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Crying Jordan meme finds its ultimate purpose in NCAA finals upset
This meme has never been more applicable.
I don’t know much about sports, but I know this: People seem to take it pretty hard when their team loses.
So I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that basketball legend Michael Jordan was less than thrilled when his alma mater, the University of North Carolina, lost the NCAA championship to Villanova University on Monday night by the margin of a buzzer-beating three-pointer.
If UNC loses and Jordan cries, the Internet will break. pic.twitter.com/b0W05UXMLU
— Pick Six Previews (@PickSixPreviews) April 5, 2016
Jordan was far from the only Tar Heels fan shocked and dismayed by this upset. But he is the only one whose crying face has become a meme that represents this exact feeling. So guess what happened next.
UNC fans right now pic.twitter.com/yT3Hyjs8uh
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 5, 2016
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) April 5, 2016
@The700Level pic.twitter.com/amsmn6Zc7E
— Equalopportunity H8r (@eqloprtntyhtr) April 5, 2016
CRYING JORDAN MEME HAS OFFICIALLY TAKEN OFF FROM THE FREE THROW LINE pic.twitter.com/A3bU7rkeXY
— Rico Ripoly (@RicoRipoly) April 5, 2016
— Zach (@ZMart33) April 5, 2016
just when the Jordan crying face started getting old UNC goes and loses at the buzzer now its funnier than ever😂😭😂😭😂 pic.twitter.com/l2U650M8OZ
— Luke (@Lukaliss_) April 5, 2016
The game-winning, Jordan-crying shot. pic.twitter.com/2ZboAZwkm6
— Eric Orvieto (@eorvieto) April 5, 2016
— The Cauldron (ICYMI) (@CauldronICYMI) April 5, 2016
Levitate, levitate, levitate, levitate, levitate pic.twitter.com/nHBCkPmBmI
— Rico Ripoly (@RicoRipoly) April 5, 2016
Y’all can’t be serious pic.twitter.com/bjUjhmgA57
— Marcus (@PrinceMJofDSU) April 5, 2016
It’s incredible that this popular meme has waited all this time to reveal its true and ultimate purpose.
To his credit, Jordan managed not to cry—he only does that when he’s being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. And perhaps that stoicism, combined with the knowledge that the meme will never be more applicable than it was in this circumstance, is what motivated several sportswriters to urge the ongoing joke’s retirement.
Crying Jordan meme game is so strong this morning. I think he’ll be alright and maybe we should retire #CryingJordan pic.twitter.com/22EnWnRMlM
— Mike Trim WPTV (@MikeTrimWPTV) April 5, 2016
#RIP #CryingMJ: Why we need to retire the Internet’s greatest all-time meme: https://t.co/DpmABs3s0J | via @SInow | pic.twitter.com/NfMYo4Wh8S
— The Cauldron (@TheCauldron) April 5, 2016
It’s time to retire the overused crying Jordan meme https://t.co/tepwlKSF67 pic.twitter.com/9hr5JXhI2E
— For The Win (@ForTheWin) April 5, 2016
But no misguided thinkpiece, however timely, can stop a viral juggernaut. Memes don’t retire—they only fade away.
probably two dozen people shopping crying jordan over the author’s photo right now https://t.co/bHNkN1vrSa
— ☕netw3rk (@netw3rk) April 5, 2016
everytime the crying Jordan meme is used a white person somewhere crafts a think piece about why it should be over
— wayne Ass (@tweet_faver) April 5, 2016
“It’s time everyone stops using this thing, because I am sick of it. Also, stop being mean to the world’s most competitive millionaire”
— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) April 5, 2016
is it just me or are like……..99% of the “retire the crying Jordan meme” people white folks? https://t.co/fi6nYAOrxg
— bayarea chick (@bayareachick1) April 5, 2016
It’s time to retire articles that suggest we retire the Crying Jordan meme. Column:
— rich (@rich_roberts) April 5, 2016
Everyone filing CRYING JORDAN IS OVER pieces be like: pic.twitter.com/Zh7PkrJOHV
— RUSS BENGT$ON (@russbengtson) April 5, 2016
Crying Jordan is here to stay. May as well wish for the sun to set in the East. pic.twitter.com/wISi7P1KdZ
— RUSS BENGT$ON (@russbengtson) April 5, 2016
So the next time you find yourself arguing that a virtually unlimited source of Internet humor is bad and should go away, stop for a second and ask yourself: Is this really worth crying over?

Miles Klee
Miles Klee is a novelist and web culture reporter. The former editor of the Daily Dot’s Unclick section, Klee’s essays, satire, and fiction have appeared in Lapham’s Quarterly, Vanity Fair, 3:AM, Salon, the Awl, the New York Observer, the Millions, and the Village Voice. He's the author of two odd books of fiction, 'Ivyland' and 'True False.'