Amid the echo chamber of dissent surrounding the Jeremy Lin signing, there's a very interesting historical question that hasn't really been answered. As sports fans, we often want to believe that we're seeing something new and fresh, something that's never happened before. The reality is that most things we see have happened before and will almost surely happen again. The last nine months of Jeremy Lin's career, though? That might actually be unprecedented in the history of American sport.
Think about it. Try to find a historically comparable situation where all three of the following things occurred:
1. A player at the beginning of his professional career without any status as a top prospect was acquired by a team off of the waiver wire/from the free agent market as freely available talent.
2. That same player promptly played at an elite level for a portion of exactly one season.
3. That player departed the team during the subsequent offseason.
At the start of the college basketball season, fans are looking for their team's story — a compelling narrative that will define their school's season. In the coming months there will be plenty of talk about conference records, coaching decisions, and off-the-court controversies. But, in the interest of balance, I've gathered the storylines guaranteed to not define any ranked team's season. Except Vanderbilt. Theirs is destiny.
North Carolina: Its rivalry with Tulsa has heated up after the Tar Heels stole the Golden Hurricanes’ athletic director Bubba Cunningham.
Kentucky: Walk-on Sam Malone hopes to garner playing time in order to become tired of Cheers-related puns in newspaper headlines.
Ohio State: Buckeyes will miss John Diebler’s jump shooting, singing.
Duke: The Blue Devils are seeking to finally avenge former North Carolina coach Matt Doherty calling their cheerleaders “The ugliest in the ACC.”
Vanderbilt: Even Vandy's players think this ranking is ridiculously high and want it to be clear that they plan on getting a four-seed and losing in the first round as per usual.
Xavier: Someone points out that the Musketeers’ logo has a sword instead of a musket. The problem is resolved by permanently switching to the Blue Blob.
Arizona: Kyryl Natyazhko figures there’s no harm in having a little cake now and then.
Alabama: Head coach Anthony Grant vows to achieve an almost Virginia Commonwealth-esque level of success.
Gonzaga: Director of Basketball Operations Jerry Krause (decidedly notthis one) cannily sets up a showdown with Longwood at the end of the season, sure to bring national attention to the program.
California: They may be ranked no. 24 in basketball-playing now, but they’re no. 1 in holiday spirit.
Missouri: What do you want me to say? Don Draper went there.
This post has been updated to correct an error in the Gonzaga entry Jordan Carr runs the blog Better than Voodoo while trying to make it as a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Follow him on Twitter at @btvoodoo.
