What it truly means to be a Jayhawk
By Erin Shipps, Jayplay writer
It's tryout day for Big Jay and Baby Jay. Every year, former mascots judge a competition for a select few who will be chosen to don the costumes and become the birds. It is obvious who is trying out for what in the Student Recreation Center because of the stark contrast in height. Big Jay can be anywhere from 5 feet 9 inches to 6 feet 2 inches and Baby Jay is usually 4 feet 9 inches to 5 feet 2 inches. Eight people - five Big and three Babies, a small crowd for tryouts are all walking to warm up. Cat Jarzemkoski, spirit squad coordinator, enters and keeps her distance from the "smelly" uniforms as she begins to measure students. To be picked, a student also has to fit into Big and Baby Jay's uniforms. The applicants struggle to get into the padded undergarments of Baby's bulging belly and Big's bulging biceps. After that, they slide into the furry blue suits and try to put on their big, yellow shoes - which is challenging considering they can't see their feet. Then, they strap on the heads of the birds and take off on their first steps out of the nest. The Baby Jays are skipping, hugging and holding hands, as Big Jay struts his stuff. Someone forgot to pack one of Baby Jay's tailpieces and one of the former mascots referred to its rear end as a saggy diaper. After all, Baby Jay is still a toddler. And it takes on the mentality of a three year old: innocent,
mischievous and known to throw a tantrum of two. Big Jay, on the other hand, is Baby's adult friend and protector. He rules the world.
During tryouts, the birds perform the smooth motions of the Rock Chalk chant, execute the fast-paced kicks of the fight song, perform and original skit and, or course, improv. One of the funniest skits was "Baby Jay's Three Favorite Movies:" Napoleon Dynamite's show-stopping dance performance, a bathtub scene with fighting shampoo and conditioner from Billy Madison and a dancing scene with Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing.
For the improv, the judged asks the birds to act as if they are being attacked by bees, hit in the head by a kid with a baseball bat, thrown into a swimming pool and walking on the moon. The improv is a test of how well each applicant reacts and animates themselves on the spot.
History
The term "mascot" originated in the late 1800s with a comedic French opera called La Mascotte, by Edmond Audran. The play focused on a farm girl who -- as long as she remained a virgin -- brought good luck to whomever possessed her. In 1882, the opera played in Boston's Gaiety Theatre, charming the high societies of Harvard, Princeton and Yale. Thus, the term "mascot" became known as a person, animal or figure that brought fortune.
Before universities adopted mascots as their symbols, many were known for their colors. Harvard is usually credited for being first when it took on crimson as its school color, says Roy Yarbrough, who Sports Illustrated has called the "Guru of Mascotology." In 1929, The University of Illinois was the first school to have a character as a defining symbol. It chose a Native American to dress in costume.
Once schools began organizing sports teams, it was only natural that mascots - the entertaining, good-luck charms of university athletics also grew in popularity. Many mascots were invented by the power of the press. For example, in 1893, the University of Richmond chose the spider as its mascot when The Richmond Times-Dispatch reported that pitcher Puss Ellyson with his flailing arms and legs looked like a spider. Some universities even used real animals as their mascots, such as the University of Georgia, which adopted the Bulldog, the beloved pet of one of its coaches, as its mascot. However, once schools realized that animals needed a lot of attention, they converted to using people in costumes, which isn't cheap."Mascots started with students dressing up in school colors, or whatever they had lying around," Yarbrough says. "Now costumes cost anywhere from $4,000 to $40,000."
Mascots are marketable and
bring in big money for universities. Commercial entities pay $100 an hour plus mileage for up to two hours of our own Big Jay and Baby Jay. Ohio State University has sold $3 million worth of memorabilia thanks to mascots, according to Yarbrough.
So what makes mascots so popular? Part of the reason is that people can touch mascots while they're not allowed to touch the players. Mascots show school identity and act as role models for children.
The term "Jayhawk" goes back to the mid-1800s, when the border between Missouri and Kansas became a battleground. The term "Jayhawkers" refers to Kansans who would cross the border, steal, loot and free slaves.The Jayhawk itself is an odd cross between a bluejay, known to ransack the nests of other birds and attack much bigger animals; and, a sparrow hawk, known for its hunting. The Jayhawk's image has changed since its first drawing in 1912 when the cross-legged, smiling figure peculiarly began wearing shoes. It was replaced in 1920, 1923,1929 and 1941."Jay," the first live mascot, didn't come about until the 1960s, and "Baby Jay" hatched onto the 50-yard line during a football game in 1971.