This coming Saturday, they will host Rutgers, which got pummeled 52-3 by Ohio State yesterday.
On November 10, they will play away to Kansas State University, in the annual "Sunflower Showdown." KSU has also split its 1st 2 games, although in a much more understandable fashion, hosting and beating an FCS team, the University of South Dakota, 27-24; and then hosting a ranked team, Mississippi State, and losing 31-10.
Before You Go. Kansas is mostly flat, and the term "plains" is appropriate: It's plain. This means that, in the Winter, it can get very windy and terribly cold. But a comparative lack of shade means that, in the Summer, it can get beastly hot. And, as anyone who's ever seen a film version of The Wizard of Oz knows, Kansas (along with neighboring Oklahoma) is "Tornado Alley."
Next Saturday is predicted to be in the mid-80s at gametime (11:00 AM Central), and should drop to the high 60s at night. "Isolated thunderstorms" are predicted for Sunday, but you may be on your way home and out of Kansas by then.
With the exception of the westernmost one-quarter or so, which is in the Mountain Time Zone, Kansas is in the Central Time Zone, 1 hour behind New York. Adjust your timepieces accordingly.
Tickets. KU's stadium seats 50,071, and a horrible 1-11 season last year meant that only once did they top 33,000 in attendance, and that was for the KSU game, and even that only drew 36,223. (Along with Indiana, Kansas is the only Midwestern State that's a basketball State, not a football State.) Getting tickets shouldn't be hard. Seats will be $55 in lower midfield, $45 in sideline ends, and $20 in the north end zone. (No seats in the south end zone.)
KSU's stadium also seats 50,000, but they were 8-5 last season, and all 7 home games were sellouts. Their tickets will be tougher to get. They're $50 on the lower sidelines, and $30 in the end zone and in the upper deck.
Getting There. It's 1,208 miles from High Point Solutions Stadium (Rutgers Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey to David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in Lawrence. Knowing this, your first instinct will be to fly out there.
Neither Lawrence nor Manhattan has a large enough population base, by itself, to warrant and International Airport. So, if you're going to fly in, you'll end up landing in Kansas City, and then you should probably rent a car, 52 miles to the southwest, down Interstates 435 South and 70 West. To KSU's Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, it's 133 miles west. You could get a round-trip, non-stop flight for under $800.
And you may have to fly in and rent a car, or just drive all the way, to see a Kansas State home football game, because neither Amtrak nor Greyhound goes anywhere near Manhattan, Kansas.
Amtrak does go to Lawrence. It sends the Lake Shore Limited out of Penn Station at 3:40 PM Eastern Time, to Union Station in Chicago at 9:45 AM Central Time. Then you have to switch to the Southwest Chief, leaving Chicago at 2:50 PM, and arrives at Lawrence at 11:47 PM, meaning you would need to leave New York on Thursday afternoon to get there Friday night in order to attend the game. Round trip fare is $395. Lawrence's Amtrak station is at 413 E. 7th Street.
Lawrence's Greyhound station is at 6 E. 6th Street, across from the town's library. The round-trip fare is $348, but it can drop to as low as $271 with advanced purchase.
If you decide to drive, it's far enough that it will help to get someone to go with you and split the duties, and to trade off driving and sleeping. You'll need to get on the New Jersey Turnpike, and take Interstate 78 West across New Jersey, and at Harrisburg get on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which at this point will be both I-70 and I-76. When the two Interstates split outside Pittsburgh, stay on I-70 west.
You'll cross the northern tip of West Virginia, and go all the way across Ohio (through Columbus), Indiana (through Indianapolis), Illinois and Missouri. I-70 becomes the Kansas Turnpike, and you'll take Exit 202 onto McDonald Drive. This street will flow into Iowa Street, and you'll turn left onto W. 9th Street toward the KU campus.
If you do it right, you should spend about an hour and 15 minutes in New Jersey, 5 hours in Pennsylvania, 15 minutes in West Virginia, 3 hours and 45 minutes in Ohio, 2 hours and 30 minutes in Indiana, 2 hours and 30 minutes in Illinois, 4 hours and 15 minutes in Missouri, and 45 minutes in Kansas before you reach the campus for your hotel. That's a little over 20 hours. Counting rest stops, preferably 7 of them, and accounting for traffic in both New York and Kansas City, it should be about 29 hours.
Once In the City. The Kansas Territory was the site of several conflicts between advocates for slavery and advocates for its abolition, both before and after it was admitted to the Union, on January 29, 1861, as the 34th and last State before the American Civil War began. Both the State of Kansas and the cities of Kansas City -- a bigger one in Missouri and a smaller, adjacent one in Kansas -- are named for the Kanza tribe of Native Americans who lived there.
Kansas City is set on the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers, and on the Missouri/Kansas State Line. Kansas City, Kansas is a separate city with about 150,000 people, and is known locally as KCK, while the more familiar city is KCMO. KCMO is one of the smallest cities in North American major league sports, with just 480,000 people, and one of the smallest metropolitan areas, with 2.4 million.
Kansas City is set on the confluence of the Missouri and Kansas rivers, and on the Missouri/Kansas State Line. Kansas City, Kansas is a separate city with about 150,000 people, and is known locally as KCK, while the more familiar city is KCMO. KCMO is one of the smallest cities in North American major league sports, with just 480,000 people, and one of the smallest metropolitan areas, with 2.4 million.
The answer, as it turns out, is the Wichita-based Koch Brothers, Charles G., age 82, and David H., 78, each of whom is currently believed to have fortunes in excess of $50 billion. They call themselves "libertarian" but are actually conservative fanatics, and they donate so much to Republican politicians as to practically own their votes, manipulating the evangelical and bigoted bents of said candidates and their voters.
This included the Sacking of Lawrence by a pro-slavery mob on May 21, 1856, killing 1 person; the subsequent Pottawatomie Massacre by abolitionist John Brown and his men 3 days later, killing 5 people; and the raid by Confederate guerrilla William Quantrill, including the brothers Frank and Jesse James, on August 21, 1863, killing over 200.
In Lawrence, the Kansas River divides addresses into North and South, and Massachusetts Street divides them into East and West. The local newspaper is the Lawrence Daily World. The city is 81 percent white, 6 percent Hispanic, 5 percent black, 5 percent Asian, and 3 percent Native American. Lawrence Transit, a.k.a. The T, runs buses. The University runs KU on Wheels. Both bus systems are free to KU students, faculty and staff. For everyone else, The T is $1.00 per ride.
Despite being officially named the University of Kansas, the school's name is usually abbreviated to "KU." It was founded in 1865. In addition to the main campus in Lawrence, there's one in Leavenworth. Famous alumni include:
* Sports other than football and basketball, which I'll discuss in "Team History Displays": Glenn Cunningham '31, former world record holder in the 1,500 meter and mile runs; Bill Nieder '55, Gold Medalist in the shot put at the 1960 Olympics; Al Oerter '58, Gold Medalist in the discus throw at the 1956, '60, '64 and '68 Olympics; Billy Mills '60, Gold Medalist in the 10,000 meters at the 1964 Olympics; Philip Asnchutz '61, founder of Qwest, and one of the guiding forces in Major League Soccer; and Jim Ryan '68, former world record holder in the 800 and 1,500 meters and the mile. Baseball All-Star Bob Allison attended and played at KU, but did not graduate.
* Politics, from Kansas unless otherwise stated: Governor Alf Landon, Class of 1908, and his daughter, Senator Nancy Kassebaum '54; Governors George Docking '25 and his son Robert Docking '48, Governor William H. Avery '34, Governor Robert F. Bennett '50; Juan Manuel Santos '73, who just finished 2 terms as President of Colombia, winner of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. Bob Dole attended KU, and played football and basketball there, but after World War II, transferred to the University of Arizona, and got his degree there.
* Journalism: William Allen White 1890, Bill Kurtis '62, baseball sabermetrician Bill James '73, and sportscaster Kevin Harlan '82.
* Arts: Playwright William Inge '35, novelist Evan Connell '47, director Herk Havey '48, actor Terry Kiser '62, novelist Sara Paretsky '67, actress Dee Wallace '70, actress Betsy Randle '77, sportscaster Kevin Harlan '82, comedian Rob Riggle '92, and actor Paul Rudd '92.
* Science: Vitamin co-discoverer Elmer McCollum 1903, Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh '36, plutonium co-discoverer Joseph W. Kennedy '37 (they may have known each other, inspiring Kennedy to name his element after Tombaugh's planet), and Paul Ehrlich '57.
Manhattan, home of KSU (it has no other campuses), has about 52,000 people. It was founded in 1855, and named for what the Kanza tribue called the Great Blue Earth River, "Manyinkatuhuudje." New York's Manhattan comes from the Lenape tribe's name, "Manna-hata," or "Island of Many Hills." So, hearing the Kanza name, the white settlers in the "Popular Sovereignty" or "Bleeding Kansas" period called it "Manhattan," because that's what it sounded like to them. And, as New York is the Big Apple, the Kansas version is called the Little Apple.
The town is about 82 percent white, 6 percent Hispanic, 6 percent black, 5 percent Asian, and 1 percent Native American. The main newspaper is the Manhattan Mercury. Poyntz Avenue separates addresses into North and South, and the numbers increase westward from the Kansas River. ATA Bus has a $1.00 fare.
Noted KSU graduates include:
* Sports, other than Football and Basketball: Baseball pitcher Elden Auker '32, catcher Earl Woods '53 (Tiger's father, a Manhattan, Kansas native, broke the color barrier in Big Eight baseball, before embarking on a career as an Army officer), sprinter Thane Baker '56 (won a full medal set, Gold, Silver and Bronze at the 1956 Olympics), and triple jumper Kenny Harrison '88 (Gold Medal at the 1996 Olympics). Mitch Holtus '79 is a broadcaster for the Kansas City Chiefs.
* Arts: Historian Kenneth S. Davis '34, record producer Jerry Wexler '46, actor Gordon Jump '57, and actor Eric Stonestreet '96.
* Politics, from Kansas unless otherwise stated: Senator and Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton '31, Congressman John Rhodes of Arizona '38, House Minority Leader 1973-83 and instrumental in convincing President Nixon to resign; current Senator Pat Roberts '58, Governor John Carlin '62, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater '65; General Richard Myers '65, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and since 2016 the President of KSU; Governor Mike Hayden '66, and Senator and Governor Sam Brownback '79.
The Kansas State Capitol is in Topeka, 64 miles west of downtown KCMO, 26 miles west of the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, 60 miles southeast of the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan (sure doesn't look like the one in New York), and 140 miles northeast of Kansas' largest city, Wichita.
ZIP Codes for the Kansas side of Kansas City start with the digits 66 and 67; for Lawrence, 66044; and for Manhattan, 66502. The beastly prefix of 666 is in the State capital of Topeka, although Area Code 666 is not used anywhere in America. The Area Codes for Kansas are 785 (for both Lawrence and Manhattan) and 913 (for most of the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area). The sales tax for the State is 6.15 percent.
Going In. KU's Memorial Stadium opened in 1921, and, like so many college football stadiums built in the 1920s (or shortly before, or shortly after), it is a memorial to the University's, and indeed the State's, losses in World War I.
Last year, the school renamed it David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, after David G. Booth '68, a Lawrence native who donated $50 million to renovate the stadium. He got his graduate degree from the University of Chicago, and his $300 million to their business school, also renamed for him, is the largest donation ever given to a college's business school.
The address of the stadium is 1101 Maine Street (not "Main"), at Fambrough Way, just west of downtown. Bus 4 will get you to 9th & Maine, 2 blocks north. If you drive in, parking is $25.
The stadium is a horseshoe pointing south, and the field has been artificial turf since 1970.
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He wasn't just a Ph.D.: He had a doctorate in osteopathy, and was his team's athletic trainer as well, said to have a "magic touch." His nicknames were Doc for his profession, and Phog for his "foghorn voice."
He won 26 Conference Championships, 2 Helms Athletic Foundation-awarded National Championships in 1922 and 1923, and the NCAA Tournament in 1952. He coached the U.S. team to the Gold Medal in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. He coached Adolph Rupp, Ralph Miller, Dean Smith, Clyde Lovellette and Bob Dole, and, though retiring before he could coach him, recruited Wilt Chamberlain. He was a charter inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959.
ESPN The Magazine has called the 16,300-seat Allen Fieldhouse the loudest venue in college basketball. The court has been named for Naismith. So, while basketball wasn't invented there (KU is one of the truly great basketball schools, but it's not that great), it could be argued that, between Naismith and Allen, basketball coaching was invented there.
As for the Wildcats: The current KSU Stadium was named just that, "KSU Stadium," when it opened in 1968. After the 2005 season, coach Bill Snyder retired, and the school offered to rename it for him. He said, "If you are going to do it, name it after the people that I care about the most." So it became "Bill Snyder Family Football Stadium."
He returned to coach in 2009, and is 1 of only 5 Division I-A/Football Bowl Subdivision coaches ever to coach at a stadium named for him, joining Amos Alonzo Stagg at the University of Chicago, Bear Bryant at Alabama, Shug Jordan at Auburn and LaVell Edwards at Brigham Young. (Snyder is the only one still alive, let alone active.)
The address is 1800 College Avenue, at Kimball Avenue, about 2 miles northwest of downtown Manhattan. Take the Red bus in. If you drive in, parking is $20.
It is the opposite of KU's stadium: A horseshoe pointing north. Like KU's stadium, KSU's field was changed from real grass to artificial turf in 1970. Since a 1991 replacement was done, it's been named Wagner Field, in honor of donors Dave and Carol Wagner.
Prior to that, from 1922 to 1967, the Wildcats played at World War I Memorial Stadium, which had to be replaced because it seated only 17,500 people.
Food. According to a preseason 2016 article on KUAthletics.com:
Memorial Stadium concessions will showcase a variety of new items and stands. "The Lighter Side" located near sections 7 and 20 will feature grilled chicken sandwiches, veggie burgers, chicken salad, fruit cups and yogurt. Fans will also want to visit the "Bavarian Pretzel Cart" with parmesan butter and herb pretzels, pizza pretzels and pretzel bites. Some other new additions will be the giant smoked turkey leg and tornado potato fries. Click here to see a complete concession map and offerings.
Team History Displays. Kansas has won or tied for its conference's title 9 times: 1891, 1892, 1893, 1895, 1908, 1930, 1946, 1947 and 1968. They've won 6 bowl games: The 1961 Bluebonnet Bowl, the 1992 and 1995 Aloha Bowls, the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl, the 2008 Insight Bowl, and their only victory in a major, the 2008 Orange Bowl. They also reached the Orange Bowl in 1948 and 1970, but lost.
KU's Memorial Stadium has a Ring of Honor atop the northern bowl, honoring 14 players:
* From the 1940s: Running back and defensive back Ray Evans, end Otto Schnellbacher, and offensive tackle Mike McCormack.
* From the 1950s: Offensive linemen George Mrkonic and Ollie Spencer.
* From the 1960s: Quarterbacks John Hadl and Bobby Douglass, defensive end John Zook, and running backs Curtis McClinton, Gale Sayers and John Riggins.
* From the 1970s: Quarerback David Jaynes, and quarterback and safety Nolan Cromwell.
* From the 1980s: Linebacker Willie Pless.
The Jayhawks have retired 3 uniform numbers: Hadl's 21, Evans' 42, and Sayers' 48. They are in the College Football Hall of Fame, as is 1950s running back Jim Bausch. McCormack, Sayers and Riggins are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and cases can be made for Hadl and Cromwell, too.
Not on that list were 1940s Jayhawk teammates Bud Adams, founding owner of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise, and longtime Senate Majority Leader and 1996 Republican Presidential nominee Bob Dole.
There are 27 Kansas basketball players with their uniform numbers on banners in Allen Fieldhouse, but these numbers are not retired. The school says it's the jerseys that are retired, not the numbers. Along with longtime broadcaster Max Falkenstein, given Number 60 in honor of 60 years of broadcasting (61, actually: 1945-2006), they are:
* From the 1920s: 12, guard Paul Endacott '23; 8, guard Charlie T. Black '24; 7, center Tusten Ackerman '25; 26, guard Gale Gordon '27; and 36, center Al Peterson '27.
* From the 1930s: 5, guard Fred Pralle '38. Not yet honored is center William "Skinny" Johnson '33.
* From the 1940s: 5, forward Howard Engleman '41; 10, forward Charles B. Black '47 (no relation to Charlie T.); 15, guard Ray Evans '47 (as previously mentioned, also honored in football).
* From the 1950s: 16, center Clyde Lovellette '52; 23, forward B.H. Born '54; and 13, center Wilt Chamberlain '59 (led them to the NCAA Final in '57, played in '58, but left to play for the Harlem Globetrotters in '59 before he could legally join the NBA). Not yet honored is guard Allen Kelley '54.
* From the 1960s: 32, forward Bill Bridges '41; 13, center Walt Wesley '66; 15, guard Jo Jo White '69.
* From the 1970s: 40, forward Dave Robisch '71; and 15, forward Bud Stallworth '72.
* From the 1980s: 14, guard Darnell Valentine '81; and 25, forward Danny Manning '88.
* From the 1990s: 11, guard Jacque Vaughn '97; 34, forward Paul Pierce '98; and 45, forward Raef LaFrentz '98.
* From the 21st Century: 0, forward Drew Gooden '02; 4, forward Nick Collison '03; 10, guard Kirk Hinrich '03; 23, forward Wayne Simien '05; and 15, guard Mario Chalmers '08.
Endacott, Johnson, Lovellette, Kelley, Chamberlain and White are in the Basketball Hall of Fame. So are coaches Naismith, Allen, Larry Brown and Roy Williams.
Allen has a statue outside his Fieldhouse. Behind that is the DeBruce Center, with a statue of Naismith. He also has statues in his hometown of Almonte, Ontario, Canada; and at the Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts, not far from Springfield College, formerly the YMCA where he invented the sport.
While the Kansas Jayhawks have been mediocre for most of the last half-century, the Kansas State Wildcats were one of the worst programs in college football until Bill Snyder arrived in 1989. They didn't go to their 1st bowl game until the 1982 Independence Bowl, and didn't win their 1st until the 1993 Copper Bowl.
However, they've now won the 1993 Copper Bowl, the 1995 Holiday Bowl, the 1997 Fiesta Bowl, the 1999 and 2002 Holiday Bowl, the 2001 Cotton Bowl, the 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, the 2016 Texas Bowl, and the 2017 Cactus Bowl. They've also won or shared their league's title 6 times: 1909, 1910, 1912, 1934, 2003 and 2012. They have a statue of Snyder outside the stadium that bears his name.
They've retired 1 number, 11, for 2 quarterbacks, Lynn Dickey '70 and Steve Grogan '74. Their All-Americans have included linebacker Gary Spani '77, cornerback Chris Canty '96, kicker Martin Grmatica '98, cornerback Terence Newman '02, running back Darren Sproles '03, center Nick Leckey '03, and receiver Tyler Lockett '14.
Kansas and Kansas State first played each other in 1902, and have played each other every year since except 1910. In 1969, the Governor's Cup was first awarded. KU went 17-1-3 from 1902 to 1923, 10-1 from 1941 to 1952, and 19-1-2 from 1956 to 1977. But KSU has won the last 9, and 21 of the last 25.
There is a dispute as to the all-time record, because KU refuses to accept that they had to forfeit their win in the 1980 game, because they insist that they had paperwork showing that the ineligible player they'd used was, in fact, eligible. KU say they lead 65-44-5, KSU says it's 64-45-5.
Wildcat fans say their biggest rival is the Jayhawks. But Jayhawk fans are much more likely to say their biggest rival is the University of Missouri. This was the 1st college football rivalry west of the Mississippi River, and there is real history behind it, not just sports history. Real history. Really bloody history. They didn't call the Jayhawk State "Bleeding Kansas" for nothing.
In the years immediately before, during, and even for a little while after the American Civil War, there was some deadly serious fighting. Kansas was a free State, Missouri a slave State, although it never joined the Confederacy. Confederate sympathizers from Missouri would cross over and wreak havoc in Kansas, including in Lawrence.
On May 21, 1856, "the Sacking of Lawrence" occurred. On August 21, 1863, William Quantrill led Quantrill's Raiders (including a young pair of brothers named Frank and Jesse James) in a massacre, killing 164 people, all civilians. The football rivalry between Kansas and Missouri became known as the Border War, and, perhaps appropriately, was first played on October 31, 1891 -- Halloween.
The winner receives the Indian War Drum, also known as the Osage War Drum, with a Jayhawk logo on one side, and a block M with a Missouri Tiger head on the other. The rivalry was so nasty that it sometimes had to be played on neutral ground in Kansas City -- in Missouri's State, but considerably closer to Kansas' campus, with the ticket allotment evenly divided. It was played in Kansas City from 1891 to 1906, again from 1908 to 1910 (in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1907), in 1944 and '45 (probably due to wartime travel restrictions), and at Arrowhead Stadium from 2007 to 2011.
Missouri's move to from the Big 12 to the Southeastern Conference put an end to it, at least for football. As with the KU-KSU rivalry, there is a dispute as to the record, as the 1960 game was forfeited to Missouri by the league then known as the Big Eight, because Kansas used an ineligible player. According to Kansas, Missouri leads 56-55-5 -- meaning a restart and a Kansas win in the next game would tie the series at 56-all. According to everybody else (including the Big 12 and the NCAA), Missouri leads 57-54-5.
Stuff. There are souvenir stands at each school's stadium, but no team stores. KU's bookstore is in the Student Union, at 1301 Jayhawk Blvd., about a 5-minute walk south on Mississippi Street from Memorial Stadium. The KSU Campus Store is at 820 N. 17th Street, to the east of the stadium.
The best book available on KU sports is by the aforementioned broadcaster, Max Falkenstein: Max & the Jayhawks: 50 Years On & Off the Air With KU Sports, published with Doug Vance in 1996. And, as KU's other big rival is Missouri, in 2005, the sports staff of The Kansas City Star published Rivals! MU vs. KU: A Classic Sports Match-up, Since 1891. In 2000, Mark Stallard published Wildcats to Powercats: K-State Football Facts and Trivia.
During the Game. Neither Kansas fans nor Kansas State fans have a rough reputation. You should have no safety issues. But if you do manage to get a ticket for their game against each other, it's best to stick with the home fans.
What's a Jayhawk? It's a shortened form of Jayhawker, a term for guerrilla fighters in the Civil War, later generally applied to residents of Kansas and turned into the redheaded, blue-bodied bird familiar to college sports fans today. KU has used the indentifier since 1912. They have used a mascot named Big Jay since the 1960s, and his little friend (not son or brother) Baby Jay since 1971.
Like Northwestern, Kansas State's mascot is purple and named Willie the Wildcat. But K-State's Willie isn't much of a costume. It's just a papier-mache head on top of a guy in a football uniform, Number 0. Their band, The Pride of Wildcat Land, uses both "Wildcat Victory" and the legendary country song "The Wabash Cannonball" as fight songs. Being that they're in Kansas, "On the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe" might have been more geographically appropriate, but the Indiana-based "Wabash Cannoball" is a better tune.
After the Game. You (and, if you came that way, your car) should be safe. But there's not much to eat around either stadium, and you may have to go back to 9th Street in Lawrence, or to downtown Manhattan, to get something.
If you visit to Kansas is during the European soccer season, which has now begun again, the Red Lyon Tavern shows matches in Lawrence, at 944 Massachusetts Street, downtown. But in Manhattan, Kansas, you may be out of luck.
Sidelights. The Harry S Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, which includes the Royals' Kauffman Stadium and the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium, is 49 miles from KU and 130 miles from KSU. Naturally, the Royals are the State's most popular MLB team, and the Chiefs the most popular NFL team. You'd have to get to westernmost Kansas to find pockets of fans of the Colorado Rockies and the Denver Broncos, and southwesternmost Kansas to find any kinds of numbers of supporters of the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Cowboys.
However, due to there being no NHL team in Kansas City since the 1974-76 experiment with the Scouts (the team that became the New Jersey Devils in 1982), the St. Louis Blues being too far to the east, and the Dallas Stars too far to the south, Denver's team, the Colorado Avalanche, is the most popular NHL team in Kansas.
Since the Kansas City Kings moved to Sacramento in 1985, the NBA has tailed off in popularity as well. The nearest NBA team is the Oklahoma City Thunder, 315 miles from Lawrence and 354 from Manhattan. The Minnesota Timberwolves are 480 and 561, respectively; the Chicago Bulls, 549 and 631; the Denver Nuggets, 566 and 610.
The nearest MLS team is Sporting Kansas City, whose Children's Mercy Park is just 29 miles from Lawrence and 111 miles from Manhattan. This complex also includes CommunityAmerica Ballpark, home of the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association, an "independent league" roughly equivalent to Class A. The T-Bones are thus the closest professional baseball team to both Lawrence and Manhattan.
The AA also includes the Wichita Wingnuts, who replaced an affiliated team, the Wichita Wranglers, who had played in the Class AA Texas League from 1987 to 2007. Before that, the city was home to the Wichita Aeros from 1970 to 1984, and the Wichita Indians from 1950 to 1955. And the independent Pecos League has the Garden City Wind.
Wichita teams won Pennants in 1918 (Jobbers), 1921 (Witches), 1930 (Aviators), 1987, 1992 and 1999 (Wranglers). From 1934 onward, the Wichita teams played at 6,400-seat Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. After 85 seasons, the city now plans to tear it down and replace it with a new ballpark. 300 S. Sycamore Street.
Basketball inventor and former KU coach Dr. James Naismith (1861-1939) is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, 1517 E. 15th Street in Lawrence. His greatest pupil, and a lot of guys' greatest teacher, Dr. Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen, is buried across the street in Oakhill Cemetery, 1605 Oak Hill Avenue. Both are about a mile and a half east of downtown Lawrence, and about 2 miles east of Memorial Stadium.
One of the main attractions on the KU campus is the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd., just to the south of the bookstore. The Campanile Bell Tower, the school's memorial to World War II, is across Marvin Grove from the bookstore and the museum, on Memorial Drive.
The Beatles never performed in Kansas. Kansas City, yes, at Municipal Stadium; the State of Kansas, no. Elvis Presley did, 6 times, 3 early in his career, 3 later. He played 2 shows at the Forum in Wichita on May 18, 1956. 330 N. Broadway. On May 21, 1956, he played the Municipal Auditorium in Topeka. The 1940 structure was torn down in 1987, and replaced with the Topeka Performing Arts Center. 214 SE 8th Avenue.
In his later years, Elvis did 3 shows at the Henry Levitt Arena, now named the Charles Koch Arena, on the campus of Wichita State University: June 19, 1972; October 7, 1974; and December 27, 1976. 2100 N. Hillside Street.
The 1856 Sacking of Lawrence and the 1863 Lawrence Massacre, a.k.a. Quantrill's Raid, were both centered on the Free State Hotel, which had to be rebuilt both times. The Eldridge Hotel has been built on the site. 701 Massachusetts Street, in the downtown area known as Historic Lawrence.
Kansas has produced a President, Dwight David Eisenhower. Although born in Denison, Texas, he lived almost his entire youth in Abilene. (Note that the Texas city of the same name spells it "Abeline.") When he left the Presidency in 1961, he wanted his Presidential Library in his hometown. The complex includes the Library, the Museum, the Boyhood Home, and the Place of Meditation, where "Ike" and his wife Mamie are laid to rest.
200 SE 4th Street, in Abilene. Unfortunately, it's almost totally inaccessible without a car, as befitting the 1950s, for most of which he was President: 44 miles southwest of Manhattan, 88 miles west of Topeka, 93 miles north of Wichita, 116 miles west of Lawrence, and 153 miles west of Kansas City.
Charles Curtis, a Topeka native and the 1st person known to be of Native American descent to serve in the U.S. Senate (elected 1906), was elected Vice President with Herbert Hoover in 1928.
Alfred M. Landon, a KU grad elected Governor in in 1932, was one of the few Republicans to survive the Democratic landslides of the early 1930s, and was nominated for President in 1936. The Convention wanted Senator Styles Bridges of New Hampshire as his running mate, until someone pointed out that the Democrats could sing, "Landon-Bridges, falling down!" So they nominated the publisher of the archconservative Chicago Daily News, Frank Knox, and the slogan became, "Off the rocks with Landon and Knox!"
The Democrats noted that Landon was always wearing a sunflower pin, symbolizing his home State, and started saying, "Sunflowers wilt in the Fall." They were right: With voters remembering that the Republicans put them into the Great Depression, incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt won 46 out of 48 States, and 523 out of 531 Electoral Votes. Landon won only Vermont and Maine.
In a gesture toward bipartisanship, FDR appointed Knox as Secretary of the Navy in 1940, and he served until dying in office in 1944. Landon left the Governorship after one term, went back to the oil industry, supported FDR in the war effort, supported Harry Truman's Marshall Plan, and even supported Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Alf Landon lived to be 100 years old, until 1987, long enough to see his daughter, Nancy Landon Kassebaum, elected to the U.S. Senate.
But when people not old enough to remember Ike or Alf think of Kansas politicians, they think of Robert Joseph Dole. Barely surviving a shoulder wound that cost him the use of his right arm, Bob was elected to the House of Representatives in 1960, and to the Senate in 1968. He was named Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1971, but, as things turned out, he was RNC Chair when the Democratic National Committee's offices were broken into at the Watergate Hotel complex in Washington in 1972.
Dole was never accused of any of the Nixon Administration crimes that fell under the umbrella term "Watergate," and was nominated for Vice President alongside Gerald Ford in 1976. He did the campaign no favors, though, and his "Democrat wars" comment in his debate with Walter Mondale not only might have been enough to cost Ford a very close election with Jimmy Carter, but branded him "the Dark Prince of American Politics." Impressionist Jim Morrison called him "Darth Dole," and Saturday Night Live actors Dan Aykroyd and Norm Macdonald made hay with their impersonations.
Dole served as Senate Republican Leader from 1985 to 1996. He ran for President in 1980, but didn't win any Primaries. He tried again in 1988, but finished 2nd in delegates to the elder George Bush. Finally, in 1996, he was nominated, at 73 the oldest 1st-time major party nominee ever. But, knowing his reputation, he may have compensated too much. It didn't matter: Bill Clinton beat him easily. Dole retired from the Senate in mid-campaign, and his electoral career was over.
In spite of the many disagreements he made over the years, Dole should be commended for his efforts in favor of his fellow veterans, and for reaching across the aisle to work with Senator George McGovern on hunger and Senator Ted Kennedy on helping the disabled. His alma mater, the University of Kansas, established the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, not quite a Presidential Library, but close. 2350 Peterfish Drive in Lawrence, about a mile west of the main campus.
The tallest building in Kansas is the Epic Center, a rather plain-looking 385-foot structure that went up in 1987. 301 N. Main Street in Wichita.
The 1962 horror film Carnival of Souls was filmed in Lawrence. The 1983 nuclear-war TV-movie The Day After was filmed in Kansas City and Lawrence. The city was "destroyed again" in the 2006 TV series Jericho. Sam and Dean Winchester, the protagonists of the TV series Supernatural, are from Lawrence, but they travel throughout the country, and filming is done in Vancouver.
Most movies filmed or set in Kansas tend to be Westerns, such as The Plainsman, Dodge City, Santa Fe Trail, Red River, Winchester '73, Dances with Wolves and Sarah, Plain and Tall. The TV Western Gunsmoke was set in Dodge City, although that's 335 miles southwest of KCMO, 299 miles southwest of Lawrence, and 228 miles south of KSU; and, besides, it was filmed in Hollywood. Kansas' desolate plains lend themselves well to Depression-era films like Splendor in the Grass, Paper Moon and The Great Waldo Pepper.
The 1978 version of Superman established the hero's hometown of Smallville, previously considered a typical American small town, as being in Kansas, and every version of Superman since has accepted this. Plains, Trains and Automobiles had a big chunk set in Wichita, but those scenes were actually filmed in Illinois.
And, of course, Kansas was the setting for the "real" parts of L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and all its film adaptations since. (Judy Garland's line as Dorothy in the most familiar version, 1939, is one of those movie/TV lines everybody gets wrong: It's actually, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!")
Brian McClendon, KU '86, the director of engineering for Google Earth, made Lawrence the program's default starting point.
The World War II Memorial Campanile,
with Fraser Hall in the background
Despite being officially named the University of Kansas, the school's name is usually abbreviated to "KU." It was founded in 1865. In addition to the main campus in Lawrence, there's one in Leavenworth. Famous alumni include:
* Sports other than football and basketball, which I'll discuss in "Team History Displays": Glenn Cunningham '31, former world record holder in the 1,500 meter and mile runs; Bill Nieder '55, Gold Medalist in the shot put at the 1960 Olympics; Al Oerter '58, Gold Medalist in the discus throw at the 1956, '60, '64 and '68 Olympics; Billy Mills '60, Gold Medalist in the 10,000 meters at the 1964 Olympics; Philip Asnchutz '61, founder of Qwest, and one of the guiding forces in Major League Soccer; and Jim Ryan '68, former world record holder in the 800 and 1,500 meters and the mile. Baseball All-Star Bob Allison attended and played at KU, but did not graduate.
* Politics, from Kansas unless otherwise stated: Governor Alf Landon, Class of 1908, and his daughter, Senator Nancy Kassebaum '54; Governors George Docking '25 and his son Robert Docking '48, Governor William H. Avery '34, Governor Robert F. Bennett '50; Juan Manuel Santos '73, who just finished 2 terms as President of Colombia, winner of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. Bob Dole attended KU, and played football and basketball there, but after World War II, transferred to the University of Arizona, and got his degree there.
* Journalism: William Allen White 1890, Bill Kurtis '62, baseball sabermetrician Bill James '73, and sportscaster Kevin Harlan '82.
* Arts: Playwright William Inge '35, novelist Evan Connell '47, director Herk Havey '48, actor Terry Kiser '62, novelist Sara Paretsky '67, actress Dee Wallace '70, actress Betsy Randle '77, sportscaster Kevin Harlan '82, comedian Rob Riggle '92, and actor Paul Rudd '92.
* Science: Vitamin co-discoverer Elmer McCollum 1903, Pluto discoverer Clyde Tombaugh '36, plutonium co-discoverer Joseph W. Kennedy '37 (they may have known each other, inspiring Kennedy to name his element after Tombaugh's planet), and Paul Ehrlich '57.
Manhattan, home of KSU (it has no other campuses), has about 52,000 people. It was founded in 1855, and named for what the Kanza tribue called the Great Blue Earth River, "Manyinkatuhuudje." New York's Manhattan comes from the Lenape tribe's name, "Manna-hata," or "Island of Many Hills." So, hearing the Kanza name, the white settlers in the "Popular Sovereignty" or "Bleeding Kansas" period called it "Manhattan," because that's what it sounded like to them. And, as New York is the Big Apple, the Kansas version is called the Little Apple.
The town is about 82 percent white, 6 percent Hispanic, 6 percent black, 5 percent Asian, and 1 percent Native American. The main newspaper is the Manhattan Mercury. Poyntz Avenue separates addresses into North and South, and the numbers increase westward from the Kansas River. ATA Bus has a $1.00 fare.
KSU's Anderson Hall
Noted KSU graduates include:
* Sports, other than Football and Basketball: Baseball pitcher Elden Auker '32, catcher Earl Woods '53 (Tiger's father, a Manhattan, Kansas native, broke the color barrier in Big Eight baseball, before embarking on a career as an Army officer), sprinter Thane Baker '56 (won a full medal set, Gold, Silver and Bronze at the 1956 Olympics), and triple jumper Kenny Harrison '88 (Gold Medal at the 1996 Olympics). Mitch Holtus '79 is a broadcaster for the Kansas City Chiefs.
* Arts: Historian Kenneth S. Davis '34, record producer Jerry Wexler '46, actor Gordon Jump '57, and actor Eric Stonestreet '96.
* Politics, from Kansas unless otherwise stated: Senator and Secretary of the Interior Fred Seaton '31, Congressman John Rhodes of Arizona '38, House Minority Leader 1973-83 and instrumental in convincing President Nixon to resign; current Senator Pat Roberts '58, Governor John Carlin '62, White House Press Secretary Marlin Fitzwater '65; General Richard Myers '65, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and since 2016 the President of KSU; Governor Mike Hayden '66, and Senator and Governor Sam Brownback '79.
The Kansas State Capitol is in Topeka, 64 miles west of downtown KCMO, 26 miles west of the University of Kansas campus in Lawrence, 60 miles southeast of the Kansas State University campus in Manhattan (sure doesn't look like the one in New York), and 140 miles northeast of Kansas' largest city, Wichita.
The Kansas State House, in Topeka
ZIP Codes for the Kansas side of Kansas City start with the digits 66 and 67; for Lawrence, 66044; and for Manhattan, 66502. The beastly prefix of 666 is in the State capital of Topeka, although Area Code 666 is not used anywhere in America. The Area Codes for Kansas are 785 (for both Lawrence and Manhattan) and 913 (for most of the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area). The sales tax for the State is 6.15 percent.
Going In. KU's Memorial Stadium opened in 1921, and, like so many college football stadiums built in the 1920s (or shortly before, or shortly after), it is a memorial to the University's, and indeed the State's, losses in World War I.
The stadium is a horseshoe pointing south, and the field has been artificial turf since 1970.
UPDATE: On
November 19, 2018, Moneywise compiled
a list of their Worst
College Football Stadiums, the bottom 19 percent of college football, 25 out of 129. KU's Memorial Stadium came in 21st, with fans polled citing "uncomfortable bench seating" and "The bathrooms were not even air condition" -- a definite problem in Kansas in September.
Mention must also be made of the most famous building in the State of Kansas, and that's the Jayhawks' basketball arena, Allen Field House. Dr. Forrest C. Allen. A student of basketball's inventor, Dr. James Naismith, who coached there from 1898 to 1907, "Phog" Allen coached KU basketball from 1907 to 1909, and again from 1919 to 1956. That last season, 1955-56, was the 1st season of the building that bears his name. It's at 1651 Naismith Drive, about 2 miles southwest of downtown. Bus 10 or 11 will get you within a 5-minute walk.
He wasn't just a Ph.D.: He had a doctorate in osteopathy, and was his team's athletic trainer as well, said to have a "magic touch." His nicknames were Doc for his profession, and Phog for his "foghorn voice."
He won 26 Conference Championships, 2 Helms Athletic Foundation-awarded National Championships in 1922 and 1923, and the NCAA Tournament in 1952. He coached the U.S. team to the Gold Medal in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki, Finland. He coached Adolph Rupp, Ralph Miller, Dean Smith, Clyde Lovellette and Bob Dole, and, though retiring before he could coach him, recruited Wilt Chamberlain. He was a charter inductee into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1959.
The address is 1800 College Avenue, at Kimball Avenue, about 2 miles northwest of downtown Manhattan. Take the Red bus in. If you drive in, parking is $20.
Snyder Family Stadium. Behind it, Bramlage Coliseum,
built in 1986, a.k.a. The Octagon of Doom.
Behind that, Ahearn Field House, built in 1950.
It is the opposite of KU's stadium: A horseshoe pointing north. Like KU's stadium, KSU's field was changed from real grass to artificial turf in 1970. Since a 1991 replacement was done, it's been named Wagner Field, in honor of donors Dave and Carol Wagner.
Memorial Stadium concessions will showcase a variety of new items and stands. "The Lighter Side" located near sections 7 and 20 will feature grilled chicken sandwiches, veggie burgers, chicken salad, fruit cups and yogurt. Fans will also want to visit the "Bavarian Pretzel Cart" with parmesan butter and herb pretzels, pizza pretzels and pretzel bites. Some other new additions will be the giant smoked turkey leg and tornado potato fries. Click here to see a complete concession map and offerings.
KSU doesn't get specific on KStateSports.com, only saying:
The concession stands located on the concourse of Bill Snyder Family Stadium are available when stadium gates open two (2) hours prior to kickoff. No other food may be brought into the stadium.
Team History Displays. Kansas has won or tied for its conference's title 9 times: 1891, 1892, 1893, 1895, 1908, 1930, 1946, 1947 and 1968. They've won 6 bowl games: The 1961 Bluebonnet Bowl, the 1992 and 1995 Aloha Bowls, the 2005 Fort Worth Bowl, the 2008 Insight Bowl, and their only victory in a major, the 2008 Orange Bowl. They also reached the Orange Bowl in 1948 and 1970, but lost.
KU's Memorial Stadium has a Ring of Honor atop the northern bowl, honoring 14 players:
* From the 1940s: Running back and defensive back Ray Evans, end Otto Schnellbacher, and offensive tackle Mike McCormack.
* From the 1950s: Offensive linemen George Mrkonic and Ollie Spencer.
* From the 1960s: Quarterbacks John Hadl and Bobby Douglass, defensive end John Zook, and running backs Curtis McClinton, Gale Sayers and John Riggins.
* From the 1970s: Quarerback David Jaynes, and quarterback and safety Nolan Cromwell.
* From the 1980s: Linebacker Willie Pless.
The Jayhawks have retired 3 uniform numbers: Hadl's 21, Evans' 42, and Sayers' 48. They are in the College Football Hall of Fame, as is 1950s running back Jim Bausch. McCormack, Sayers and Riggins are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and cases can be made for Hadl and Cromwell, too.
Not on that list were 1940s Jayhawk teammates Bud Adams, founding owner of the Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans franchise, and longtime Senate Majority Leader and 1996 Republican Presidential nominee Bob Dole.
There are 27 Kansas basketball players with their uniform numbers on banners in Allen Fieldhouse, but these numbers are not retired. The school says it's the jerseys that are retired, not the numbers. Along with longtime broadcaster Max Falkenstein, given Number 60 in honor of 60 years of broadcasting (61, actually: 1945-2006), they are:
* From the 1920s: 12, guard Paul Endacott '23; 8, guard Charlie T. Black '24; 7, center Tusten Ackerman '25; 26, guard Gale Gordon '27; and 36, center Al Peterson '27.
* From the 1930s: 5, guard Fred Pralle '38. Not yet honored is center William "Skinny" Johnson '33.
* From the 1940s: 5, forward Howard Engleman '41; 10, forward Charles B. Black '47 (no relation to Charlie T.); 15, guard Ray Evans '47 (as previously mentioned, also honored in football).
* From the 1950s: 16, center Clyde Lovellette '52; 23, forward B.H. Born '54; and 13, center Wilt Chamberlain '59 (led them to the NCAA Final in '57, played in '58, but left to play for the Harlem Globetrotters in '59 before he could legally join the NBA). Not yet honored is guard Allen Kelley '54.
* From the 1960s: 32, forward Bill Bridges '41; 13, center Walt Wesley '66; 15, guard Jo Jo White '69.
* From the 1970s: 40, forward Dave Robisch '71; and 15, forward Bud Stallworth '72.
* From the 1980s: 14, guard Darnell Valentine '81; and 25, forward Danny Manning '88.
* From the 1990s: 11, guard Jacque Vaughn '97; 34, forward Paul Pierce '98; and 45, forward Raef LaFrentz '98.
* From the 21st Century: 0, forward Drew Gooden '02; 4, forward Nick Collison '03; 10, guard Kirk Hinrich '03; 23, forward Wayne Simien '05; and 15, guard Mario Chalmers '08.
Endacott, Johnson, Lovellette, Kelley, Chamberlain and White are in the Basketball Hall of Fame. So are coaches Naismith, Allen, Larry Brown and Roy Williams.
As another resourceful Canadian named James, Doohan of Star Trek,
would have said, "He invented the thing!"
However, they've now won the 1993 Copper Bowl, the 1995 Holiday Bowl, the 1997 Fiesta Bowl, the 1999 and 2002 Holiday Bowl, the 2001 Cotton Bowl, the 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, the 2016 Texas Bowl, and the 2017 Cactus Bowl. They've also won or shared their league's title 6 times: 1909, 1910, 1912, 1934, 2003 and 2012. They have a statue of Snyder outside the stadium that bears his name.
Kansas and Kansas State first played each other in 1902, and have played each other every year since except 1910. In 1969, the Governor's Cup was first awarded. KU went 17-1-3 from 1902 to 1923, 10-1 from 1941 to 1952, and 19-1-2 from 1956 to 1977. But KSU has won the last 9, and 21 of the last 25.
The 2 versions of the Governor's Cup
There is a dispute as to the all-time record, because KU refuses to accept that they had to forfeit their win in the 1980 game, because they insist that they had paperwork showing that the ineligible player they'd used was, in fact, eligible. KU say they lead 65-44-5, KSU says it's 64-45-5.
Wildcat fans say their biggest rival is the Jayhawks. But Jayhawk fans are much more likely to say their biggest rival is the University of Missouri. This was the 1st college football rivalry west of the Mississippi River, and there is real history behind it, not just sports history. Real history. Really bloody history. They didn't call the Jayhawk State "Bleeding Kansas" for nothing.
In the years immediately before, during, and even for a little while after the American Civil War, there was some deadly serious fighting. Kansas was a free State, Missouri a slave State, although it never joined the Confederacy. Confederate sympathizers from Missouri would cross over and wreak havoc in Kansas, including in Lawrence.
On May 21, 1856, "the Sacking of Lawrence" occurred. On August 21, 1863, William Quantrill led Quantrill's Raiders (including a young pair of brothers named Frank and Jesse James) in a massacre, killing 164 people, all civilians. The football rivalry between Kansas and Missouri became known as the Border War, and, perhaps appropriately, was first played on October 31, 1891 -- Halloween.
Stuff. There are souvenir stands at each school's stadium, but no team stores. KU's bookstore is in the Student Union, at 1301 Jayhawk Blvd., about a 5-minute walk south on Mississippi Street from Memorial Stadium. The KSU Campus Store is at 820 N. 17th Street, to the east of the stadium.
The best book available on KU sports is by the aforementioned broadcaster, Max Falkenstein: Max & the Jayhawks: 50 Years On & Off the Air With KU Sports, published with Doug Vance in 1996. And, as KU's other big rival is Missouri, in 2005, the sports staff of The Kansas City Star published Rivals! MU vs. KU: A Classic Sports Match-up, Since 1891. In 2000, Mark Stallard published Wildcats to Powercats: K-State Football Facts and Trivia.
During the Game. Neither Kansas fans nor Kansas State fans have a rough reputation. You should have no safety issues. But if you do manage to get a ticket for their game against each other, it's best to stick with the home fans.
What's a Jayhawk? It's a shortened form of Jayhawker, a term for guerrilla fighters in the Civil War, later generally applied to residents of Kansas and turned into the redheaded, blue-bodied bird familiar to college sports fans today. KU has used the indentifier since 1912. They have used a mascot named Big Jay since the 1960s, and his little friend (not son or brother) Baby Jay since 1971.
Big Jay and Baby Jay
At home football games, the Marching Jayhawks perform both an opening pregame show and a halftime show that changes throughout the season. The pregame program begins with the members of the band sprinting down the stairs of the northern bowl of Memorial Stadium. The band runs onto the field to a cadence by the drum line. Here the official fight song of KU "I'm a Jayhawk" is played. The "Kansas Song" is then played as the Marching Jayhawks perform their historic KU counter march. "Fighting Jayhawk" is played after the counter march.
The band is then joined by a group of the Rock Chalk Dancers, KU's dance team, for the historic "Sunflower Song" and accompanying drill. The band then performs the National Anthem, the alma mater "Crimson and the Blue," and the Rock Chalk Chant. This chant -- "Rock chalk, Jayhawk, KU" -- is the first thing most people think about when they think of Kansas sports. Rock chalk is limestone, common in Kansas. They also wave their arms back and forth, slowly, in a formation called "Waving Wheat."
I give them a 10 for passion, and a 4 for synchronization.
If you visit to Kansas is during the European soccer season, which has now begun again, the Red Lyon Tavern shows matches in Lawrence, at 944 Massachusetts Street, downtown. But in Manhattan, Kansas, you may be out of luck.
Sidelights. The Harry S Truman Sports Complex in Kansas City, which includes the Royals' Kauffman Stadium and the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium, is 49 miles from KU and 130 miles from KSU. Naturally, the Royals are the State's most popular MLB team, and the Chiefs the most popular NFL team. You'd have to get to westernmost Kansas to find pockets of fans of the Colorado Rockies and the Denver Broncos, and southwesternmost Kansas to find any kinds of numbers of supporters of the Texas Rangers and the Dallas Cowboys.
However, due to there being no NHL team in Kansas City since the 1974-76 experiment with the Scouts (the team that became the New Jersey Devils in 1982), the St. Louis Blues being too far to the east, and the Dallas Stars too far to the south, Denver's team, the Colorado Avalanche, is the most popular NHL team in Kansas.
Since the Kansas City Kings moved to Sacramento in 1985, the NBA has tailed off in popularity as well. The nearest NBA team is the Oklahoma City Thunder, 315 miles from Lawrence and 354 from Manhattan. The Minnesota Timberwolves are 480 and 561, respectively; the Chicago Bulls, 549 and 631; the Denver Nuggets, 566 and 610.
The nearest MLS team is Sporting Kansas City, whose Children's Mercy Park is just 29 miles from Lawrence and 111 miles from Manhattan. This complex also includes CommunityAmerica Ballpark, home of the Kansas City T-Bones of the American Association, an "independent league" roughly equivalent to Class A. The T-Bones are thus the closest professional baseball team to both Lawrence and Manhattan.
The AA also includes the Wichita Wingnuts, who replaced an affiliated team, the Wichita Wranglers, who had played in the Class AA Texas League from 1987 to 2007. Before that, the city was home to the Wichita Aeros from 1970 to 1984, and the Wichita Indians from 1950 to 1955. And the independent Pecos League has the Garden City Wind.
Wichita teams won Pennants in 1918 (Jobbers), 1921 (Witches), 1930 (Aviators), 1987, 1992 and 1999 (Wranglers). From 1934 onward, the Wichita teams played at 6,400-seat Lawrence-Dumont Stadium. After 85 seasons, the city now plans to tear it down and replace it with a new ballpark. 300 S. Sycamore Street.
Lawrence-Dumont Stadium
Basketball inventor and former KU coach Dr. James Naismith (1861-1939) is buried at Memorial Park Cemetery, 1517 E. 15th Street in Lawrence. His greatest pupil, and a lot of guys' greatest teacher, Dr. Forrest Clare "Phog" Allen, is buried across the street in Oakhill Cemetery, 1605 Oak Hill Avenue. Both are about a mile and a half east of downtown Lawrence, and about 2 miles east of Memorial Stadium.
One of the main attractions on the KU campus is the University of Kansas Natural History Museum, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd., just to the south of the bookstore. The Campanile Bell Tower, the school's memorial to World War II, is across Marvin Grove from the bookstore and the museum, on Memorial Drive.
The Beatles never performed in Kansas. Kansas City, yes, at Municipal Stadium; the State of Kansas, no. Elvis Presley did, 6 times, 3 early in his career, 3 later. He played 2 shows at the Forum in Wichita on May 18, 1956. 330 N. Broadway. On May 21, 1956, he played the Municipal Auditorium in Topeka. The 1940 structure was torn down in 1987, and replaced with the Topeka Performing Arts Center. 214 SE 8th Avenue.
In his later years, Elvis did 3 shows at the Henry Levitt Arena, now named the Charles Koch Arena, on the campus of Wichita State University: June 19, 1972; October 7, 1974; and December 27, 1976. 2100 N. Hillside Street.
The 1856 Sacking of Lawrence and the 1863 Lawrence Massacre, a.k.a. Quantrill's Raid, were both centered on the Free State Hotel, which had to be rebuilt both times. The Eldridge Hotel has been built on the site. 701 Massachusetts Street, in the downtown area known as Historic Lawrence.
Kansas has produced a President, Dwight David Eisenhower. Although born in Denison, Texas, he lived almost his entire youth in Abilene. (Note that the Texas city of the same name spells it "Abeline.") When he left the Presidency in 1961, he wanted his Presidential Library in his hometown. The complex includes the Library, the Museum, the Boyhood Home, and the Place of Meditation, where "Ike" and his wife Mamie are laid to rest.
200 SE 4th Street, in Abilene. Unfortunately, it's almost totally inaccessible without a car, as befitting the 1950s, for most of which he was President: 44 miles southwest of Manhattan, 88 miles west of Topeka, 93 miles north of Wichita, 116 miles west of Lawrence, and 153 miles west of Kansas City.
Charles Curtis, a Topeka native and the 1st person known to be of Native American descent to serve in the U.S. Senate (elected 1906), was elected Vice President with Herbert Hoover in 1928.
Alfred M. Landon, a KU grad elected Governor in in 1932, was one of the few Republicans to survive the Democratic landslides of the early 1930s, and was nominated for President in 1936. The Convention wanted Senator Styles Bridges of New Hampshire as his running mate, until someone pointed out that the Democrats could sing, "Landon-Bridges, falling down!" So they nominated the publisher of the archconservative Chicago Daily News, Frank Knox, and the slogan became, "Off the rocks with Landon and Knox!"
The Democrats noted that Landon was always wearing a sunflower pin, symbolizing his home State, and started saying, "Sunflowers wilt in the Fall." They were right: With voters remembering that the Republicans put them into the Great Depression, incumbent President Franklin D. Roosevelt won 46 out of 48 States, and 523 out of 531 Electoral Votes. Landon won only Vermont and Maine.
In a gesture toward bipartisanship, FDR appointed Knox as Secretary of the Navy in 1940, and he served until dying in office in 1944. Landon left the Governorship after one term, went back to the oil industry, supported FDR in the war effort, supported Harry Truman's Marshall Plan, and even supported Lyndon Johnson's Great Society. Alf Landon lived to be 100 years old, until 1987, long enough to see his daughter, Nancy Landon Kassebaum, elected to the U.S. Senate.
But when people not old enough to remember Ike or Alf think of Kansas politicians, they think of Robert Joseph Dole. Barely surviving a shoulder wound that cost him the use of his right arm, Bob was elected to the House of Representatives in 1960, and to the Senate in 1968. He was named Chairman of the Republican National Committee in 1971, but, as things turned out, he was RNC Chair when the Democratic National Committee's offices were broken into at the Watergate Hotel complex in Washington in 1972.
Dole was never accused of any of the Nixon Administration crimes that fell under the umbrella term "Watergate," and was nominated for Vice President alongside Gerald Ford in 1976. He did the campaign no favors, though, and his "Democrat wars" comment in his debate with Walter Mondale not only might have been enough to cost Ford a very close election with Jimmy Carter, but branded him "the Dark Prince of American Politics." Impressionist Jim Morrison called him "Darth Dole," and Saturday Night Live actors Dan Aykroyd and Norm Macdonald made hay with their impersonations.
Dole served as Senate Republican Leader from 1985 to 1996. He ran for President in 1980, but didn't win any Primaries. He tried again in 1988, but finished 2nd in delegates to the elder George Bush. Finally, in 1996, he was nominated, at 73 the oldest 1st-time major party nominee ever. But, knowing his reputation, he may have compensated too much. It didn't matter: Bill Clinton beat him easily. Dole retired from the Senate in mid-campaign, and his electoral career was over.
In spite of the many disagreements he made over the years, Dole should be commended for his efforts in favor of his fellow veterans, and for reaching across the aisle to work with Senator George McGovern on hunger and Senator Ted Kennedy on helping the disabled. His alma mater, the University of Kansas, established the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, not quite a Presidential Library, but close. 2350 Peterfish Drive in Lawrence, about a mile west of the main campus.
The tallest building in Kansas is the Epic Center, a rather plain-looking 385-foot structure that went up in 1987. 301 N. Main Street in Wichita.
The 1962 horror film Carnival of Souls was filmed in Lawrence. The 1983 nuclear-war TV-movie The Day After was filmed in Kansas City and Lawrence. The city was "destroyed again" in the 2006 TV series Jericho. Sam and Dean Winchester, the protagonists of the TV series Supernatural, are from Lawrence, but they travel throughout the country, and filming is done in Vancouver.
Most movies filmed or set in Kansas tend to be Westerns, such as The Plainsman, Dodge City, Santa Fe Trail, Red River, Winchester '73, Dances with Wolves and Sarah, Plain and Tall. The TV Western Gunsmoke was set in Dodge City, although that's 335 miles southwest of KCMO, 299 miles southwest of Lawrence, and 228 miles south of KSU; and, besides, it was filmed in Hollywood. Kansas' desolate plains lend themselves well to Depression-era films like Splendor in the Grass, Paper Moon and The Great Waldo Pepper.
The 1978 version of Superman established the hero's hometown of Smallville, previously considered a typical American small town, as being in Kansas, and every version of Superman since has accepted this. Plains, Trains and Automobiles had a big chunk set in Wichita, but those scenes were actually filmed in Illinois.
And, of course, Kansas was the setting for the "real" parts of L. Frank Baum's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and all its film adaptations since. (Judy Garland's line as Dorothy in the most familiar version, 1939, is one of those movie/TV lines everybody gets wrong: It's actually, "Toto, I've a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore!")
Brian McClendon, KU '86, the director of engineering for Google Earth, made Lawrence the program's default starting point.
*
The Kansas Jayhawks, and the Kansas State Wildcats, are best known for their basketball programs. But their football programs have had their moments, too. And now, Rutgers is going out to play Kansas.
The nice part is, it's a roadtrip RU fans haven't made before. The not-so-nice part is, for both Rutgers and Kansas, it may be their best chance at a win for the rest of the season!
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