Cordial attitude

To the editor:

On March 6, I traveled to Columbia with some friends to attend the KU-MU game. While looking for tickets, we ran into four KU fans who were gracious enough to sell us their extras.

I never saw the guys during the game and didn’t think of it until I was shocked to learn about their altercation with MU’s chief of police over a sign that they had unfurled displaying different names of Missouri’s new arena.

Their sign was G-rated compared to two signs that a Mizzou fan was displaying. These signs read “Burn KU” and “Quantrill,” referring to Quantrill’s 1863 raid where 143 men were killed and 120 houses were burned down. I think poking fun at an arena name change is minuscule compared with celebrating a killing spree. I have been to a number of games at Allen Fieldhouse and have never seen a John Brown banner hung during a KU-MU game.

The four guys were simply being fans and a part of the rivalry. A lot of MU signs poked fun at KU, and I have no problem with that. I do have a problem with a university official not showing the cordial attitude we need to have toward each other at these sporting events. If we are trying to tone down the “war” moniker and talk about this rivalry being a “showdown'” we need to make sure both sides comply. Talking about an arena name change pales in comparison to commemorating a bloodbath.

Erick Axcell,

Lawrence