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Kansans have special take on KU-KSU rivalry
Published 11/6/2009 in Sports
By ARNE GREEN
Special to The Telegram
MANHATTAN -- Tysyn Hartman can laugh about it now, but at the time there was nothing funny about the Kansas State Wildcats' 52-21 loss to Kansas in Lawrence.
"I couldn't get away from it," said Hartman, a sophomore safety from Wichita, who had moved from quarterback to defensive back earlier in the 2008 season as a redshirt. "When I went home, KU had the bragging rights.
"Whenever I saw my high school buddies who went to KU, I was always hearing something from them, and whenever I see supporters of the program, it's always, 'Just beat KU this year, just beat KU this year.' That's the game I'm sure people in both programs circle on the schedule every year."
Well, it's that time again.
KU (5-3, 1-3 in the Big 12) visits Snyder Family Stadium at 11:30 a.m. Saturday for the 107th Sunflower Showdown, riding a three-game winning streak in the series.
That does not sit well with the Wildcats (5-4, 3-2) -- especially the native Kansans -- who are eager to return the Governor's Cup to the Vanier Football Complex.
Junior center Wade Weibert of Hillsboro, who redshirted last year after transferring from Butler Community College, couldn't even describe the trophy.
"I've just seen pictures," he said. "I've never seen it. It means a lot to try to bring it back.
"At the end of the game, I want to be able to see it, I want to be able to hold it and know that I've created some of my own legacy on it."
Senior offensive tackle Nick Stringer, a product of Topeka's Hayden High School, has fond memories of the games growing up.
"It was a huge game, and it was one of the funnest games in college football to watch on TV," he said. "As a young kid going through high school I always dreamed of playing in a game like this and this is the last one I get to play in, so it's special."
It's also the last shot at a victory for Stringer, who redshirted in 2005, the last time the Wildcats beat KU, but has come up empty in three tries as a participant.
Stringer has had some contact with the Jayhawks after striking up a friendship with senior wide receiver Kerry Meier at the 2005 Kansas Shrine Bowl. Meier's brother, Dylan, was a senior quarterback at K-State his redshirt freshman year in 2006.
"He's one of my buddies," Stringer said of Kerry Meier. "I haven't talked to him, but I talked to Dylan, and I'm excited and I know he's excited.
"I'm not going to speak for Dylan, but if I had to say, I know he bleeds purple, just like everybody else in this building."
Weibert's KU connection is with running back Jake Sharp. One of Weibert's teammate at Butler was Kyle Woodall, a close friend of Sharp's from Salina Central.
"I haven't talked to him since last spring, but we give each other a hard time a little bit," Weibert said. "He seems like a cool kid."
But there's a clear delineation between K-State and KU that transcends football, according to Weibert.
"There's just some differences that makes it so that there's that kind of division between the two schools," he said. "That's what I think makes it such a heated rivalry.
"The traditional students don't understand the other ones."
Senior quarterback Grant Gregory, a transfer from South Florida, has had to rely on his teammates to get up to speed on the series.
"When I first got here, they let me know which games are true rivalries and Kansas State-Kansas is a big game," he said. "At South Florida it was a new conference, and everything was brand new.
"The rivalries were just developing, so it's nice to have a rivalry that's been around for a while."
Hartman never followed the rivalry closely as a kid, but he knew the public perception of the two schools.
"I always knew growing up that KU was known for basketball, K-State was known for football," he said. "That's basically the way it's been up until recently, and they've had a pretty good run (in football) here the past few years.
"We're looking to end that."
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