A sports rivalry between a mother and son with the same alma mater is coming full circle. When it comes to the College Football Playoff National Championship game, they’re divided by history.
Monday night’s big game, pitting the Miami Hurricanes against the Indiana Hoosiers, is personal for Kimberly Konopa and her son, J.R. Majewski.
How personal? The duo told 7News during a recent video interview that they have generational ties to both Indiana University and the University of Miami
“My son and myself are both dual graduates from Indiana University and have a longstanding history in Indiana,” said Konopa.
“For me, I am an IU grad through and through, went to IU residency for medical school,” said Majewski:
Their Indiana roots run deep, but their connection to Miami goes back even further — nearly a century. Konopa’s late grandfather, Mallory Horton, played for the Hurricanes in the 1930s, early in the storied program’s history.
“My grandfather actually played in the very first Orange Bowl as a running back, and they played Bucknell, and they lost big time,” said Konopa. “There were, according to what he shared with us, horses and buggies on the sideline to watch them and one little tiny football stand.”
“We always joke, ‘back when they wore leather helmets and didn’t even have face masks,'” said Majewski.
Ninety-one years after that 1935 matchup, the stage is set for UM versus IU. Mother and son will not be attending in person because of sky-high ticket prices.
Still, the question arises: Who are they rooting for?
“So, it’s hard to decide for us where our allegiances fall — with our head or our hearts there, I guess,” said Konopa.
Konopa said she’s rooting for the Canes. Majewski is going with his Hoosiers.
“At the end of the day, it’s two universities that we love — one for, you know, our life and one for our family — and one historic bowl,” said Majewski. “I think we’re both excited to see. Either way, it will be a win for us.”
Horton, Majewski’s great-grandfather, went on to work for the FBI and served as a Florida appellate court judge. He passed away in 2004 at age 90.
And, in one more strange Hurricane-Hoosier connection, Horton’s children went to Christopher Columbus High School — the same school as Hoosiers quarterback Fernando Mendoza.
“I think he would probably also wonder whether it was a time machine that allowed Mendoza to make a portal transfer, ’cause I think, that would be – portal transfers would be something that he would be amazed by,” said Konopa/
