Thursday, November 1, 2007
This Saturday, presuming Kansas beats Nebraska, there will be no excuse for Jayhawk fans to tear down the goalposts. Kansas already defeated Nebraska for the first time in nearly four decades in 2005 and is also already bowl-eligible. So what’s at stake now?
FILE PHOTO
Don’t think it ludicrous of me to predict that the goalposts will go down anyway this Saturday.
Remember 2005? The team went 7-5. In college football, goalposts were torn down a total of seven times that year. Of those seven times, three were after victories at Memorial Stadium by Kansas’ fans — Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa State.
Maybe tearing down the goalposts in 2005 after a 40-15 victory against Nebraska was somewhat understandable, but the other two instances were not. Tearing down the goalposts three times in one season was embarrassing for the University and the football team. It is great to have school spirit and to cheer the team on, but three times? Is that not excessive?
Once again in 2006, fans tore down the goalposts after a victory over Kansas State, which was 7-4 at the time. It was Kansas’ second consecutive home victory against Kansas State and certainly not a reason for tearing down the goalposts.
During a press conference the following Tuesday, Kansas coach Mark Mangino was asked about the incident. Mangino said, “I wrote a letter at the beginning of the season to the school newspaper asking (students) not to do that and I still do not want them to do that.”
Plain and simple, folks. The coach wrote The University Daily Kansan asking students not to tear down the goal posts and a few did not get the memo.
Mangino also said, “I don’t like it for two reasons: one, there is a safety reason and number two, we need to have the same expectations that our players have. But our student body has been great and what happened is not necessarily an indictment against our whole student body.”
This season, students have not torn down the goalposts yet, even after the 58-10 victory against Baylor, which established bowl-eligibility. But this could be because of the fallout in the student section after half time this season. At each game, the student section has looked like a ghost town by the third quarter, which is a completely different topic for another time.
You might think that this season, the fans would have some faith in the football team and would not think a victory against Nebraska this weekend would warrant tearing down the goalposts. But considering students tore down the goalposts after consecutive home victories against Kansas State, it is quite possible the same could happen this weekend.
This season Kansas is ranked No. 8 in the BCS standings and is undefeated. Though it is an exciting time for Kansas football, students need to realize the Jayhawks are 17-point favorites in this weekend’s game. Nebraska, which was ranked No. 19 in the preseason, is now 4-5 (1-4 in Big 12) and is possibly headed toward its worst season since 1961 when the team went 3-6-1.
A victory this weekend would give Kansas its first 9-0 start since 1909. While this could be monumental for the program, the team would still have three games remaining in the regular season. Students should realize a victory against a 4-5 team whose star quarterback, senior Sam Keller, is injured and out for the season, is in no way a reason to tear down the goalposts.
Edited by Rachel Bock
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