FEATURE
5
Potter Lake
This man-made lake is the first feature of what is now the game day area. Built in 1911, the lake was originally meant to be a water reservoir in case any campus buildings caught on fire. Students would swim and even canoe in the lake, but early on there were problems with runoff from campus into the lake. In 1924, campus authorities shut down the lake to recreational activities due to safety concerns. Now student groups are working to clean up the lake, which was once much larger than its current size, to make it as beautiful as it once was, for students as well as tailgaters.
"It adds to the atmosphere," Marsh says. "People who are tail-gating before the game get to do it in a beautiful setting."
"I'm a Jayhawk"
Kansas 'fight song "I'm a Jayhawk" was first heard in 1912 as part of a musical show written by George "Dumpy" Bowles. In 1926, the University's glee club made the song more popular, and now it can be heard throughout football games with fans clapping along. Marsh says the clap has changed throughout the years, moving from clapping off-beat to on the beat and that fewer people know the words now.
"The words are part of the reason it's our fight song," he says.
To learn the correct clap sequence, go to the KU Info site at
http://bit.ly/ImaJayhawkclap.
Waving the Wheat
This tradition, which happens after any successful scoring drives at football games, has unknown origins, says Marsh. He says at least six people have tried to find out when waving the wheat started, but nothing definitive has been found. He says there are pictures as early as the 1920s with people waving the wheat, but that's the earliest evidence seen. Even Max Falkenstein, who started announcing games at the University in 1946, doesn't remember when it started. Despite the mystery surrounding the tradition, Marsh says it still has mass appeal.
"It's visually pretty stunning when 50,000 or 60,000 people are doing the same thing," he says.
Campanile
The Campanile towers over game days at the top of Mount Oread. The tower was built in 1950 and dedicated in 1951 as a memorial to students, faculty and staff who died in WWII. Two-hundred-seventy-seven names cover the inside of the room at the bottom of the tower, which is 120 feet tall and houses 53 bells. Marsh says that in a study conducted a few years ago of KU alumni, the Campanile was one of their top five favorite traditions.
KANSAN FILE PHOTO
The Campanile towers over Memorial Stadium near the top of Mount Oread. Built as a WWI memorial, the Campanile can be seen by people all over campus.
Tailgating recipes
It's game day and you're going to tailgate. That much is clear.
The question is what are you going to go with? Sure, you can fire up the grill and slap on a few brats or burgers. There's something to be said about simplicity.
So consider the recipes below (one for the morning after) and, who knows, you might just impress that girl 20 feet away nursing her drink alone. Either way, at least you and your friends will have something better than shriveled franks.
University Archives/ SPENCE RESEARCH LIBRARY, UNIVERSITY OF KANSA
People swim in Potter Lake in this 1920s photo of the man-made water feature. The lake was built in 1911, but by 1924 swimming was prohibited because of safety issues.
But you'll likely be doing this a few more times this season and simplicity can become monotony quicker than a Jake Sharp touch-down dash.
Honey Mustard Chicken Drumsticks
Start to finish: 45 minutes (10 minutes active)
Servings: 4
4 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons coarse-grain mustard
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
8 chicken drumsticks, skin removed
Manchego Cheese and Garlic Dogs
In a small bowl, whisk together the honey,
mustard, oil, curry powder, salt and pepper.
Using a brush, coat the drumsticks completely with the honey-mustard glaze.
Arrange the chicken pieces on the prepared rack.
Heat the oven to 400 F. Line a baking sheet with foil, Coat a wire rack with cooking spray, then set it on top of the baking sheet.
Bake, basting occasionally, until the chicken is golden on the outside and an instant read thermometer registers 165 F when inserted at the center, about 30 to 35 minutes.
Start to finish: 1 1/2 hours
Servings: 6
2 heads garlic, top 1/2 inch cut off
5 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 cup diced jarred roasted red peppers
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
6 grilled all-beef hot dogs
6 grilled hot dog buns or other bread or rolls
1/2 cup grated manchego cheese
Sherry wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
Heat the oven to 400 F. Place each head of garlic, cut side up, on a square of foil. Drizzle each with 1 teaspoon of oil, then wrap the foil up around the garlic. Place packets on the oven rack and roast until garlic is tender, about 45 minutes. Open packets and cool for 15 minutes. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves into a small bowl. Mash enough roasted garlic to measure 1/4 cup (reserve remaining garlic for another use). In a small bowl, mix the garlic with the remaining 3 teaspoons of oil, the red peppers and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
"It adds a tremendous amount of spirit to the pregame," he says. "I think everyone in the stadium's eyes are fixed on that board just because it is very similar to the one in Allen Fieldhouse. It's a video that gets people excited and gets the team excited."
Arrange the hot dogs in the buns, then top each with the garlic relish, the cheese and a drizzle of vinegar.
(Recipe adapted from the July 2009 issue of Bon Appetit magazine)
Associated Press
Kickoff Key Jingle
Marchiony says the video has been around since 1999, the year the MegaVision video board was installed. He says the athletics department reviews the video each season to see if anything needs to change, but the purpose of the video stays the same.
One of the newest game day traditions is the student section jingling its keys during kick returns. Thousands of students pull out keys to their cars and all join together to make one jingly sound while the Jayhawks try to run the ball back to score. Marsh says the tradition comes from other schools, so it's not as set in stone as others at the University, but it's still easy to participate in.
"Just about everyone has keys in their pockets," Marsh says. He says that is probably why the tradition caught on in the student section so quickly.
Opening Game Day Video
Opening game day video
Photo by Mike Gunnoe/KANSAM
The pregame video has been a popular tradition at KU football games since its introduction in 1999. It usually features music and highlights to excite the home crowd.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE WAVE SEPTEMBER 4,2009