The fact remains that culturally, Missouri and eastern Kansas could not be more different, and despite their "no right or wrong" marketing ploy ,  it is a fact that there is much more money to be made in the private sector by promoting these differences.

A good example of this is the recent "Border War Showdown" football game between Mizzou and Kansas University.  I can not remember in recent memory , in which the differences between two regions and cultures have been so celebrated. The following quotes were taken from news media outlets preceding this heavily promoted event.

From St. Louis's Fox News 2 website dated Saturday November 24th, 2007

"For 116 years the Missouri and Kansas rivalry has been fought on the college football field but the "Border War" stretches years beyond that.    "This is a deeply rooted rivalry of the nation," says historian Mark Trout.   Those roots aren't just anchored in a football field they also reach deeply on the battlefield ...

History chronicles many battles between the Confederates in Missouri and Union loyalists in Kansas.    "You see this during the war in 1862 and 63 where you will see one side strike the other and the other will strike in retaliation."   

  A true border war between the "Jayhawker" brigade and the still slightly celebrated Missouri men Bloody Bill Anderson and William Quantrill.  It was in the summer of 1863 when Quantrill lead attacks in Kansas killing dozens and burning Lawrence but that say many it was retaliation for guerilla attacks from the Jayhawkers.   

  "It's not the cute little bird we see on the bumper sticker," says Trout. “The Jayhawker brigades will be known by people in Missouri as a bunch of ruffians and guerillas murderers and thugs. In Kansas they are praised.”

From the November 19th, 2007 edition of the Kansas City Star

"What we have this Saturday night inside Arrowhead Stadium is a one-time event, a brawl to settle it all. It’s Muhammad Ali-George Foreman. There will be no rematch. We’re about to witness history...Missouri-Kansas is just different. It’s a way of life. It dates back to the Civil War and the abolitionist movement"

These are just two examples of how the media portrayed the rivalry. There was no sugar coating the history, no neutral-value emphasis on not concentrating on "no right or wrong".

Did this controversy keep people from coming to the game? No. Quite the contrary, the game at Arrowhead Stadium was sold out, and as the January 3, 2007 edition of the Columbia Daily Tribune pointed out,

"moving the games to Kansas City makes financial sense. The Chiefs have guaranteed each university $1 million per game, and that sum could rise if the games are well-attended. According to a university press release, MU will make about $1.8 million after expenses from the two games in Kansas City. That’s $1 million more than it would have netted over a two-year period".

That's not to mention the money spent on accommodations, food  and other items that visitors who came to watch the game spent. Best of all this was done in the private  sector, with no government bureaucracy, no added expenses, and no increase in taxes.

Missourians would be wise to let the Kansas idea of a bureaucratic Freedom's Frontier , fall on deaf ears. Historical societies and heritage groups could work together by embracing the rivalry between Missouri and Kansas, by purchasing radio, television or newspaper ads during the period leading up to such sporting events.

 Billboard space could be purchased on the routes leading to and from the cities that such sporting events are held. Tourism pamphlets and informative flyers that emphasize the rivalry could be placed in convenience stores, restaurants and hotels could direct travelers to the places that gave birth to the modern day "Border War".

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