A KU Student but A K-State Fan

Bill Snyder returning as K-State’s head football coach stirred-up mixed feelings within the K-State community.  Some message boards were plastered with negative comments and newspapers questioned whether Snyder still had what it took to produce greatness.  Upon his hiring, it seemed as though the K-State nation had forgotten how Snyder saved KSU football from its shameful past. 

Because of this doubt, one K-State fan took it upon himself to remind the K-State nation just how far our football program has come.  Grant Rupe, a die hard K-State fan, created a video called “Snyderman Returns” for a special reason. 

“When I heard that Bill Snyder was coming back to resurrect our football team I immediately became optimistic.  After having talked with a few friends and reading some of the not-so-thrilled reactions people were posting on different message boards I decided that the K-State nation needed to remember what this Hall of Fame coach had done for our hopeless football program,” said Rupe.

The ironic thing about Rupe is that he is a student at Kansas University.  Rupe was a K-State student his freshman year of college but was forced to transfer to KU to pursue a film degree.  But don’t be mistaken, just because he is a KU student doesn’t mean he supports their athletics.  Rupe is such a loyal KSU fan he walks around the KU campus proudly sporting his K-State purple.

Rupe’s purple pride didn’t develop overnight.  As a kid, Rupe experienced the glory days of K-State football during their dominant years.  The time between 1993-2003 when Snyder lead K-State to a 109-29 record.  It was then that his love for K-State athletics formed an unshakable foundation.      

“Nearly every Saturday for a third of my life gave my family the opportunity to spend time together and usually celebrate a K-State victory together.  Rupe added, for eleven years of my life we vacationed with Bill Snyder and the rest of the Wildcat family to some of the coolest and warmest parts of the country, sometimes celebrating Wildcat victories and sometimes, well, not celebrating Wildcat victories.

Grant Rupe (Middle) with his brother Ross Rupe (left), and friend Nathan Hittle (Right) in Dallas at 1997 Cotton Bowl Game

For fans like Rupe, K-State pride runs deep and they will support their teams through wins and losses.  Apparently KU has more of the “fair weather” type fans. 

“If there’s anything I’ve learned from KU fans during my time in Lawrence it’s that as soon as their football team falls to 1-3 in the Big 12, their Todd Reesing jersey’s come off and their Sherron Collins jersey’s go on,” said Rupe.      

KU might have recently won a National Championship in basketball but at least K-State can take pride in the fact that they will support their teams despite their success. Grant Rupe proves that there is such a thing as the “Kansas State campus in Lawrence.”    

Check out Rupe’s “Snyderman Returns” video on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WasHzhGsAIk.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 3:32 pm and is filed under Read All About It. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.