Quote:
Originally Posted by KC911
So where does that "Rock, chalk, Jayhawk" (or whatever it is) chant orginate from? I kept hearing it on the local news whenever they'd interview Roy Williams.
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From Wiki: "The Rock Chalk Chant is a chant used at University of Kansas sporting events and is well known throughout the nation by sports fans, particularly those who have attended a basketball game at Allen Fieldhouse and heard it loudly chanted.[1] (Listen to the chant.)
[edit] History of the Chant
The chant evolved from a cheer that was originally created by E.H.S. Bailey, a KU chemistry professor. Bailey created the original chant, which was "Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KU" repeated three times, for the KU science club in 1886. The modern-day version of the chant, "Rock Chalk Jayhawk, KU", came to be when the "Rah"'s were replaced with "Rock Chalk", a play on "chalk rock," the name by which the limestone of Mount Oread was commonly known.[2]
Teddy Roosevelt pronounced it the greatest college chant he'd ever heard. Legend has it that troops used the chant when fighting in the Philippines in 1899, in the Boxer Rebellion in China, and in World War II. At the Olympic games in 1920, the King of Belgium asked for a typical American college yell. The assembled athletes agreed on KU's Rock Chalk and rendered it for His Majesty. [3]
[edit] The Modern Chant
Its lyrics are a refrain of "Rock chalk... Jay-Hawk... KU," repeated twice slowly, and then three times quickly. It is usually preceded by the Kansas alma mater "Crimson and the Blue", and followed by the fight song, "I'm a Jayhawk".
The modern chant is often struck up at the end of sports victories, most especially those in Allen Fieldhouse. Alumni, students, and fans alike take up the call during road games as well, serving as a sort of rallying cry for the Jayhawk faithful."
You will normally hear it in the last minute of a KU basketball game.