You got Jimmered. So did I.
Our entire nation did.
Heck, even little 2 year-old Eva got Jimmered. She would watch the "Teach Me How to Jimmer" video on YouTube on an endless loop if we let her.
Needless to say, it was a pretty special season to be a BYU fan. What we witnessed this season was unlike anything the world of college basketball has ever seen.
I wanted to write this blog post following the BYU-San Diego State game in Provo in January. At that point, I didn't think the season could possibly get any better. But it did. My, how it did. I also didn't want to jinx such a magical season. If you've followed any of my past posts, you know that I seem to have the ability to do that. So I decided to wait until after the regular season... then the NCAA tournament... then finally the award season. In retrospect, I don't think even the "Devin Curse" could have derailed Jimmermania.
I never in my wildest, most irrational dreams thought that a BYU basketball player would ever become the consensus National Player of the Year. I know that Danny Ainge was the POY once upon a time but that was a different era, a simpler time, a sports world without terms like "non-BCS" and "mid-major". Apparently Jimmer dreams bigger than I do.
Never before has a player captured the nation’s attention over the course of an entire season like Jimmer Fredette did this year. Oh, you see players make a big splash come tournament time — but to draw the bright lights of the national media for an entire season like Fredette did this year?
It’s never happened before.
There will be other BYU basketball stars to grace the Marriott Center court in the future (I tend to believe that the future is very, very bright) but there will never be another Jimmer Fredette. I've heard him called a "once-in-a-generation player". A more fitting description to me is a "once-in-the-history-of-a-program player".What a privilege it was to tag along with him on the amazing journey that was the 2010-11 BYU season. I was fortunate enough to see him play in person twice this past year. I've never enjoyed being a visiting fan in a hostile arena as much as I did watching Jimmer torch UNLV. Lots of players are talented scorers but Jimmer's style was all his own. His variety of moves around the hoop and his limitless range were pure joy to watch. Even opposing players & fans would come to outwardly admire in utter disbelief of his game. That was the Jimmer-effect. Ever since the season ended, I have felt like something is missing in my life. Jimmer literally left a void. I’ll likely never experience anything like that ever again.
Jimmer, thanks for the ride.
4 comments:
Awesome man post Devin. I think you were right to wait until the season ended before posting just to ensure that the Devin curse didn't bring the Cougar's bad luck. But like you said, I think Jimmer was even bigger than the Devin curse. It was a great season to be a Cougar fan!
Devin, I could really feel the emotion in this post. Have you ever considered being a sports writer? I think you should look into it.
What a rollercoaster year for us BYU fans. It was a tough loss in the Sweet 16 without Brandon, but the Cougars still reminded me of Def Leppard's drummer, missing a part, but still kicking butt. Why couldn't Jimmer and Jake be at BYU when we went to school?
It was pretty special. What impressed me most is every time the stakes got higher and the lights got brighter, Jimmer exceeded the expectation. How many times have you seen the "star" wilt before your eyes in the big game, when everyone is watching? I say "thanks, Jimmer, for coming back and sharing your senior year with us".
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