BYU was arguably having its best basketball season ever with perhaps the Player of the Year (equivalent to the Heisman in Football) in Jimmer Fredette. Publicity for the church? I've often heard one the main reasons BYU athletics exist is for a missionary tool. Let me emphasize the ATHLETICS, not the honor code. Of course the money is huge to a school subsidized by tithing but that's a different topic. I'm pretty confident we would have gotten a ton of favorable press had the team made it to the Final Four. There would be discussion of the honor code and how remarkable it is that these players uphold it. People still talk about Danny Ainge and our Sweet 16 run, back in the day. This could have generated positive discussions for years. The worth of souls is great in the sight of God. I'd like to think the Lord would much prefer the exposure from winning than honor code violations.
We learn from Alma 32 that the Lord will have a humble people. I daresay, the hype surrounding Jimmer this year could be the biggest dearth of humility the basketball fans have ever displayed. I really have enjoyed the websites, etc. How often does the whitest school in America get to say they may have the best basketball player in the country? But perhaps it got out of hand. Here are some websites to enjoy and see how we lost our humility:
http://www.jimmerpoy.com/
"When prisoners need a beat down, they bring in The Jimmer."
http://goodmenproject.com/sports-2/good-men-picks-jimmer-or-san-diego-state/
"Jimmer worship should replace Scientology as the new, trendy “it” religion … if it hasn’t already."
http://dreamcatchermedia.com/jimmered
This is the infamous facebook thread where a female student gets "Jimmered." Hilarious stuff. Highlights on the right.
The facebook thread shows Jimmer becoming the Chuck Norris of Mormons. I'll admit, I love these jokes, but they don't scream humility. Is God punishing BYU fans for a lack of humility and some sacrilegious jokes?
Absolutely not. All of this stems from some poor choices. Is there a silver lining with good publicity about the honor code? Sure, but it came at a very high price. My heart goes out to Davies and his family. Hopefully he can pick things up and be better tomorrow. Hopefully folks in Provo and fans will be willing to support him on that journey rather than ostracize him. That is the spirit of the honor code and a success story I'd love to hear about, but I doubt it will get much media attention.
4 comments:
So, what you're saying is, if we all pray hard enough, BYU will win the Tournament because it's great missionary exposure? How have we missed out on that for so long??
I have a hard time categorizing the honor code story as just a "big whoop" consolation prize (which is given to console the loser). My reasoning is that the enforcement shows the world that while yes, a number of cool players like Danny Ainge and Steve Young kept the honor code faithfully (and even in the Sweet 16), BYU actually enforces its honor code, when there's an infraction, rather than waiting 10 years, after winning it all, once it's convenient, or "conducting an investigation" three weeks after the whole season's over.
I do think the honor code sets the school apart. What I think sets the school apart even more, is when and how it chose to enforce the honor code: at the height of arguably its best basketball season, ever, on one of its best players, and for the rest of the season (at least). Chew on that for a moment.
Regarding the Jimmer worship, I love the Chuck Norris-like fanaticism. On the other hand, I'm unsure how I feel about the border-line blasphemy quotes. May humility abound, absent compelling.
Two responses:
1. C-dub: I'm not saying we need to win championships for exposure, just have good teams that get into the national discussion. We do that in several sports so the spending of tithing money is justified. Unfortuantley, we don't need titles to justify the existence of our sports programs.
2. CA - I agree with you, I'd just rather have publicity from winning and upholding the honor code rather than the right reaction to a scandal. No doubt this will be memorable 20 years from now, but I'd rather be talking about a final 4 appearance, maybe I'm just too desparate for winning and need to put aside my pride.
Maybe if you were to turn your attention to Tim Tebow and the awesome season the Broncos are about to have, you'd feel much better . . .
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