Post by MizzouTiger on Jan 19, 2008 13:05:18 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/166/story/451340.html
In basketball, Border War isn't the same rivalry
By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
LAWRENCE | Which is more fun? Beating your rival when he’s at his best … or kicking him while he’s down?
It’s one of those eternal sports arguments, and each side has its own merit.
When rivals are equals, there’s a healthy mutual respect that drives both teams to play at an even higher level. Just take Kansas and Missouri in football this season. The Tigers were supposed to be the toast of the Big 12 North, but the Jayhawks came out of nowhere to set up an epic battle at Arrowhead Stadium. Fans’ tempers flared on both sides of the state line, but the end result was that the bitter rivals had elevated each other.
When one rival is clearly better than the other — which appears to be the case in men’s basketball as 17-0 KU travels to face 11-6 MU tonight — the school with the upper hand can look down on the other and toss it aside like an annoying little brother. That’s fun, to be sure, but what do the bragging rights really mean?
“It’s always better when they’re good and you beat them,” KU guard Russell Robinson said. “When they’re bad, they’ve always got that excuse: ‘We weren’t good this year. We didn’t have this. We didn’t have that.’ When they’ve got all their pieces and they’re at full strength and you beat them, that feels a lot better.”
The No. 3 Jayhawks, soaring up the national respect meter of late, don’t quite know what to make of this Missouri team. One week ago, the Tigers got KU’s attention with that big win over Texas. But let’s not get carried away here. On Wednesday night as Missouri dueled with Iowa State, eventually falling to the Cyclones, Robinson sat in his Lawrence apartment and wouldn’t move the dial from the North Carolina-Georgia Tech game.
“I didn’t watch it,” Robinson said. “I figured, win or lose, they are still going to be amazing when they play us. They’ll have tremendous energy when they play us. I watched the North Carolina game instead. That was a tough one to watch, too.”
That’s how far apart KU and MU are right now on the hardwood. The Jayhawks are hoping to be No. 1 at some point this season, and right now, Missouri is just a rival who is going to come out throwing haymakers in an attempt to bring them down.
But here’s the thing: KU wants MU to be good. In fact, Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins rooted for the Tigers to hire Mike Anderson because he knew Anderson from his days at Tulsa and Arkansas and felt he had what it would take to bring MU back from the Quin Snyder era.
“A real good decision,” Perkins said of MU athletic director Mike Alden’s hiring of Anderson. “I think he’s proven. He’s building a great program there. They’re tough. He’s a great recruiter, a no-nonsense guy. I think he’s great for Missouri.”
Perkins acknowledges that, in a weird way, what’s great for Missouri is great for Kansas. Of course, that idea is harder for fans to wrap their minds around. Perkins, whom many Tiger fans have credited for KU getting an Orange Bowl bid over MU, is expecting a salty reaction when he walks into Mizzou Arena tonight. But he doesn’t mind being a part of one of college football’s most heated rivalries.
“I think it’s very, very healthy,” Perkins said. “I’d rather go into an environment where people care. That’s important. It’s important for the game itself, and it’s important for both universities.”
The 2007 football season showed what kind of rivalry KU-MU can be when both teams do their part. If any evidence is needed to suggest that the basketball rivalry has fallen behind football, just look at today’s TV listings. The game will be played on ESPNU, which will severely limit the number of households that can watch, while Kansas State and Texas A&M will be watched nationally on ESPN. The KU-MU football game, of course, was a national prime-time telecast on ABC.
KU coach Bill Self is convinced that the Tigers are gaining ground under Anderson, calling them a “much-improved” team from last season.
“They’re obviously a year older and they’re probably more used to Mike’s system,” Self said. “Against Texas, we saw what happens when everybody plays well at the same time.”
Self and Perkins agree that they don’t wish for Missouri to be competitive more than they would any other Big 12 school. But they also agree that when rivals are pushing each other to get better, it can never be a bad thing.
“I don’t mind our rivals being good,” Self said. “I just don’t want them being good against us. I do think Missouri is stronger. I think that it could (make us stronger).”
In basketball, Border War isn't the same rivalry
By J. BRADY McCOLLOUGH
The Kansas City Star
LAWRENCE | Which is more fun? Beating your rival when he’s at his best … or kicking him while he’s down?
It’s one of those eternal sports arguments, and each side has its own merit.
When rivals are equals, there’s a healthy mutual respect that drives both teams to play at an even higher level. Just take Kansas and Missouri in football this season. The Tigers were supposed to be the toast of the Big 12 North, but the Jayhawks came out of nowhere to set up an epic battle at Arrowhead Stadium. Fans’ tempers flared on both sides of the state line, but the end result was that the bitter rivals had elevated each other.
When one rival is clearly better than the other — which appears to be the case in men’s basketball as 17-0 KU travels to face 11-6 MU tonight — the school with the upper hand can look down on the other and toss it aside like an annoying little brother. That’s fun, to be sure, but what do the bragging rights really mean?
“It’s always better when they’re good and you beat them,” KU guard Russell Robinson said. “When they’re bad, they’ve always got that excuse: ‘We weren’t good this year. We didn’t have this. We didn’t have that.’ When they’ve got all their pieces and they’re at full strength and you beat them, that feels a lot better.”
The No. 3 Jayhawks, soaring up the national respect meter of late, don’t quite know what to make of this Missouri team. One week ago, the Tigers got KU’s attention with that big win over Texas. But let’s not get carried away here. On Wednesday night as Missouri dueled with Iowa State, eventually falling to the Cyclones, Robinson sat in his Lawrence apartment and wouldn’t move the dial from the North Carolina-Georgia Tech game.
“I didn’t watch it,” Robinson said. “I figured, win or lose, they are still going to be amazing when they play us. They’ll have tremendous energy when they play us. I watched the North Carolina game instead. That was a tough one to watch, too.”
That’s how far apart KU and MU are right now on the hardwood. The Jayhawks are hoping to be No. 1 at some point this season, and right now, Missouri is just a rival who is going to come out throwing haymakers in an attempt to bring them down.
But here’s the thing: KU wants MU to be good. In fact, Kansas athletic director Lew Perkins rooted for the Tigers to hire Mike Anderson because he knew Anderson from his days at Tulsa and Arkansas and felt he had what it would take to bring MU back from the Quin Snyder era.
“A real good decision,” Perkins said of MU athletic director Mike Alden’s hiring of Anderson. “I think he’s proven. He’s building a great program there. They’re tough. He’s a great recruiter, a no-nonsense guy. I think he’s great for Missouri.”
Perkins acknowledges that, in a weird way, what’s great for Missouri is great for Kansas. Of course, that idea is harder for fans to wrap their minds around. Perkins, whom many Tiger fans have credited for KU getting an Orange Bowl bid over MU, is expecting a salty reaction when he walks into Mizzou Arena tonight. But he doesn’t mind being a part of one of college football’s most heated rivalries.
“I think it’s very, very healthy,” Perkins said. “I’d rather go into an environment where people care. That’s important. It’s important for the game itself, and it’s important for both universities.”
The 2007 football season showed what kind of rivalry KU-MU can be when both teams do their part. If any evidence is needed to suggest that the basketball rivalry has fallen behind football, just look at today’s TV listings. The game will be played on ESPNU, which will severely limit the number of households that can watch, while Kansas State and Texas A&M will be watched nationally on ESPN. The KU-MU football game, of course, was a national prime-time telecast on ABC.
KU coach Bill Self is convinced that the Tigers are gaining ground under Anderson, calling them a “much-improved” team from last season.
“They’re obviously a year older and they’re probably more used to Mike’s system,” Self said. “Against Texas, we saw what happens when everybody plays well at the same time.”
Self and Perkins agree that they don’t wish for Missouri to be competitive more than they would any other Big 12 school. But they also agree that when rivals are pushing each other to get better, it can never be a bad thing.
“I don’t mind our rivals being good,” Self said. “I just don’t want them being good against us. I do think Missouri is stronger. I think that it could (make us stronger).”