Border rivalry reaches state leaders
Governors place friendly wager on Kansas vs. Missouri game
Plenty of people place strange wagers on games, but this one comes from the Kansas and Missouri governors. Whichever state’s team loses to Border Showdown will have to wear the winning team’s colors for a day.
By Sarah Neff
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt will wear crimson and blue to the 2008 Governors’ Summit on Regional Economic Development if the Jayhawks win the Border Showdown.
The governors of Kansas and Missouri have made a friendly bet on Saturday’s football game. If the Missouri Tigers win, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius will wear Tiger colors to the summit.
“Governor Sebelius and I have worked together on many issues facing the bi-state region, but when it comes to the Tigers and Jayhawks we can find no common ground,” Blunt said in a press release. “The Tigers are having a tremendous season, and I am confident that Governor Sebelius will be wearing black and gold at next year’s economic development summit.”
Sebelius received a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Kansas after earning her undergraduate degree from Trinity College. Blunt never attended the University of Missouri. He received a bachelor’s degree from the United State Naval Academy.
Catherine Blair, University of Missouri-Columbia junior from Kansas City, Mo., said she had been to most of the Tigers’ games and also would attend Saturday’s showdown.
Photo illustration.
“It’s exciting to know that the majority of both states are getting involved,” Blair said. “It’s good to know that our governors are as deeply involved in the rivalry as their states.”
Blair said the wager showed that both governors thought their team was going to win.
“While I commend Governor Blunt’s optimism, the Jayhawks have demonstrated incredible talent in both the classroom and on the field; and I look forward to Governor Blunt sporting crimson and blue when we gather next year in Kansas City,” Sebelius said in a press release.
Joshua Nold, Auburn, Kan., junior, said there was no chance Sebelius would have to wear Missouri’s colors.
“I think the bet is great because Kansas is going to win,” Nold said.
Not all students agreed with the bet. Brent Garcia, Stockton junior, said he didn’t agree with the rivalries.
“It creates an unnecessary division between the people,” Garcia said. “It exploits a terrible historical event,” he said referring to the burning of Lawrence during the Civil War.
The Governors’ Regional Summit will be held in Kansas City in February 2008.
— Edited by Luke Morris
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