Column 03
University Daily Kansan — Tues., Nov. 14, 2006 — 1B
Who's the best? K-State and KU compared
Article by Michael Phillips • Drawings by Grant Snider
The two schools will battle for football superiority on Saturday, but die-hard fans can appreciate that football is just one way of measuring which school is better. The Kansan compared the two institutions and found that they really didn't have that much in common at all.
The towns
When The New York Times sent a travel writer to Kansas, there probably wasn’t much discussion on which college town to visit. Lawrence is regarded as the “speck of blue in a sea of red,” referring to its tendency to vote for Democrats. Massachusetts Street is where you’ll find bars, restaurants and shops of every variety. In Manhattan, you’ll head to Aggieville, home of beer, fast food and a gas station. While the gas station gets points for its clever signs, I just can’t bring myself to vote for a place where the largest bar is named “Rusty’s.” Advantage: Jayhawks
Basketball coaches
Kansas coach Bill Self was a finalist for the Naismith Coach of the Year award in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. Kansas State coach Bob Huggins was named Coach of the Year by Playboy in 1993. He resigned from Cincinnati after being charged with drunken driving in 2005. University of Cincinnati attorney Monica Rimai charged that just 27 of Huggins’ 95 players had graduated, while 21 of them had “significant encounters with law enforcement, most of those consisting of arrests, with many ending in convictions,” according to a letter published in The Cincinnati Enquirer. Advantage: Jayhawks
Team colors
Harvard crimson and Yale blue, a nod to two Ivy League schools, are found in the Kansas logo. “Jayhawk” is a term that referred to those who fought to abolish slavery in Kansas during the time of the Civil War. Meanwhile, Kansas State is represented by the color purple. The mascot is Willie the Wildcat, but football coach Bill Snyder instead asked an art professor at the school to create a more “aggressive” logo to represent the program, and the Powercat was born. Willie's costume consists only of a head, presumably because it was half-price at the mascot store. Advantage: Jayhawks
Athletic directors
Kansas Athletics Director Lew Perkins arrived in the middle of a compliance nightmare, which landed the Jayhawks on probation for two years. Since then he has cleared house and begun one of the most successful fundraising operations in the Big 12. Kansas State Athletics Director Tim Weiser hired Bob Huggins, and basketball season tickets sold out for the first time since 1982. Don’t let the smiles fool you; both are exceedingly capable of cutting the number of student tickets. Advantage: Push
Football legends
Kansas running back Gale Sayers was ranked 21st on the Sporting News’ list of the 100 greatest football players ever. Kansas State kicker Martin Gramatica celebrated every field goal he made until his brother, Bill, tore his ACL celebrating an unimportant kick with the Arizona Cardinals. Kansas State is helped by NFL backup Michael Bishop. Subtract points for the Terry Allen years at Kansas and it's just about even. Luckily, Sayers’ greatness makes up for both those things. Advantage: Jayhawks
Famous alumni
Kansas alumnus Vernon L. Smith won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002 for his work on the economics of conflict and cooperation. Kansas State alumnus Herbert Dimond invented the “snooze” button. While Mr. Smith’s work no doubt has had a positive impact on world politics for the last five years, Mr. Dimond’s work had a positive impact on my morning. Advantage: Wildcats