Jayhawks innit?

KPH

Yup.

Right how they drew it up.

I thought this was a post about rock climbing.

... Jayhawk, go K.U.

These cryptic threads are the best.

yeah but rock chalk?

KPH

I found several different accounts, and they all seem to say something similar to this:

Rock Chalk Chant

The Rock Chalk Chant has been the battle cry of KU fans for over 100 years. This strange, traditional chant, which is among the most famous of all college cheers, was started by E.H.S. Bailey, a professor of chemistry.

Bailey wanted a cheer for his Science Club. Returning from a convention in Wichita, Bailey and some associates patterned the yell after the rhythmic cadence of their train rolling along the tracks. On May 21, 1886, Bailey submitted the cheer to his club. Originally, the chant was "Ray, Rah, Jay Hawk, K.U." repeating the words three times. This yell was used by the science club the next year and there were frequent allusions to "The Science Club Yell" in the student newspapers

An English professor suggested that "Rock Chalk" be substituted for "Rah, Rah" because it rhymed with Jayhawk and because it would be symbolic of the chalky limestone formations found on Mount Oread.

The chant was adopted as the college yell after the state oratorical contest in Topeka in 1886 because KU student yells for the their winners were enthusiatic, but unorganized. By the Fall of 1887 the yell was know as the offical yell of the school as the student newspaper reported on November 4, 1887,

"Every college of importance in this country has a college cry. In every town in which a college is situated, the midnight air resounds with the hideous yells of the student, symbolic of victory, defeat, or devilment. The students of the University of Kansas use their yell but little and it is only admidst great victory that "Rock-chalk-Jay-Hawk, K-U-U-U floats throught the midnight air reminding one of a band of Apache Indians."

By 1889 the form of the cheer had changed to the drawn-out cadence repeated twice, followed by three staccato repetitions.

Ostertag says, "Da's Right!"

That makes sense. Even though KU is a basketball school, I always kinda thought it refered to the chalk lines on a football field. Don't know why, but it kinda made sense to me.

You are from the South, where (American) football is king. Except for North Carolina, where the ladies and their footie reigns supreme.

( waves the wheat )

As someone who's been a fan for 20-ish years but never saw a game at the Fieldhouse until a month ago, lemme tell ya - when the chant kicks in - fucking CHILLS.

Yeah, but I lived in Kansas for 5 years total (two places) and have been a KU bball fan longer than a Bulldog football fan (blasphemy I know, but truth be told, I was raised a Tech fan)

This is cool to me, 'cause EHS Bailey was one of the most important scientists in North American history, yet has a pop culture influence to this day. The substitution of Rock Chalk in the cheer is an apt substitution, because Bailey and his students discovered scads of dinosaurs in those very limestone formations.