I can't put up many links on the blog here, because The Daily Universe website is down, we're guessing because it got Jimmered. No joke. But I'll give you a sequence of events:
1) On Tuesday's opinion page in The Daily Universe, a letter was published entitled "Idol worship." I can't link to it since the website is down, but here's the copied-and-pasted text:
I can't walk across campus without hearing Jimmer Fredette's name a dozen times. His name comes up everywhere: in class, at work, during lunch. Really, people? Cut it out with the Jimmer worship. Last time I checked, idol worship was very much frowned upon in the scriptures. Don't you have a life to live? Then quit wasting it in front of the TV or in lines at the Marriott Center. At the very least, stop trying to convert those of us who don't follow BYU sports and don't care that baseball and badminton are two different things. Pushing basketball on us isn't going to make us like it any better. I'm not blaming Jimmer for all this; was it Nephi's fault in the Book of Mormon when his brothers worshiped him? As far as I'm concerned, Jimmer is perfectly free to live his dreams. If he reaches his goals and lives his dreams, more power to him. I would like the same courtesy from his fans: let me live my own dreams in peace, even if they don't include ever sitting in the Marriott Center screaming my brains out.
Michelle Peralta
Apple Valley, Calif.
2) Before the letter was actually published though, it was put up on the Daily Universe website. Michelle linked to it on her Facebook page, apparently proud of what she had accomplished.
But her Facebook privacy settings must have been pretty lax, because tons of people were able to comment on her Facebook page until the thread was ultimately taken down. But not before someone captured most of it:
Jimmered on Facebook
3) We spent all day Tuesday in the newsroom reading aloud our favorite Jimmerisms from the thread. It was classic.
4) Eamonn Brennan from ESPN even picked up on it, and blogged about it on ESPN's website.
One of the best things about this Facebook thread is that virtually all of the comments were kind and clean, and just simply funny. Probably at any other school, the comments would have been littered with profanity and mean-spirited responses. But not at BYU. That's something we can be proud of. (Ryan Ginn at The Daily Reveille wrote about that too.)
Another blog post, this time on Yahoo! Sports: Letter besmirching Jimmer inspires hilarious Facebook thread
5) Some of BYU's "Front Row Fanatics" put together a YouTube video, inviting Michelle Peralta to take part in the Jimmer experience:
6) Our opinion editor got enough letters that she planned Thursday's page to be all about Jimmer. Again, I'd give you links to all the letters, but the website is down probably because so many people have already read them and wanted to comment.
But, lucky for you folks, I have access to part of the opinion page. I drew a cartoon that provides a pictorial Jimmerism. Here it is in glorious color!
7) We quickly assigned a reporter to do a story on all this, our very own Kristian Ekenes. He's come up with a lot of great stuff so far, including an exclusive interview with Michelle Peralta herself. Look for that story in tomorrow's edition of The Daily Universe!
8) To be continued...
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