Section B·Page 6
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The University Daily Kansan
Friday, October 6, 2000
Kansas football rivalry has departed from wild past
By Chris Wristen sports@kansan.com Kansan sportswriter
The Kansas versus Kansas State football game was once a bloodthirsty rivalry, but times have changed.
it began as a quiet match-up in 1902 between Kansas and what was then the Kansas State College of Agriculture. By 1936, the Kansas vs. K-State game had grown into a full-fledged war. Pranks ran rampant leading up to the big game. Seasons were determined solely on who won the Sunflower Showdown. Quite simply, fans cared.
The first game ended in a 16-4 Kansas win and had only five paragraphs of mention in the old *Kansas University Weekly*. The game took almost 20 years to grow on fans.
The rivarly picked up steam in the '20s when Kansas students sheared livestock in Manhattan. The '40s and '50s brought more pranks, but the rivalry was just heating up.
The Kansas-Kansas State football rivalry has grown vicious some years, even resulting in rioting, arrests and injuries. Photo courtesy of University Archives
In 1971, 13 students snuck to Manhattan
"It it used to be a lot different back then from today," said Robert Foster, director of bands and former director of the Marching Jayhawks. "It's because they've had more success than before. They learned how to win."
and struck K-Hill, a hill bearing a giant KS. The students blotted the "S" and changed it to a "U" so the hill read KU. It was repeated in 1976.
Repeated in 15-16.
Two weeks later, four students flew over the K-State campus and dropped 150 pairs of red and white underwear.
Things got ugly in 1982. The Kansas band was pelted with bottles, grapefruits, tennis balls and oranges during K-State's 36-7 win. The band had instruments damaged and members injured.
"We used to literally get students hurt down there," Foster said. "We've had equipment damaged and stolen, and we've had to hold six buses while some of our kids had to go to the emergency room."
Problems continued in 1984 and 1986 with riots in Manhattan's Aggieville after K-State home victories. Police arrested 24 people, and 26 went to the hospital in '84.
More vandalism occurred in the '90s, when 11 K-State students were caught trying to paint the Kansas Union purple in '94. In '98, K-State fans spray-painted messages on the sidewalk at Memorial Stadium.
"There's less vandalism now than there used to be." Foster said.
There's been an absence of pranks following seven straight Kansas losses, except for the purple dye, which is added to the Chi
Omega fountain annually. Kansas hasn't had a winning season since 1995, while K-State has emerged to be among the nation's best. Kansas leads the series 61-31-5 but has been slaughtered — by a combined score of
152-31 — in the last three meetings. The one-sidedness has taken its toll.
K-State junior Brian Karlin said the mystique surrounding the game had been absent from Manhattan this week.
The luster surrounding the Sunflower Showdown has dimmed recently from the excitement of the past. Photo courtesy of University Archives
"There hasn't been much talk of the game," Karlin said. "People have talked about Oklahoma for next week and a little about Nebraska."
He said the pranks had been missing for a reason — students had changed.
"I don't know whether the rivalry has died out or if legal action has gotten in the way. Down here, police have cracked down a lot," Karlin said. "This is also a different time period. Kids are a lot more mellow and apathetic."
- Edited by Sara Nutt
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