Tim Kaine says he will Re-Ignite the Border War

Alright, Missouri fans. It’s time to stop.

On Saturday, Blair Kerkhoff wrote about about Jay Nixon’s visit to Chiefs’ training camp in St. Joseph, MO.

Governor Nixon somehow got onto the topic of KU-MU, and said that if the Clinton/Kaine ticket wins this November, Tim Kaine is the ideal person to broker a deal to resume the Border War. Nixon is quoted as follows:

"When he’s the vice president he can finally melt the ice between the Jayhawks and Tigers and have them willing to play us again."

Oh boy, I can’t wait to get to rip into this one! But hold on, Blair Kerkhoff preceded that quote with this gem:

Annual athletic contests between Missouri and Kansas were called off by the Jayhawks after the Tigers left the Big 12 to join the Southeastern Conference in 2012.

Called off by the Jayhawks? I’m sorry, I missed it when Kansas left the conference they shared with Missouri for 100+ years for another one.

Ugh.

Anyway, I’ll take care of these two idiotic statements at the same time shortly, because I’m saving the best for last. Tuesday morning, vice-presidential candidate Tim Kaine himself, the Missouri graduate, the Overland Park native whose folks both went to K-State, but he's still somehow a KU fan, Tweeted this masterpiece:

So, our options for Nixon and Kaine (and to an extent Kerkhoff for his idiotic comment) boil down to this: They’re either idiots, they think you’re an idiot, they’re out of touch with the rivalry, or they’re pandering for votes (or clicks or retweets).

I suppose it’s probably a little bit of everything.

First of all, Jay Nixon, what the hell? Have them willing to play us again? Once again, for all the morans out there - and Blair Kerkhoff - the reason they don’t play anymore is because Missouri left the league we shared.

(This guy is likely a Missouruh fan.)

We played in the same conference - we had to play each other. Kansas doesn't owe Missouri anything now that they've left. What a ridiculous statement.

The rivalry was the Border War, yes, due to its Civil War roots, but mostly because it meant something in conference, whether that was first place, last place, or someplace in between. Kansas doesn’t see the need to be in a position to have to play a meaningless non-conference matchup. And I, for one, don’t want to see a watered-down rivalry, which is exactly what we would get barring more major realignment.

Do you really want the Border War reduced to a novelty?  Because what we're looking at is Missouri-Illinois Part Deux.

Why do Missouri fans not understand this? If they would stop worrying about what KU is doing or not doing, wouldn’t they be able to better support their university? (Yes, I see you too, little brother out west.)

I’ll save my cracks about KU not wanting to have to play a crummy SEC basketball team (or a soon-to-be crummy SEC football team).

(Whoops.)

Besides, what is the incentive for the Jayhawks to take on the Tigers in football or basketball?

It's not money. It's not TV exposure. Kansas basketball has that in spades, even when they play Emporia State. And a football game between the two only moves the national needle, what, once every 50 years? Everybody gets their football games on TV these days, and I doubt ESPN comes rushing in to broadcast the Border War every November.

Tim Kaine, for his part, says he WILL do it as per his Tweet shown above.

What?

What if the Clinton/Kaine ticket gets elected this November? Is this something they are really going to spend time on?

Doesn’t America have bigger problems?

But here’s the thing. Tim Kaine, vice president or not, isn’t telling Bill Self or Sheahon Zenger who to schedule.  No way is KU going to let an MU guy step in and give Missouri what it wants. You want to play KU so badly? Come back to the Big 12. (You can have Baylor's spot.) But the more you bitch and moan, the less likely it is to happen.

All said, I guess that makes Bill Self more powerful than the (presumptive) vice president of the United States...

Of course, it’s all just pandering, whether it’s the politician pandering for votes or the Kansas City Star pandering for clicks. It’s ridiculous. Not to get too political, but it’s doubtful that the Democrats will win Kansas, although they do have a chance to take Missouri. Sports and politics usually don’t mix very well, and politicians usually come across pretty foolishly when they try to cross over.

So I guess if you’re Tim Kaine, why not try to pander for a few more votes? Kansas is already red, but maybe, just maybe, he can do enough to turn Missouri blue.  Just throw out an empty political promise and see what happens!