What Exactly is a Jayhawk?

For many years, the Tigers and Jayhawks have shared a bitter rivalry, and for the past week, Zoulogy staff members have been profiling the history of this war. But there is one question that many fans have been asking themselves as the Border War game nears: What exactly is a Jayhawk?

According to the University of Kansas’ official website, the actual term was coined in about 1848, and is described as this:

"The name combines two birds–the blue jay, a noisy, quarrelsome thing known to rob other nests, and the sparrow hawk, a stealthy hunter."

Looking at that explanation, it seems obvious that the blue jay is a fairly accurate representation of Kansas in general. It seems that every season, Jayhawk fans loudly proclaim how improved their football team is, as well as how their basketball team will win the national championship. But year after year, their football teams either don’t live up to preseason hype or resemble a complete disgrace of a squad each week. Then in basketball, they repeatedly choke when it matters most in the NCAA Tournament. Between losing to Bucknell in 2005, Bradley in 2006, Northern Iowa in 2010, and Virginia Commonwealth in 2011, it is safe to say that the Jayhawks’ loud, obnoxious behavior comes back to bite them each year.

In addition, the fact that Jayhawks are known to “rob others nests” resembles another characteristic of KU. They have always been known to have selfish players who put themselves ahead of their team, and in the end, they choke. Even their coaches have shown this tendency as well: Mark Mangino was accused of physically abusing his players, and was eventually shown the door. In this case, a coach’s greed resulted in the complete collapse of a once respectable program.

Overall, we can conclude that the Jayhawk is a fairly hideous bird that is loud and annoying. If the Jayhawk were a human, it would be like that next door neighbor that brags about being the best at everything while you and your friends roll your eyes at how out of touch with reality that person is. But in the animal kingdom, something like a Jayhawk has nowhere to hide from a vicious Tiger. If everything that has to do with these two mascots is true, then the Tigers will romp in tomorrow’s showdown.