Jimmermania?

My life includes a frequent onslaught of Jimmerisms emanating from men who admit to having man crushes on the Jimmer.  Best I can figure, a man crush means you envy the athletic skills of another man.  It has nothing at all to do with love.

If you live in Utah and aren't aware of the Jimmer, let me fill you in.  Jimmer is actually James Taft Fredette, a point guard for the BYU men's basketball team.  His hometown is Glens Falls, New York, where he was raised.  The Jimmer is the Mountain West Conference's all time leading scorer.

In the past few months, I've heard much speculation on everything from what the Jimmer eats for breakfast to whether he's done right by his girlfriend or if he has a girlfriend or why his mother called him Jimmer instead of Jimmy or even whether Jimmer worship is appropriate.  I've also learned that Jimmer is a verb, and to have been Jimmered means to have been scored upon, quite heavily.

So what does all of this have to do with music?  The Jimmer's older brother, TJ Fredette, is a Christian rap singer and reportedly the Jimmer's most loyal fan, not to mention his trainer from the Jimmer's kindergarten days.  The song "Amazing" is a song about the Jimmer's rise to basketball fame and achievement.  The jury's still out on whether this intense, fast-paced tune is a "one hit wonder," but to be sure, it captures the Jimmer's thirst for excellence and sends the message that, with dedication and hard work, dreams really do come true.

On Thursday, the Jimmer will be leading BYU into the upcoming NCAA basketball tournament, where the Cougars earned a number three seed.  Just in eyeballing the brackets, I'm sure there will be discussion on this selection, among others.  The only other Utah team represented is Utah State, a number twelve seed.

Now that I have completely or mostly deviated from my usual musical bent, I feel obliged to share my tips for winning in your NCAA brackets.  I won two of three times entered.

1) Pick Duke for the Final Four.  Trust me on this.  I used to live in Durham.  Coach K's kids went to my son's elementary school and I saw Coach K at PTA meetings. He's much taller than he looks on tv.
2) Pick the ACC.  The ACC is fiercely competitively.  Basketball is a religion anywhere the ACC plays.
3) Pick the elite academic schools (ACC excepted) to drop out early.  Reality check ... sorry.  I hope this doesn't hurt anyone's feelings. 
4) Randomize.  After you determine 1, 2, and 3, use a random number generator on Excel to pick the remaining winners.  I'm sure there is some predictive algorithm you can procure but that would take all the fun out of guessing.


Good luck to all the teams in the NCAA tournament! and their fans!  And thanks to TJ and the Jimmer for such an inspirational rap music video.