It started earlier last week with Missouri football coach Gary Pinkel proclaiming that one of the main reasons the Border War rivalry between Kansas and Missouri had not been renewed since the Tigers left the Big 12 for the SEC two years ago was because, “there’s some pouting going on still.”

During an end of spring football Google hangout on GaryPinkel.com, Pinkel was asked about the rivalry and if he and the Tigers missed it.

That brought up the quotes. But isn’t it funny how Pinkel always seems to get about this? I mean, it’s been two years. Most people have moved on.

And, to Pinkel’s credit, I think he has too. Sure he’d love to see the rivalry restored. There are a ton of people in that same boat. But it’s not as if he can just ignore the question when he’s asked about it.

Anyway, here’s the full run of quotes from Pinkel, which merely served as the appetizer for some trash talk headed KU’s way from the Tigers last week:

“We want to play Kansas again,” he
said. “It was a great rivalry we had
all those years,” Pinkel said. “It’s
been an open invitation. There’s some
pouting going on still. It’s
unfortunate, but it will happen again
someday. It will. It would be great
for our fans. In every sport, it would
be good. We’ll see what happens.”

Now…. let’s move on to the main course.

That came late Sunday night, when a member of Missouri’s softball program had no problem sharing her thoughts about KU’s desire to avoid Mizzou on its schedule ever since the Tigers bolted the Big 12.

Shortly after learning that the Tigers and Jayhawks would both be in Columbia, Mo., this weekend for one of the NCAA softball tournament regionals, MU junior Corrin Genovese grabbed the mic and went wild.

?”I’m sure you guys heard us cheering,”
Genovese told Gabe DeArmond of
Rivals.com site PowerMizzou.com. “The
whole rivalry with KU, it’s just
exciting to keep it going. I know
they’re kind of scared to play us in
football and basketball, so it’s good
that we can keep tradition going and
hopefully let them know who’s boss and
who will always be better in the
rivalry.”

She continued:

“We wanted to keep the tradition
going. They backed out, they felt
disrespected. But for us to be the
first team to play them after that
went down, I think it’s a big
statement game. KU’s done everything
they can to avoid us the last couple
years playing so they might lose the
first round, you never know.”

To be fair, MU coach Ehren Earleywine offered a much softer response to a possible meeting between the two Border War foes.

“It would be a packed house,”
Earleywine said. “Hopefully we win our
first game and they win their first
game and we can make that happen.”

Earleywine also said MU has tried to schedule Kansas since leaving the Big 12 but to no avail.

?”We contacted them and they responded
pretty quick and said that wasn’t
gonna be a possibility,” Earleywine
told DeArmond. “I don’t think it’s
something that the softball coaches
decided. I think it was handed down
from the administration.”

While the intense nature of Genovese’s trash talk certainly brings this issue back to the forefront, none of this is really news.

We know the Tigers would love to play the Jayhawks again and we know the Jayhawks aren’t interested. It’s been that way since the day Mizzou left the Big 12 and it’ll probably be that way for years to come.

We’ve also always known that the only way the two could face each other again, at least right now, is by meeting in the postseason. That hasn’t happened yet, but it could happen this weekend in Columbia. If it does, it figures to be quite a show, just like all of the KU-MU showdowns that came before it during the past 100-plus years.