Thursday, October 30, 2008
Jeff Turek doesn’t care that Jayhawk teams won the Orange Bowl and the NCAA men’s basketball championship. He doesn’t care that Kansas plays in one of the most storied and famed arenas in all of college basketball. He doesn’t wave the wheat or sing the alma mater in the stands. In fact, Turek couldn’t care less about the Jayhawks — he’s a Wildcat fan.
Jeff Turek, Overland Park senior, is a Kansas State fan, but he attends the University of Kansas. Despite his loyalty to the Wildcats, Turek said he attends KU because "I wasn't going to let a football team decide what school I went to."
Turek, Overland Park senior, faces the task of attending school at Kansas while being a lifelong fan of Kansas State. His wardrobe consists of mostly purple — which he isn’t afraid to wear around his Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house or when he goes to class.
“Almost everything I own is K-State stuff,” Turek said. “I couldn’t make the switch after being a K-State fan my whole life. I have like two KU shirts but that’s it. The rest is K-State.”
Turek attends Kansas because the school is close to home, but he still hates the Jayhawks. His family roots for Kansas and his parents have football season tickets, but Turek will never change his alliance. He grew up loving K-State football and watched as the Wildcats had four straight 11-win seasons from 1997 to 2000. He’s not afraid to show his purple pride but knows he will be out-numbered come Saturday.
“The only time it’s real hard is when K-State plays at KU, because of course I’m all decked out in my purple,” Turek said. “I’ll be tailgating or walking around before the game, and everybody just assumes that I go to K-State, so they give me crap.”
Turek remembers the KU-KSU football game two years ago in Lawrence when he sat in the student section wearing K-State purple. Students were complaining because the student section appeared full, and K-State fans were taking up seats.
“The usher came up, and I gave him my KUID,” Turek said. “He was like, ‘All right, you’re fine, but what are you doing wearing purple?’”
While Turek struggles as a K-State fan in Lawrence, Joel Campbell has the opposite problem in Manhattan. The K-State senior bleeds crimson and blue and has been a Kansas fan his entire life.
He attends K-State because both of his parents work there, but he won’t allow himself to become a Wildcat fan.
“There was no way I was ever going to change over to Kansas State,” Campbell said. “They are our rivals. I know we’re the better team, and they know we’re the better team. They just don’t want to admit it.”
Campbell’s closet features almost all Jayhawk apparel. Rarely, he said, does he ever attend class without wearing something that’s Kansas related.
“People say stuff, but that’s fine, because I just voice my opinion right back,” Campbell said. “It’s been real easy to be a KU fan these past few years. All the K-State fans don’t really have any room to talk anymore.”
But that hasn’t stopped them from trying. Campbell said the K-State student newspaper, The Collegian, printed an article about the investigation into whether former KU basketball player Darrell Arthur received improper grade changes while in high school but did not print anything about Kansas winning the Orange Bowl or the basketball national championship.
Campbell said he found conversations about how good the Wildcats are amusing.
“I see everyone wearing their purple, and I hear them drinking the purple Gatorade and think they are the greatest no matter how bad they are,” Campbell said. “It’s tough keeping my mouth shut sometimes.”
Campbell used to attend K-State games wearing KU gear. He was pelted with food and trash, so he decided to boycott K-State games and to watch them on TV.
“When K-State plays, I root against them every time,” Campbell said.
Sometimes it’s tough for Turek and Campbell to root for their teams on opposite campuses, but they wouldn’t change a thing.
“If we pull out a victory on Saturday,” Campbell said, “It will make it all worthwhile.”
— - Edited by Becka Cremer
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