It’s Wine and Cheese vs. Barbecue and Jazz as UCSF, UM-Kansas City Stake Wager on World Series

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 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," said Hawgood. "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 Madison Bumgarner.”

The University of Missouri-Kansas City, one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 15,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a four-part mission: life and health sciences; visual and performing arts; urban issues and education; and a vibrant learning and campus life experience.

UCSF is the nation's leading university exclusively focused on health. Now celebrating the 150th anniversary of its founding as a medical college, UCSF is dedicated to transforming health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It includes top-ranked graduate schools of dentistry, medicine, nursing and pharmacy; a graduate division with world-renowned programs in the biological sciences, a preeminent biomedical research enterprise and top-tier hospitals, UCSF Medical Center and UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals.