Opinion

We need Mahlon and Sparky

Friday, November 9, 2007

In a couple of weeks, the American Civil War will begin once again. It will start right where it began back in the 1850s along the shared border between Missouri and Kansas. The emotional ferocity of the players and fans is as old as the history of these two states and their respective Universities. When the University of Missouri Football Tigers take the field against their historical rivals the Kansas University Jawhawks in Arrowhead Stadium, the only people missing will be Mahlon and Sparky.

My following of the Missouri Tiger Football Program dates back to the 1960 season. Dan Devine had built a program at Missouri that had taken a lackluster football tradition, and turned it into a winner.

The radio station (at that time there was only 1240 AM) carried the Missouri Tiger Football Network, just as they do today. It was in that year that I came to know Mahlon Aldridge and Sparky Stalcup.

These two radio announcers painted with words the pictures of the games for me. I would listen intently to each play as they recounted the happenings on the field. It was as if I could actually see the game, just through their descriptions. I tried to find some information about Mahlon Aldridge on the Internet, but there was not too much available.

His color commentator, Wilbur "Sparky" Stalcup was a different matter, however.

Sparky Stalcup was the head basketball coach for many years at the University of Missouri in the pre Norm Stewart era. He was a beloved figure on campus, and on the radio he was legendary.

As the 1960 season progressed, Mahlon and Sparky led me and the rest of the listeners as Missouri knocked off team after team in convincing fashion. They approached the final border encounter with Kansas, undefeated and ranked number one in the nation.

I was distressed during the game that November afternoon. My father built and sold several housed in the late '50s and early '60s. We had just sold our house at 320 N. Olive which he had built the year before. Here it was the biggest game in Missouri history, and I had to help move furniture all day.

I was able to listen for a few minutes as we traveled between houses to Mahlon and Sparky. I could not believe what I was hearing. What had happened to my Tigers? They were undefeated and ranked number one.

The Jayhawks were ahead and pulling away.

The final score that day was Kansas 23 Missouri 7.

How could this have happened?

Why couldn't Phil Snowden, Morris Stevenson, Bill Tobin, Mel West, and Ron Taylor overwhelm the dreaded Jayhawks as they had done everyone else including Oklahoma and Nebraska? The answers were simple when you look back at the game. First, Missouri was plagued by some injuries, and they were also somewhat one dimensional. The famous Missouri power sweep had not been stopped by anyone the entire season, and they had not developed a passing game to complement their running attack.

Kansas for their part was much more balanced. They were led by a backfield that included future NFL stars like John Hadl at quarterback, and Curtiss Mcklinton at fullback. He would later play for the Kansas City Chiefs along with another future Chief, halfback Burt Coan.

On defense, the Jayhawks had found the answer to the Missouri sweep. They put eight and nine men in the box and defied the Tigers to pass the ball. In the end, turnovers and a couple of touchdown saving tackles gave Kansas the edge they needed.

If my inherited antipathy towards Kansas dating back to the War Between the States was not enough, I now had a reason to forever despise my border neighbors.

They had defeated my Tigers just when a National Championship was within grasp.

Over the years since that dreadful day, the two football programs have fallen on hard times.

Basketball had become the sport most followed at each school. Well things have definitely changed today.

As of the writing of this article, Kansas is 9-0 and ranked fourth in the BCS standings. Missouri is 8-1 and ranked sixth. Oklahoma also from the Big 12 is 8-1 and ranked fifth. The winner of the MU vs. KU game, which is going to be held in Arrowhead Stadium, will likely get to face Oklahoma in the Big 12 Championship game. It is "heady" times for football once again in the middle of the country.

There is many an MU fan out there, who like me remembers the good old radio days of Mahlon and Sparky. One thing is for sure, the game and the rivalry will be a spectacle to witness. One should remember that the two schools have been playing since 1891. It is also worthy to note, that until the 1911 game, the two schools always played in Kansas City. So this is really a return of tradition, not a change.

Fans everywhere, get ready. The war is about to start once again. I just wish I could watch the game on television, and somehow have Mahlon and Sparky do the play by play on radio. That would make it the perfect game.