Name: Extrapolater
Website: The Extrapolater
Your School: University Of Kansas
Location: Lawrence, KS
School Colors: Crimson & Blue
School Mascot: Jayhawk
Do outsiders “get” your mascot? Not really. The original story is that the Jayhawk is a combination of a bluejay and a hawk (that’s a mating ritual I’ve never seen on the Discovery Channel), both of which are native to the skies of Kansas. Jayhawker was also a derogatory term that Missourians levied on Kansans during the Civil War border clashes(we called them “Bushwhackers”). For some reason, we have both a Jayhawk and a Baby Jay (I guess so the shorter students have a chance to run around and stink up the inside of an enormous bird head). Perhaps it’s to show our family values, though I’d prefer something that indicates that we at the University actually believe in evolution, regardless of the position taken by the rest of the state.
Fight Song: The fight song is “I’m a Jayhawk”. The lyrics are repetitive and pointless, but I rather like the tune.
Then there’s the haunting, drawn out “Rock Chaaaalk, Jaaaayhawk, kaaaay-youuuu” chant. The chant is also roundly mocked, but it grew out of the boring old “Rah-rah, KU” into “Rock Chalk” because it’s more fun to say, and because Kansas is full of limestone, as are many of our buildings.
The only time I remember singing the alma mater “Crimson and Blue” was in 1988, the night KU won the NCAA basketball championship, and I was quite surprised to find that I knew the words all the way through. I sang them with drunken brio several times thereafter. (Uh oh, hold on, chills… just have to let them pass. It happens every time I listen to these).
Traditions: Waving the wheat – When an opponent fouls out, the students wave their arms over their heads to say goodbye, and it looks just like a field of wheat, waving in the wind. We also rattle newspapers in front of our faces while the opposing team is being introduced, as if we couldn’t be bothered to look up and take notice. Yes, all of these have to do with basketball, because we define mediocrity in all other sports. For graduation, however, we walk through the bell tower, down the hill and into the football stadium, and that’s a fun line to be in.
Geographical Features: Lawrence, and the University especially, will surprise anyone expecting flat and dusty. We sit atop a hill that is absurdly named Mount Oread. The campus is green and lush, in a Midwestern sort of way. Potter Lake (a pond, actually) is at the lowest point in the campus. Initiations of any sort often involve kidnapping people and throwing them in it, naked.
Architectural Features: The Campanile is the most recognizable feature. Fraser Hall is a bit of a barn, but it stands tall atop the hill with two flags flapping from the roof, and it makes for some great photos. I rather like the William Allen White School of Journalism, which is in a big limestone building. And, of course, Allen Fieldhouse. She don’t look like much, but you can’t buy that kind of mystique and history over the counter.
Any famous alumni? Wilt Chamberlain, Dean Smith, Adolph Rupp, Gale Sayers, John Riggins, William Inge, Mandy Patinkin, Paul Rudd, etc. (Had to throw in the “40 year old Virgin” guy for the youngsters). The List
Anything else we should know? Missouri bushwhacker William Quantrill massacred citizens and burned the town of Lawrence to the ground during the Civil War. To be fair, abolitionist carpetbagger John Brown was a bit of a hothead as well.
Our first basketball coach was a man named James Naismith. You might remember him as the man who nailed the peach baskets to the post and said “hey, let’s see if we can throw a ball in there!”
The Jayhawk mascot looks pretty happy these days, but he used to be pissed. I like the one from the early 1940’s. The Jayhawk was not thrilled with the attempt to spread global fascism.
Thinking of Archie Marshall makes me tear up. He was the second-best player on the 1988 basketball team (behind Danny Manning), but he tore his knee up and had to sit the rest of the season. On senior night in ‘88, he was allowed to hobble out on the court and launch a three pointer during game action, and nobody on the opposing team (Leonard Hamilton’s Oklahoma State squad) came anywhere near him. He missed, but the gesture meant so much. To me, that exemplifies what collegiate sports should be about. (Good lord, chills again. I’m going to have to end this right here).
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In addition to the “walking through the campanile (bell tower) to graduate” tradition comes a superstition – if you prematurely walk through the tower before your graduation date, you will not graduate from KU. I’ve lived in Lawrence all my life and have played tag in that tower, which explains why I haven’t graduated yet…. The bell ringers must be exempt, I guess.
Yeah, I grew up in Lawrence, too, and played in the bell tower often. When I was a kid we’d always go sledding on the hill and such – no way I was going to stay out of the bell tower at that age.
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