WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2004
STATE
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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34
Placard taunts Missouri fans
Mystery billboard pokes fun at Tigers, mocks coach's record
By Miranda Lenning
mlenning@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
There has been everything from the antlers worn by University of Missouri fans at KU basketball games to University of Kansas fans creating the 'Muck Fizzou' logo.
The border rivalry between the University of Kansas and the University of Missouri is probably more fierce than any other in the Big 12.
But if this rivalry was considered bad before, the latest incident takes it to a different level. An anonymous group of people purchased a billboard in downtown Kansas City, Mo., that reads "Five seasons, four 6th place finishes, 17 NCAA violations, God save the Quin."
The billboard, located at the interchange of Interstate Highway 70 and U.S. Highway 71, is painted in KU crimson and blue and has a picture of a basketball on it.
The catch is that nobody knows who
put it there. Local television news stations and radio shows have speculated that a group of KU alumni are behind the project, but no names have been released.
At the bottom of the billboard is a Web site address, www.paynesportsarena.com, a Web site dedicated to bashing the University of Missouri and its athletics department. Tom Light, who created the Web site, denied involvement with the billboard.
University of Kansas Athletic Department officials said that they did not support the billboard, and they would be disappointed if KU fans were behind the operation.
The message on the billboard refers to the five seasons that basketball coach Quin Snyder has been at Missouri and the four times that the basketball team has finished sixth in the Big 12.
The "17 NCAA violations" is a shot at the recent NCAA investigation into the MU basketball program - the NCAA cited the university with 17 violations of NCAA rules.
Originally, Lamar Outdoor, a company that makes billboards in Kansas City, Mo., was contacted about putting the billboard up, but the people in charge refused because they were concerned that the billboard would be torn down.
An anonymous group of people has purchased a billboard in downtown Kansas City, Mo., that reads "Five seasons, four 6th place finishes, 17 NCAA violations God save the Quin."
The owner said that because of the nature of the billboard, he didn't want to participate in the project because he was afraid that Missouri fans would retaliate by tearing down the billboard.
He said that the group wanted the location of the billboard to be between Kansas City and Columbia.
The billboard appeared in downtown Kansas City, Mo., on August 20, and has received a great deal of media attention, appearing on Kansas City television stations and radio shows.
Speculation is that the billboard was put up to counter a series of billboards on I-70 between Lee's Summit, Mo., and Columbia, Mo., that spell out M-I-Z-Z-OU, and have the Missouri tiger logo.
— Edited by John Scheirman
STATE
EPA officials stage exercise simulating nuclear emergency
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — A nuclear accident such as a nuclear-powered satellite falling from the sky has more potential than a terrorist attack to expose U.S. residents to radiation, officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said yesterday as they prepared for a mock radiological emergency here this week. The exercise scenario is similar to a 1978 incident in which a Soviet nuclear-powered satellite fell out of orbit and disintegrated over Canada, spreading radioactive materials.
High-tech radioactivity equipment such as a mobile environmental radiation laboratory, or MERL, has been deployed to Fort Leavenworth. The lab will be used next week during the Republican National Convention.A similarly equipped lab is being used in Boston for the Democratic convention, an official said.
Greg Dempsey, an EPA radiological response team commander, said the satellite scenario envisioned far more radioactive materials than a terrorist could ever accumulate.
"This is way above what they could get hold of," he said, "short of a nuclear weapon."
The Associated Press
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