It rained.
It snowed.
It didn’t matter.
Three hours of freezing precipitation didn’t bother one Kansas Jayhawk fan Saturday at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium.
Sitting in our rain-soaked seats in section 338 at 11 a.m. Saturday, my friends, Pete, Nate, and I wondered what we had gotten ourselves into.
Sure the ‘Hawks could beat Missouri, and the Tigers had looked downright awful earlier in the season in a loss to Texas, but the best team KU had beaten all season was Colorado .
So, as we sat in the nasty weather waiting for the 6-5 Jayhawks to take on the 9-2 Tigers, the three of us wondered if it was worth it.
We decided KU could beat MU two out of 10 times on a neutral field, but also the bad weather was a great equalizer.
We then said KU would win four out of 10 games in the current weather conditions, and desperately hoped Saturday would be one of the four considering we were mostly surrounded by Mizzou fans.
Pete and I had heard about, and Nate witnessed, fights in the parking lot after last year’s Missouri victory. We knew to keep our mouths shut even when the ‘Hawks were up 26-10 in the second half.
Quarterback Chase Daniel and play-any-position-you-want-me-to Jeremy Maclin helped the Tigers take a 30-27 lead in the fourth quarter.
At that point the snow was much more annoying than earlier in the game, as were the Missouri fans. They must have thought it was going to be a “walk in the park”, because when they took their first lead, their cheers made me feel like I was at a golf tournament.
On the other hand, when KU came back to take the lead for good at 40-37 with 27 seconds left, it sounded like a winter Sunday when 80,000 Kansas City Chiefs’ fans are cheering on their team.
When Todd Reesing hit Kerry Meier in the end zone for the game-winning score, the snow actually felt awesome. My soaked sweatshirt and jeans suddenly didn’t seem so wet. My frozen toes warmed up a little, and my scratchy ski cap didn’t itch at all.
Sure, Missouri is playing for the Big XII Conference championship this weekend against Oklahoma. However, the seniors on the KU squad will forever remember the snow game in their final match-up against their heated rival.
Pete, Nate, and I also will remember our experience at one of the greatest college football games we have witnessed.
It rained.
It snowed.
It was worth it.