Section B·Page 16
The University Daily Kansan
Friday, October 1, 1999
Homecoming
For the birds: Getting under the feathers of the Jayhawk
By Leah Shaffer
Kansan Correspondent
They are fixtures at every University of Kansas football and basketball game. It is the mascot, the University's own lovable, fictional, giant bird. It leaps and prances about to incur the pleasure of the crowd and the laughter of children. However, beneath that almost $9,000 suit, beneath every heavy layer of wool and reinforced steel, there is a person. This person is most likely sweating in mass quantities, but a human nonetheless. When it comes to the Jayhawk suit, it's 100 percent humidity, said Jerry Pauly or, as he is best known, "Big Jay." Pauly, Denton sophomore, along with Meridith Ashley, Prairie Village sophomore, and Eva Davis, Topeka sophomore, are the people inside the suit. To put it simply, they are the mascots.
Oh, to become a giant bird
The Jayhawk is affiliated with the University spirit squad. Tryouts are held in the spring along with the rest of the spirit squad. A person trying out to be the Jayhawk must be able to fit into the suit. They have to be just the right size (4 feet 11 inches to 5 feet 2 inches tall for Baby Jay, like Davis, or 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet 2 inches tall for Big Jays like Pauly and Ashley). During auditions, the aspiring mascot must be able to perform various rehearsed or improvised skits having to do
with the zany antics that usually occur near the birds. Besides that, various cheers and the fight song must be memorized. Once a person is selected to become a mascot, they have to be ready to devote an many times to being the bird. Although those selected to be mascots are given a scholarship and are paid for private appearances, this is not a job for anyone out to make a profit. In addition to all the hours spent performing at football games and every other University sporting event, the mascots must set aside time for meetings, private appearances and training (it takes strength and endurance to move wearing the suits).
Meet the giant birds
This year's Jayhawks are no less dedicated. Their year as the mascot has barely started, but they already are thrilled to be a part of the mythic symbol that is the Jayhawk.
Pauly aka Big Jay No.1
Fully aka Big Jay No. 1
Is your performance at games rehearsed ahead of time, or is it improvised?
Pauly: In the football games, the only thing we really practice is the pregame, such as where to be when running on with the flags, where to stand for the alma mater and national anthem, where to be so we don't run into the band when they're doing their pregame, and going up and down the hill, but, for the most part, walking around during the game, it's just improv.
Would you ever get in a fight with another
From left to right: Meredith Ashley, Jerry Pauly and Eva Davis take turns donning the Jayhawk and Baby Jay costumes. Photo by Christina Neff/KANSAN
Pauly: If we do, if we get in a fight, it would be staged. Because if you got in a real fight, it would hurt you so much and you can't see. It just wouldn't be worth it.
Here's a scenario, it is 95 degrees at a big, long game. What is it like instawe suit?
mascot?
Pauly: OK, you know how they say "it's not the heat, it's the humidity?" Inside the suit, it's 100 percent humidity. There is very, very, low ventilation. You are wearing a wool suit with something on your head, so, if it is 95 degrees outside, it's probably 110 in the suit. But you have to keep going, make sure you don't get dehydrated and don't slow down.
Is Big Jay your alter ego; what does he represent to you?
Pauly: Big Jay is my alter ego in that he is totally outgoing. I always have little ideas of what I want to do like, oh it looks like I need to give that guy a noogie. But when I'm in Big Jay suit, I do whatever comes to mind. I don't hold back. And, to me, that is a lot different, in that it is completely open. Whatever I'm thinking about, whatever occurs to me, it happens.
Ashley aka Big Jay #2
What is pregame like for you?
Ashley: Pregame is kind of tiring. The band comes out on the field, with the national anthem, we do the rock chalk chant and alma mater. Running the team out is kind of the hardest because Big Jay has to run the flag out. The head of the suit probably weighs 10 or 15 pounds. It's hard because it bounces up and down doesn't feel too good on you head or shoulders. Visibility is low. It's especially hard when you've got an entire football team sprinting behind you, and you're trying to run as fast as you can with the flag. My arm was shaking, but it is fun.
How do you handle the heat?
Ashley: We have to just take breaks, and you have to drink a lot of water before the game. Jerry actually put ice packs in his chest during the Notre Dame game. We do have a little fan in the head, and it makes a little bit of difference.
Davis aka Baby Jay
When you were a little girl, you imagine yourself as a giant bird in college?
everyone made fun of me. All my life, I wanted to be Baby Jay. When I got into high school, it became like a really big thing. That's why I was the mascot my senior year in high school — to see what it would be like. When I got up here, I waited until the end of my freshman year and when tryouts came around, I went.
Davis: wren 1 was about 3 or 4, I got a Polaroid picture taken with Baby Jay. Ever since then, I've been kind of short and
What is the craziest experience you've had so far for Baby Jax?
Davis: On our third appearance, we were all brand new, so we had only been here for probably less than a month. Meredith and I
had a thing called the "Mutton Strut," which is a humane society fund raiser, and we go in costume, and the drug dog is there and the D.A.R.E. guy, lots of mascots. I would pet dogs and stuff, and as long as you put your hand out like you do with any regular dog, they will sniff you, and it's OK. There was this Doberman pinscher that was scared of me apparently, and it started biting me. And, you're in the suit; you can't talk. Some people thought it was funny, watching Baby Jay get bitten by a dog, but it was just frightening because there wasn't anything I could do.
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