such. I say this not to argue about the name of the rivalry but to describe just how serious this rivalry is. KU wants to beat Mizzou very badly every year and Mizzou would be happy to never make a bowl game or the NCAA tournament as long as they beat KU because they know they are an inferior institution and they feel good about themselves when they can take down KU. So, we know this is serious to both schools, right?

Here is my problem with playing this game at Arrowhead: In a nutshell MU is better than KU right now. Not leaps and bounds better and not in a different class (well, at least in a football sense. We have already established that MU is in a much lower caste, institutionally speaking), but better by enough that giving up home field advantage actually could make a difference in how the game is played out. Last year, on the neutral field of Arrowhead, KU came up short but they didn't get destroyed by MU. I honestly believe that if that game had been played at KU's Memorial Stadium (it says something that KU names its football stadium after honored war dead and Mizzou names it after a coach), KU would have won that game. I will admit that my analysis on that is biased, but it's what I believe.

So why does it make sense to give up home field advantage to a team we can beat at home? I understand that KU (and Mizzou) will both get significant pay days for playing at Arrowhead, but is it really worth it? Never mind the hit taken by businesses in Lawrence when people don't come to town for the game. What about the hit KU takes when it loses an otherwise winnable game because Mizzou isn't faced with a hostile crowd and also gets to have their own battery-chucking Oakland Raider-wannabe fans in equal numbers? I don't know how to do the math here because we are talking about something quantifiable (money) versus something unmeasurable (prestige) but it is my opinion that the financial benefits of this arrangement are more than offset by the merits of having the game in Lawrence.

But here is the thing that REALLY sticks in my draw about having this game in Kansas City: After decades of Norm Stewart swearing that he will never spend a dime in the state of Kansas, we KU fans are left with no choice BUT to spend money in Missouri. Think about that about that for a second. When we pay for parking at Arrowhead, when we buy a beer or a hot dog or popcorn for the kids we are paying sales tax to the state of Missouri. Anyone know where a portion of that sales tax goes? That's right, it goes to the University of Missouri in all its cousin-loving, meth-abusing glory. And we KU fans HAVE NO CHOICE IN THE MATTER. if we want to attend the game, we have to give part of our hard-earned money to Mizzou. And Lew Perkins, who has been a great AD in my opinion, is OK with that.

You know, it wouldn't be so horrible if we could somehow rig Kansas Speedway (in Wyandotte County, Kansas) to play every other game in Kansas to at least balance out this fundamental unfairness, but I don't think that's possible and, as far as I know, it's never been discussed as an option. So we are stuck with the University of Missouri making money at the expense of KU and Lawrence businesses because the KU Athletic Department gets a few extra dollars that it will share with none of the affected parties (Lawrence merchants, the KU community as a whole).

I have to say, I haven't always been keen on Lew Perkins' decisions on how to maximize revenue. Sometimes they seemed a bit heavy-handed and they personally affected and hurt me because I can't afford to make the kind of Williams Fund (the privately-supported KU Athletics fund) donations necessary to get the priority points for really good seats. But even with all of that I went along because I knew that Perkins was trying hard to make KU sports competitive with the "big boys" like Texas, Nebraska and North Carolina. And to get to that level of competition sacrifices need to be made. But having this game at Arrowhead is too big a sacrifice. It makes it harder for our team to win the game itself, it makes it less convenient and more expensive for fans to attend the game and, in the biggest twist, it forces KU fans to support (even indirectly) the University of Missouri.

It's too much and I won't be a part of it. I will never attend that game at Arrowhead unless my tickets are free or are part of my season ticket package. I have a great HDTV, a fridge full of frosty drinks and TiVo for bathroom breaks and replays. Why would I volunteer to PAY MONEY to be cold, surrounded by leather-lunged, raspy-voiced, nicotine-stained Mizzou fans (and thier husbands) and give my money in support of MU?

And do not get me started about how this lines the pockets of the still-early-but-so-far-horrible ownership of the Kansas City Chiefs. If Clark Hunt wants a single dime from me, he is going to have to earn it with the Chiefs and he has shown no inclination to do that.

All of that being said, I certainly hope KU wins the game this weekend. I may sound like I am not a "real" fan but I would disagree with that. I want what is best for KU and and simply do not think that playing this game at Arrowhead is best for the school I love so much. If KU shows that it can beat MU at Arrowhead, maybe I will revise my opinion and it looks like KU will have a lot of chances to to prove me wrong. I certainly hope they do. But I just don't see how this works for KU except by making a few bucks.