Friday, January 14, 2011

Jimmertime

As the college basketball season moves into full swing, one word that is sweeping the nation is "Jimmertime". If nothing else, just saying the name Jimmer brings a smile to your face. As someone who was going to name his first born son Jimmer (too bad Nicole came out a beautiful little girl or she could have had a really cool name), I got caught up in the Jimmer Mania. Last year Jimmer Fredette of BYU caught the eyes of the nation during his amazing play in the NCAA tournament producing performances of 37 points against Florida and a solid 21 against a stingy Kansas State squad. This year Jimmer is up to his old antics again, hitting crazy shots and lighting up the scoreboard with regularity and ease.

With his recent outbursts, even ESPN has taken a ticket to the three ring circus known as Jimmertime:

Scott Van Pelt Interview

Andy Katz Tuesday Night Recap

This season Jimmer has stepped up his game to another level. In the last 10 days, Jimmer has led the Cougars to big wins against the likes of UNLV, on their home floor and their nemesis Utah, also away from the Marriott Center. Jimmer had never experienced victory against the Rebels at the Thomas and Mack (BYU hadn't beaten UNLV there since 2005), until last week. Tre'Von Wills, one of the Mountain West Pre-Season All-Conference selections and UNLV's star guard, Tweeted this prior to the game with the Cougars,

"They've got a preseason All-American and supposedly the best player in the conference on the other team..."

No doubt Jimmer heard about this from every smartphone wielding, social media hostage with a Twitter account and all he did was go out and play all 40 minutes and put up 39 points for the Cougars in leading them to victory. Jimmer, not known as a trash talker, had a few parting words with Willis as the game got out of reach and solidified any doubt that he is the best player in the conference and one of the best in the nation.

Not to be outdone by his extraordinary effort in Vegas, Jimmer came out on Tuesday night and dropped a cool 47 points on rival Utah, which prompted the above ESPN video clips. Jimmer could have easily had 50, but Dave Rose pulled him from the game with just under six minutes remaining. It seemed like everything Jimmer put up, no matter where he was past half court, was going in. Rarely have I watched a game and repeated the phrase to my wife,

"Did he really just shoot from there?"

He really did and he nailed it. Jimmer is a special talent that BYU will struggle mightily to replace. So my suggestion is for Cougar fans and college basketball fans alike to sit back and soak in the amazing wonderment that is Jimmer Fredette as he leads his team toward a hopeful deep run in March. If nothing else, just say the word Jimmer a few times and bring a smile to your face.

5 comments:

  1. Awesome article! Jimmer has definitely become a household name. It's funny, but the first time I heard my dad say his name, I thought he was pronouncing it wrong ('Jimmy'is what I thought it was surely supposed to be.) Little did I know I would be singing the praises of Jimmer Fredette for years to come. He is a truly outstanding athlete and has put BYU in an amazing position the closer we get to March Madness! Go Cougars!

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  2. Jeff you have found your calling as a sports writer!

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  3. Wow. You have a Talent Jeff. I can't wait for Danny to get home and share this with him.

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  4. Wow! You're good! I was reading this and then half way through I was looking for a reference to realize that it was still you writing, you didn't copy and paste some sports article. And here I was thinking that you were just the average "poop smith" by trade... you're really a sports writer by night. :) You make your mother proud.

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