KANSAS CITY, Mo. The first interview I arranged when I arrived at The Star in 2013 was with Kansas coach Bill Self, since Id known him for years and wanted to talk to him about the obvious void on the Kansas City sports scene.
No, not the fact that the Chiefs hadnt won a playoff game since 1994 or the Royals since 1985 each drought mercifully since remedied.
The Kansas-Missouri rivalry, a tradition 150 years in the making, abruptly had vanished into the vortex of college athletics: the hysteria of realignment that rattled the traditional order and the aftershocks that said somebody has to pay for whats lost.
When I spoke with Self about then and at various points between then and KUs announcement Monday night that the rivalry will be resumed starting next December with a six-game mens basketball series, he talked with a sort of conflicted conviction.
We miss Missouri. Without question. For the immediate future, for both programs, there is something missing for the immediate future, he said, but was then quick to add, But from our standpoint, theyre not part of our long-term future.
Or hed note that Missouri hired Quin Snyder over him and say, I will admit that theres not a game that Ive enjoyed coaching more in on our schedule than going to Columbia before saying that the game he always had circled in my mind didnt feel the same because the dynamics have changed.
It was if he were trying to convince himself, really. Or as if ignoring it would make it go away.
Nobodys going to view it as a great rivalry five years from now; nobodys going to view it as a rivalry 10 years from now, he said then. There will be somebody else who will emerge in some way, shape or form that kind of fills that role for both programs.
Not so much, as it happens.
Because this was always bigger than the institutions themselves or their current caretakers.
Because as much as MU antagonized KU by leaving and as much as KU wanted to posture that MU thus didnt exist any more, they remained in each others DNA.
Kansas athletic director Jeff Long, whose daughter, Christina, goes to Missouri, in a statement on Monday acknowledged the obvious that has been stifled for so long.
One of the best aspects of college athletics is rivalries, and we are thrilled that our fans and student-athletes will get to experience this Border Showdown rivalry once again, he said. We have quietly sought input from fans and supporters on the renewal of this series, and we believe the overriding sentiments are that this historic rivalry should resume.
While this series does not include each of our sports teams competing in the Border Showdown at this stage, we feel this is the first step to expanding it in the future. We are excited for this rivalry to begin anew next year and believe it will be great for all fans of college basketball.
As it should be. Because the only real losers were all of us missing out on something unique that was and should be part of the fabric of this community.
