In 2020, when the world was at a standstill, I remember sitting in my room in Melbourne (all there was to do at the time) scrolling through my phone only to find out that the NBL's new franchise would be called the Tasmania JackJumpers.
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The next thing I did was Google what a jackjumper was.
After deciding that it was a bit of an odd name - it made me think of the New Orleans Pelicans, another team which Will Magnay has represented - I gave it no further thought.
Fast forward exactly three-and-a-half years, and it has become clear that October 1, 2020, was the birth of something special.
There is no club like the Tasmania JackJumpers.
No club has made so many right moves without a wrong one in all aspects - call them the chess grandmasters of franchise development - and that has led to their unprecedented success for an expansion side in any Australian sport.
But the one they have absolutely perfected is their relationship with the fans.
Those from outside the state do not realise just how massive the Tasmania JackJumpers winning the NBL title is.
It's not just a sporting team here, the JackJumpers represent and unify the Tasmanian people in a way that I don't think I've ever seen before.
It's not just that they have sold out every home game since their inception.
Or that have made finals in every season of their existence, including two championship series.
Or that they have demonstrated to the state and the rest of the country that a team cannot only survive but thrive in Tasmania.
Or even that they've managed to get several American and mainland players and coaches to live in, and love, Hobart.
It's not even the 'defend the island' culture which has turned from a corny phrase to as clear an identity as you're ever likely to see in a sporting club.
It's that even if they had lost game five on Easter Sunday, fans still would have treated them like the return of the messiah after they arrived back in Hobart.
It's that everyone in the state is behind them, whether they're an Ant Army member from Salamanca or an occasional 'search up the results' fan from Smithton or St Helens.
Maybe a few people are apathetic, but I genuinely don't think anyone on this island has a single negative word to say about the JackJumpers.
When they lose, there are no keyboard warriors calling for people's heads on social media, when a player leaves they are often accompanied by messages of goodwill and it seems every Tassie kid wants to be Jack McVeigh.
In football, I am a West Coast supporter, and besides contrasting success in the last three years, there are a lot of differences between the two clubs.
Growing up in Western Australia you either love or you hate the Eagles - right now I think the latter is prevailing, especially among their fans - and those who jumped ship to Fremantle just needed to have a club where they could justify their hatred rather than support their own team. A comment sure to be popular among the fanbase.
But, and I know there are a lot of actual explanations for this, I don't think Tasmanians would ever want a second club.
There wouldn't be interest in the return of Launceston Casino City as an example, because the love for the JackJumpers unites what for various reasons is a stubbornly parochial state.
Coach Scott Roth, who is a popular and instrumental cog behind the JackJumpers' success, summed it up well in his press conference on Sunday.
"We hit a nerve with Tasmania in the first year and the fans just kept coming and the relationship between us and the fans had been ginormous over the last three years," he said.
"To give something back to the state is hugely gratifying to me. I've always said I don't count myself as a coach, I'm more of a mentor and I try to lead and to give something back to the state will hopefully be part of my legacy."
While he still has another three years to go on his newly-signed contract, if Roth was to leave tomorrow his legacy within Tasmanian sport would be unquestionably impactful.
He's right about hitting a nerve and it is something that continues to happen.
When I moved to Launceston I could be loosely described as a Perth Wildcats fan, but in this season's semi-finals series I had eyes only for the team in green.
The players, Roth, the atmosphere at home games, the Tasmanians involved at every level of the club, and it must be said the success, are all as irresistible as a Clint Steindl pull-up three.
Which neatly brings me to my final point.
The iconic championship series, the gun imports and Roth will eventually fade away and the club will have a rough period on the court at some stage in the future.
Players will underperform and a coach might even get sacked.
The key for the JackJumpers and for the fans is, don't let what you have now disappear once the winning does.
You have a uniquely special thing so treat it with care.
Ben Hann
A passionate sports lover, devoted to writing detailed stories about the best people and sporting events that Launceston has to offer. Follow me on Twitter at @BenHann6 or email me at ben.hann@austcommunitymedia.com.au for any stories.
A passionate sports lover, devoted to writing detailed stories about the best people and sporting events that Launceston has to offer. Follow me on Twitter at @BenHann6 or email me at ben.hann@austcommunitymedia.com.au for any stories.
