Chancellors of UMKC and UCSF place friendly wager as hometown teams Royals and Giants play for championship

The chancellors of the leading public research universities of Kansas City and San Francisco have placed a friendly wager on the outcome of the 2014 World Series.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City is the Kansas City campus of the University of Missouri System; and UC San Francisco (UCSF) is the San Francisco campus of the University of California System. So a friendly challenge seemed a natural for UMKC Chancellor Leo E. Morton and UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood.

The stakes reflect the cultures of the institutions and their home communities. UMKC’s Morton has put up a rack of Kansas City barbecued ribs and a CD of the Gates BBQ Suite composed and performed by saxophone legend Bobby Watson, head of the Jazz Studies program at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. UCSF’s Hawgood has countered with a sampling of Napa Valley wines, Sonoma artisanal cheeses and a gift basket celebrating the opening of the UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay on Feb. 1, 2015.

“I’m looking forward to a great series between two teams that have overcome long odds all season long. And I’m really looking forward to that Sonoma cheese,” Morton said. “The real winners here are the people of two great communities, Kansas City and San Francisco.”

“I appreciate Chancellor Morton’s sentiments, and share them. Here’s to a great series. I look forward to listening to the Gates BBQ Suite and sharing a rack of celebratory ribs and burnt ends with (Giants pitcher) Madison Bumgarner.”