Eveningstar

Tomorrow is Senior Night for KU, meaning the last home game of my boy Brady Morningstar's career. Though he'll never have his jersey raised in Phog Allen Fieldhouse, it will be getting nailed to the Wall of Fame in my Fortress of Solitude as soon as the season is over. So he's got that going for him...which is nice. My Brady fandom has been a mostly solo affair (I'm about 93% sure I'm the only person in Lawrence besides his parents that owns a Morningstar jersey- I guess we'll find out during tomorrow's game) and it has spanned 4 phases:

Phase I, 2006- April 2008: Brady is a little-used Freshman, then redshirts during the National Championship season. The only reason he stands out at all (for me) is because he is the first Jayhawk to accept my friend request on Facebook. Yes, I friend request every incoming KU basketball player. Judge me if you will. At least I don't play Farmville.

Phase II, 2008-2009 season: Pretty much the whole team graduates/leaves for the NBA after the championship, and suddenly a ton of minutes are up for grabs. As word spreads during the preseason that Brady is in line for a starting spot, people around Lawrence start grumbling. If I had a dollar for every time I heard the phrase "If Brady is still starting in March, it's gonna be a looooooong season" then I wouldn't even be writing this right now- I'd be in the Taco John's drive thru, buying enough six-pack-and-a-pound's to last me the rest of my life (don't worry, they're still good leftover.) So halfway joking around, I started defending Brady amongst my friends, which led to me paying special attention to his game, which led to me actually liking him. Brady ends up playing the second-most minutes on the team after Sherron Collins, leading the Big 12 in 3-point shooting percentage, and rocking the hell out of a baggy undershirt under his jersey.

Phase III, October 2009-January 2011: Brady gets a DUI right before the start of the season, Xavier Henry takes a ton of his minutes, Brady never really gets it going, does this during a technical foul free throw, and becomes a whipping boy among fans after the shocking 2nd round loss to Northern Iowa. Then he starts out 2010-11 ice cold, and the Brady Bashers double their efforts (yes they actually called themselves the Brady Bashers...the internet can be super gay sometimes.) Arguments on internet message boards are ferocious; there is a six-month stretch where about 75% of the comment sections on KU's website eventually dive into the Great Brady Debate, regardless of what the original article was about. Which of course makes me love him more.

Phase IV, Current: Brady rediscovers his shot, leads the Big 12 in 3-point shooting percentage (again), posts an absolutely stupid 7.5-1 assist-to-turnover rate in Big 12 play (for a somewhat flawed comparison, the NBA leader in this statatistic usually puts up around a 4-1 ratio) and merits legitimate discussion for making the All-Big 12 second team. Even the Brady Bashers are relatively quiet on the message boards-- although they still wish his minutes were going to Josh Selby or Elijah Johnson, because that would be better for KU "long term"--because Brady Bashers are usually not very intelligent basketball fans. Needless to say, this has been my favorite Brady Phase. Even though it has been sans baggy undershirt for the most part.

Here's hoping this phase lasts through April. Everybody enjoy your various teams' Senior Nights, it's one of the things that make college basketball so awesome.