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We've talked a lot about rivalry and the competitive spirit that fuels it in the last few days. We've made good-natured jokes at our rival's expense, been more than a bit outraged by our rival's outrage, and complained that our rivals take us too seriously while also fussing over our rivals not taking us seriously enough.
But sometimes rivals are called on to do more than just this. Rivalries are animated not just by competition, but also by fairness and sportsmanship.
Tyler Sash, a former safety for the Iowa Hawkeyes and New York Giants, was found dead in his Iowa home on Tuesday. He was 27. A star college athlete in a state with no professional franchises, Sash was celebrated for his athletic prowess and for his charitable efforts off the field.
Iowa fans are understandably distraught, and in a show of the sort of kindness and compassion we should always extend to our rivals, Iowa State fans have reached out across the state to share in the Hawkeyes' grief and to pay tribute to Sash.
Perhaps the most poignant of these tributes came from former Iowa State running back Jeff Woody. In a heartfelt message on his own blog, Woody reminded us of the things we sometimes forget as sports fans. In our rush to celebrate and/or condemn athletes, we forget their all too human struggles, the pain we are never allowed to see, the anguish of fading into obscurity after burning so bright for so long. It's a reminder that we may not always like our rivals, but we should always try to understand them.
Iowa and Iowa State square off this Saturday in the annual battle for the Cy-Hawk trophy.
BracketCat takes a closer look at the depth chart as we look ahead to Week 2 of Kansas State football.
Meanwhile, Luke Thompson and Jon Morse can barely contain their excitement as they bring you their Wednesday FEPO action.
We're pretty tired of Bandgate 2015, but if you just can't get enough of the story, you can follow along with our band fiasco story stream.
We're filling in the bowl! Yesterday, Kansas State announced Phase IIIB of the master plan for expansion of Bill Snyder Family Stadium. The budget for this stage of expansion is about $15 million, of which $9 million has already been pledged. Recent donations have moved up plans for the expansion (Topeka Capital-Journal).
A lot of ink has already been spilled on Joe Hubener stepping in for Jesse Ertz and helping the team to victory. But the real story after Week 1 is the emergence of impact freshman players for Kansas State. Dalton Risner and Dominique Heath contributed well on the day, and Justin Silmon and Winston Dimel pretty much stole the show (Kellis Robinett, Kansas City Star).
This weekend, the Wildcats will travel to San Antonio, a city with mostly bad associations for the purple faithful, whether historical or recent (Timothy Everson, K-State Collegian). But putting those memories aside is not the only hurdle for Kansas State. The team will have to overcome the stiff challenge imposed by a Texas-San Antonio team buoyed by its stellar performance against a ranked Arizona team (Robinett, KC Star). Tight end David Morgan is the team's star player, and Elijah Lee will have the unenviable task of containing him. The return of Danzel McDaniel and Dante Barnett should help too.