6B THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
THURSDAY,OCTOBER 7,2004
IT'S BACK.
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BEFORE.
SUBMIT DEMOS BY OCT. 20TH TO DANIELLE BOSE AT 1435 JAYHAWK BOULEVARD. LAWRENCE, KANSAS, 66045 OR TO ROOM 119 STAUFFER-FLINT HALL
'Hawk chalk
Michelle Grittman, Leavenworth junior; Colin Blunt, Tulsa, Okla., freshman; and Rachel Kormanik, Overland Park freshman, work for Alpha Gamma Delta and Pi Kappa Phi during the mural chalking competition on Wescoe Beach yesterday afternoon. The event was based around the theme "Home is Where the Hawk is."
KU-MU 'War' no more; rivalry now 'Showdown'
BY MIRANDA LENNING
mlenning@kansan.com
MLENNING STAFF WRITER
The rivalry between Kansas and Missouri athletics is not likely to change, but this week, the rivalry's name did.
the IVY's name.
The Missouri-Kansas athletic competition, formerly called the Border War, was re-named the Border Showdown, athletics directors Lew Perkins, of Kansas, and Mike Alden, of Missouri, announced this week.
Officials from both universities said the word "war" was inappropriate.
"We feel that in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, and the ensuing events around the world, it is inappropriate to use the term 'war' to describe intercollegiate athletic events." Perkins said.
University of Missouri officials said that when they named the competition in 2002 there wasn't a concern that it could be inappropriate.
"At the time we signed the agreement, we really didn't think about it," said Mario Moccia, senior associate athletics director at Missouri.
However, when Perkins came to the University in July 2003, he wanted to change the name to something that would reflect the universities' sensitivity to world events. Perkins was the driving force behind the idea to alter the name, but Missouri agreed with the idea, Moccia said.
The Border Showdown is a head-to-head athletic competition between the two schools. A point system assigns a certain number of points to each com-
pettition. The school that wins the event receives those points.
The Showdown also has rules that take ties, in an event or in a final tournament, into account.
Additional points are awarded to the team based on its placing in Big 12 or NCAA Tournament events; however, post-season bonus points count only if the two teams play each other.
Whichever school earns the most points wins the Showdown. Points range from a half point to three, depending on the competition. Three points are awarded to the winner of each game or match between the two teams in the following: soccer, men's and women's golf, tennis, women's track and field, and football. But most other events are worth one or one-and-a-half points.
The four basketball majors — both the men's and women's teams play once at home and once in Columbia — are valued at one-and-a-half points each. If the two basketball teams meet head-to-head in the Big 12 Tournament, an additional half point is given to the winning school.
The school officials want people to understand that there are more important things than an athletic rivalry, Alden said.
"Our rivalry with Kansas is a very important thing to many people," Alden said. "But it certainly pales in comparison with what is taking place overseas, and this is the right thing to do."
The four basketball matchups
The Midwest Ford Dealers have sponsored the competition since it began in 2002 and extended that sponsorship through the end of the 2007 athletic season.
The decision to change the name was made between both athletic departments and the Midwest Ford Dealers, said Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director. He said that they discussed it for a couple of months before any decisions were made.
Moccia said that Midwest Ford Dealers were cooperative in changing the name.
"I give them credit because they had a financial stake in this thing," he said. "They had to make promotional materials, create new logos for their radio and TV commercials; this was a huge expense for them, both materially and in a public relations aspect."
Kansas and Missouri have been competing in sports for more than a hundred years. The history of the rivalry traces back to a conflict between Missouri and Kansas in the 1860s. Missouri, a slave state, and Kansas, a free state, met in a series of bloody battles on the line line.
In 1863, William Quantrill's army of Confederates sacked Lawrence, burning most of the town to the ground.
Regardless of all of the history reflected by the title "Border War," officials wanted to ensure that there weren't any ties to armed conflict.
"The Missouri-Kansas rivalry is one of the best and most spirted in the nation, and while both schools and their fans share a passion for beating each other, making an adjustment to the name of the sponsorship is quite appropriate," Alden said.
Edited by Janette Crawford
Unity Church of Lawrence 9th & Madeline,841-1447 www.unityoflawrence.org Sunday Worship at 9 and 11 am
Got LIGHT? Connections Made Here...
student union activities
The University of Kansas
Level 4, Kansas Union
www.kansasunion.org
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COLLEGE BOWL
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2004 Registration Deadline: October 29, 2004 Cost: $30.00 per team
The College Bowl trivia tournament is here and we want you and your team to register! College Bowl will start with a Round Robin followed by Double Elimination format in the later rounds. To register your team of 4-5 KU students, go to the SUA box
office, Level 4, Kansas Union.
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