Tigers vs. Jayhawks

Mark Godich

Description

Missouri and Kansas went from unranked at the start of the 2007 college football season to playing for No. 1 in the country on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, so no wonder Brent Musburger chose his words carefully as he addressed a national television audience moments before kickoff of the rivals' historic meeting. "Let this sink in," Musburger, the long-time broadcaster, said. "If either Kansas or Missouri wins their next two games, they will play for the national championship." Kansas and Missouri? Really? Really. The 2007 college football season was unlike any other. Yet in a year filled with unfathomable twists and turns, Missouri and Kansas kept winning, setting up the biggest game ever played in the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi. Tigers versus Jayhawks: From the Civil War to the Battle for No. 1 dissects the monumental meeting, but it does much more than that. This book traces the bad blood between fans of the schools to the Civil War and before. It examines how Coaches Gary Pinkel of Missouri and Mark Mangino of Kansas built Big 12 doormats into national-title contenders. It deconstructs the deal that was struck to move the 2007 game to Kansas City, Mo., denying the Jayhawks the opportunity to host the biggest game in program history on their campus. It explores the Orange Bowl's head-scratching decision to invite Kansas over Missouri. Most important, this book takes the reader inside Arrowhead, inside the locker rooms, inside the huddles, inside the headsets, inside the heads of the players and coaches and administrators. The unquestioned leader of the Tigers was defensive tackle Lorenzo Williams. He describes in chilling detail the shocking death of teammate Aaron O'Neal, who collapsed in front of him after a voluntary workout in July 2005. Williams talks about the circuitous route he took to Columbia as well as the direct path he took to sack Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing for a safety on the game's signature play. Tight end Martin Rucker, who signed with his home-state school because he wanted to be the guy who put the Tigers back on the football map, recalls the special satisfaction he got when he scored on a fake field goal against Nebraska. Chase Daniel reveals why he honored his commitment to Mizzou even after his beloved Texas Longhorns made an 11th-hour offer. And the follow-the-book Pinkel explains why he broke one of the tenets of Coaching 101 with the message he delivered to his captains two days after an October loss to Oklahoma. Mangino reflects on the fall afternoon in 2004 that was a turning point for his program, when after a bitter loss he showed his players he had their backs. Reesing shares how a star quarterback from Austin ended up in Lawrence and how he played with a chip on his shoulder after one Texas school told him he was on its B-list of recruits. And Carl Peterson discusses how he worked tirelessly for 15 years to bring the game to Arrowhead, finally fulfilling a dream of Kansas City Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt. It would arguably be the city's biggest sporting event ever. The atmosphere was electric. "You could feel the hostility in the air," Mizzou backup quarterback Chase Patton says. These are just a few of the storylines surrounding the biggest game two bitter, border rivals will ever play, a game a former President called the best he has ever seen. As the 2007 season played out, Missouri and Kansas became the talk of the college football world. And for one frigid November night, all eyes were on Arrowhead Stadium. Missouri-Kansas? Really!

Sujets

• USA
• Fútbol americano
• American football
• États-Unis

Informations

• Publié par: Ascend Books
• Date de parution: 01 octobre 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780989309561
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

TIGERS vs JAYHAWKS

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By Mark Godich Foreword by -RH 3RVQDQVNL

TIGERS vs. JAYHAWKS From the Civil War to the Battle for No. 1

By Mark Godich Foreword byJoe Posnanski

“Finally, Kansas and Missouri have provided a game to match one of the oldest, bitterest rivalries in college football.” —Chuck Carlton,He Dallas Morning News

“Most great college sports rivalries emerge from memorable moments on the Ield, coaching feuds or recruiting battles, but the annual football game between the Kansas Jayhawks and the Missouri igers, to be played tomorrow night in Kansas City, Mo., with unusually high import, taps into a mutual animosity born of a Lashpoint in American history.” —Kevin ButterIeld, forHe New York Times

“ey have been enemies since the 1850s, when pro-slavery Missouri clashed with abolitionist Kansas in a precursor to the Civil War. eir football meetings have been considerably less momentous. More oTen than not, the igers have underachieved, and Jayhawks football generally has been a messy warm-up act for one of the nation’s most prestigious basketball programs. But things will be very dierent Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo., when No. 2 Kansas and No. 3 Missouri square o. e victor will move one win away from the national championship game.”  —Herb Gould,He Chicago Sun-Times

“As the universities of Kansas and Missouri prepare to play the most important football game in their 117-year-old rivalry, trash talking is rampant here in a metropolis that straddles both states. Yet this isn’t just the usual back-and-forth about which quarterback or defense is superior. … Rather, this trash talking is focused on which state’s residents behaved more abominably amid the Civil War.” —Adam ompson,He Wall Street Journal

“is is big. And blindsiding. When the teams agreed to move their ’07 and ’08 meetings o campus to Arrowhead, it barely registered a blip beyond awrence and Columbia. Now it smacks of genius.”

—John Helsley,He Oklahoman

“Kansas against Missouri is the nation’s second-oldest football rivalry. Minnesota and Wisconsin have played 117 times. onight will mark the 116th time the Jayhawks and igers have played—but never with so much national impact. ït is the Irst time since 1973 both teams are nationally ranked, and the Irst time ever both are in the top 10 of e Associated Press poll.”  —Diane Pucin,Los Angeles Times

“ït truly does boggle the mind. Neither team was ranked in the preseason op 25. Kansas didn’t get a single vote. You may not see such a dramatic one-season rise in football fortunes in two downtrodden programs for another generation.”  —ee Barnecht,Omaha World-erald

“e best rivalry in college sports—at least in terms of historical perspective —will be highlighted for the rest of the country Saturday. You can have exas-Oklahoma, Auburn-Alabama, Michigan-Ohio State or USC-UCA. But for my money, no rivalry has the basic historical hostility of Missouri vs. Kansas.”  —im Griîn,San Antonio Express–News

“You might have to go back to the Civil War to Ind the last time Missouri- Kansas meant anything on a national level. Saturday night, it’s all in. National title. Heisman rophy. Prime-time national audience. Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium. o folks in those precincts, of course, it’s always been the equivalent of Ohio State-Michigan or Auburn-Alabama. is time, they get to share it with the rest of the college football world.” —Mike Kern,He Philadelphia Daily News

“e rivalry has always been Ierce. is time around, it’s also important. Really important.”  —Doug ucker, e Associated Press

Stumping on the campaign trail in the spring of 2008, Bill and Hillary Clinton visite d Columbia. Dave and Susie Christensen were invited to the on-campus reception and, figuring they might never get another opportunity to rub elbows with a U.S. President, they decided to attend. In the receiving line, Christensen told Clinton what he did for a living, and the ever-personable 42nd President became especially engaged. Clinton mentioned the showdown at Arrowhead. “He said, ‘I watched every minute of that game,’” Christensen recalls. “He said it was the best football game he had ever seen.”

TIGERS vs. JAYHAWKS From the Civil War to the Battle for No. 1

By Mark Godich Foreword by Joe Posnanski

Copyright © 2013 by Mark Godich

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To Leigh, the love of my life

CHAPTERS

 Foreword The Rivalry By Joe Posnanski

1

11

23

35 51

57

65

79

93

101

1. Four Upsetting College Years A exan gets his Irst taste of the rivalry

2. The Border War e bad blood traces to the Civil War and before

3. Olive Branch e early meetings, the Irst homecoming and  the 1960 showdown

4.Toledo? Pinkel? A coaching hire and starting a QB named Smith  raise eyebrows

5. Zo and Ruck (or T) How two cornerstones for Missouri football arrived  in Columbia

6. The Missouri Spread Pinkel changes, and so does the oense

7. A.O. e legacy of Aaron O’Neal

8. “I Should Have Won an Emmy”  e winding road Mark Mangino took to get to awrence

9. Sparky odd Reesing, the quarterback nobody wanted

10. Chase’s Time  A cocksure gunslinger from exas signals in a new  era in Missouri football