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Documentary examines Kansas—Missouri “Border War”

By B.J. Rains

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Erik Ashel knew how much Kansas fans hated Missouri. He soon found out just how much Missouri fans hated Kansas.

“The name ‘William Quantrill’ in Lawrence is basically a swear word,” Ashel said of the Confederate leader. “Over there, the term ‘Jayhawker’ is the same thing. It is deep down over there and it’s very real to them.”

Ashel, a KU alumnus, recently finished 15 months of work producing a documentary for Metro Sports called “Border War,” which will premiere on Metro Sports on Nov. 26 and will re-air on Thanksgiving. The video explores the historic background of the rivalry, tracing it back to before the beginning of the Civil War almost 150 years ago.

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Jon Goering/KANSAN FILE PHOTO

University students display their disapproval for Missouri before last year's Border Showdown at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. This rivalry isn't just about athletics--it is historical and dates back to the Civil War.

“I think Kansas and Missouri have the most historically significant rivalry in all of sports,” Ashel said. “When you look at the true history and not just the sports history. it’s the most historically significant rivalry in all of America.”

The two-hour documentary features interviews with sports figures from both sides of the rivalry and centers around last year’s football game at Arrowhead Stadium — probably the biggest game in the rivalry’s history. Included is former Kansas football coach Don Fambrough, who hates Missouri so much that he once told his players that Quantrill was a Missouri graduate to fire them up before a game.

“I don’t like their people, I don’t like their players, I don’t like their love,” Fambrough said in the video. “I don’t like a damn thing about them.”

The rivalry has plenty of key moments, but many trace the beginning to the summer of 1863 when Quantrill and his raiders crossed into Kansas from Missouri and burned much of Lawrence into ashes. Many argue that the Civil War started along the Kansas—Missouri border as the two states fought over the issue of slavery.

Ashel spent 15 months traveling around the two states, interviewing everyone from sports legends at the schools to small-town citizens who have been told of the rivalry’s history from their parents and grandparents. The documentary, which is being released in conjunction with next Saturday’s Nov. 29 matchup between the Jayhawks and Tigers at Arrowhead Stadium, explains how the violent past of the two states has evolved into a heated rivalry amongst the school’s athletic programs and fans.

“I love Kansas, but when you go to the other side and you see what they feel and the things they think about the Civil War and everything,” Ashel said. “It’s pretty interesting to see because as different as we are, in a lot of ways we’re the same because we hold the same grudges from the same events. We just hold them differently.”

The rivalry is so heated that the two schools can’t even agree on the football team’s overall records. Both schools count the 1960 matchup as a victory because Kansas won the game on the field but the Big Eight Conference later ruled Kansas should forfeit for using an ineligible player.

“I want people to understand why Kansas and Missouri have a unique rivalry and why it’s so different from all of the others around the country,” Ashel said. “A lot of rivalries are based out of proximity or both teams being good year after year. No rivalry has the history that this rivalry has.”

— — Edited by Rachel Burchfield

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