A casualty of conference realignment: Kansas' fight song
Conference realignment may not have sent Kansas scrambling to find a new home as we all thought a week ago, but Nebraska and Colorado leaving the Big 12 has impacted the Jayhawks in at least one respect.
It has rendered one of the school's fight songs obsolete.
An already strangely worded ditty known as "I'm a Jayhawk" mentions both the Cornhuskers and Buffaloes, references that will soon become as dated as disco or black-and-white TV. As a result, the president of the Kansas alumni association told the Lawrence Journal-World she's planning to have a student contest to come up with new lyrics as part of the Homecoming celebration in October.
"We think it is important for the students to be involved," Jennifer Sanner said. "This is something we pass down as Jayhawks. This will add a nuance to the history going forward."
If Kansas does end up altering the lyrics to the song, it won't be the first time they've made such a switch. Kansas alum George "Dumpy" Bowles originally wrote the song in 1920, but the words were updated in 1958 to match the members of the old Big Eight.
Here's a look at the full lyrics after the jump with the parts that need to be changed in bold. Fight songs are always a little eccentric, but to be honest, this whole song is such a relic that Kansas may want to use this as an opportunity to scrap the lyrics and start over.
Talk about the Sooners
The Cowboys and the Buffs,
Talk about the Tiger and his tail,
Talk about the Wildcats,
and those Cornhuskin' boys,
But I'm the bird to make 'em weep and wail.
CHORUS:
'Cause I'm a Jay, Jay,
Jay, Jay, Jayhawk,
Up at Lawrence on the Kaw
'Cause I'm a Jay, Jay,
Jay, Jay, Jayhawk,
With a sis-boom, hip hoorah.
Got a bill that's big enough
To twist the Tiger's tail
Husk some corn and listen
To the Cornhusker's wail-
'Cause I'm a Jay, Jay,
Jay, Jay, Jayhawk,
Riding on a Kansas gale.
