Lattanzi Land

Not Good Enough...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:28:00 +0000

It is coming forth that perhaps the Obama Administration is looking for some kind of 'compromise' on the basis of the firestorm that has been ignited over their wanton and tyrannical disregard for the First Amendment.

Since when did freedom of religion become a point of negotiation in a compromise situation?

Resist. Nothing less than full surrender on the part of the Administration with regard to their mandates is acceptable.

UPDATE - The Hill reports that the Hawaiian-type law will be used as the basis of the 'compromise' (the Administration refers to it as an 'accommodation'). That's no compromise at all. It still requires the referral and subsidization of morally objectionable items. In other words. Not. Good. Enough.

UPDATE II - Planned Parenthood has given its approval to the, ahem, 'compromise'. This tells me all I need to know (via The Corner).

UPDATE III - Talk about putting lipstick on the pig, as the ~~compromise~~ 'accommodation' details filter out:

“If a woman works for religious employers with objections to providing contraceptive services as part of its health plan, the religious employer will not be required to provide contraception coverage but her insurance company will be required to offer contraceptive care free of charge.”

Really...the absurdity (and the arrogance) is something to behold. Congressman Chris Smith asks the question, 'Who pays for the insurance policy?' Exactly. So no matter what, religious organizations are going to have to cover the costs of things they consider morally objectionable. Unbelievable. No wonder Planned Parenthood was all for this 'accommodation'.

More Than Just Contraception...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:49:00 +0000

I have been thinking a bit more about the whole fiasco that the Obama Administration has been trying to foist on religious institutions and organizations regarding contraception and its payment. I have come to the conclusion that keeping the issue solely about the product and who pays for it is a pretty narrow point of view. Naturally, I do not support such a thing, although it could be seen coming from a mile away. This is why I did not ever support the passage of the 'Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act' in any form.

No, this issue is about first principles of who we are. I believe this issue is a dividing line between those who believe that people (read: women) have an unfettered right to contraceptives, with that right trumping those who believe in freedom of religion and conscience. The Obama Administration and its sycophants clearly believe that the former supersedes the latter. Oh, they’ll talk about ‘freedom of worship’ and all that, but let’s be perfectly clear (to borrow a cliché from President Obama), ‘freedom of worship’ is not the same as ‘freedom of religion’. The former is but one narrow part of the latter.

In other words, they believe (in theory) that on Sundays (or Saturdays or Fridays, depending on the religion), people should be able to go to their houses of worship and pray, but then apply a Las Vegas standard to it. Any kind of public demonstration would be prohibited, and any kind of criticism of the government from the pulpit would render that preacher persona non grata.

Of course, for Protestants, some of this is taken for granted, because the privatization of religion is precisely their heritage, going back to Martin Luther. For Catholics, however, religion is not meant to be taken out merely once a week like a dress and worn, only to be shoved back into the closet after the 60-90 minutes of worship. Living one’s faith should be part of the package, but unfortunately, too many Catholics (and people of all faiths) have become, for a lack of a better term, “Protestantized”.

I have been reading the unfortunate argument that because “98% of Catholic women contracept” (a questionable statistic if I ever saw one), it should be ok for a government to force people to directly fund something they consider morally repugnant. This is about as farcical of a non-sequitur as can be. “Everybody does it” is just a way to try and shut down the conversation over the fact that we have an administration that is set on tyranny against the population it governs.

This is not about the Pill or access to Plan B – this is ultimately about who we are as a people. Are we a free people who can practice our faith and live without being made to violate basic principles of faith and life or are we not? It is that simple. If you support this particular plan of the Obama Administration, know that you are supporting tyranny. There is no other way to put it. We can either continue to be a free people who can live in peace, or we can be a people who are held down by our political masters. It will only get worse if we let this pass. If this continues as it is, what ultimately can they not force us to do?

Think about that. This is beyond tribal and party affiliation. This is about us.

Stop the madness. Stop the tyranny.

Down With PETA!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:28:00 +0000

The Real PETA

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) is a scourge on our society, and so I applauded the fact that a judge in a Federal District Court in San Diego has thrown out a lawsuit brought by PETA against SeaWorld for ‘enslaving’ killer whales, claiming that SeaWorld has violated the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, which prohibits slavery and other involuntary servitude.

My basic thoughts on PETA are here, and I won’t rehash them in toto, but let’s just say that the things mentioned nearly two years ago are just as relevant now, and in some ways, even more so. Here's to hoping that all appeals are denied and PETA will be required to pay any court costs incurred between the taxpayer and SeaWorld.

Now, pass the meat, please.

Levels Of Sports Misconceptions...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 02:58:00 +0000

Only these leagues count!

In a conversation with Dustin last night, we got to talking about misconceptions in the sports world; by this we mean the idea of certain events that have taken place that have been inflated beyond their particular significance either by the media or through legend.

However, as the conversation went on, we determined that not all misconceptions are equal. Some are much more egregious than others, and so we came up with a ladder system to determine to which level the particular misconceptions belong. There are five levels, with increasingly bigger misconceptions than the previous one. Here, I shall go through the levels, beginning with the lowest ones and moving on up. The significance of the events also generally increases as we move up the ladder, but not always. It is noteworthy to mention that very few of these events have taken place in the era of the internet, and it should be somewhat obvious as to why.

Level 1 – This mostly consists of events that even most casual fans would know that aren’t quite as important as they are made out to be.

Example – 2005 NLCS Game 5 (Albert Pujols homers off Brad Lidge): You’d swear to God that the ball has never come down, and you can’t even see a regular season at bat from Pujols against Lidge without someone mentioning or showing a clip of this event. Things that make it a Level 1 include the fact that a) it was a Game 5, and the Cardinals merely staved off elimination for one game while down 3-1, and b) the Cardinals totally were dominated the next game at home by Roy Oswalt to clinch the pennant for the Astros. By the way, do you remember who won the World Series that year?

Level 2 – Very much like Level 1, but the event possesses greater importance. Still inflated beyond what it ought to be, and a slight bit of attention would point you to the fact it didn’t really end anything.

Example #1 – Games 4 and 5 of the 2001 World Series (Yankees come back/Derek Jeter “Mr. November"): Thrilling endings and poor Byung-Hyun Kim, but guess what? The games tied and put the Yanks ahead in the series against the Diamondbacks, but a blowout Game 6 (Arizona won 15-2) and a shocking meltdown by Mariano Rivera in Game 7 gave the Diamondbacks the title. However, people still call Derek Jeter “Mr. November” and Scott Brosius can still go anywhere in Yankee country and not have to buy a beer.

Example #2A and #2B – Two very similar scenarios, Game Sixes, both in the 1975 World Series (Carlton Fisk) and the 1991 World Series (Kirby Puckett). Both forced Game Seven, although with opposite results (Red Sox lost to the Reds; Twins beat the Braves). They are both above Level 1 because of their importance, but they are always inflated in the sense of highlight reels and legendary statuses. What keeps them from being higher up is the fact that the announcers in both games had the sense to remind their audiences that it only forced a Game Seven; without this, they might both have reached Level 4.

Level 3 – These are events that some regular (beyond casual) fans believe are of much more significance than they actually are; announcer reactions also don’t do a whole lot to dispel the notion of inflation.

Example #1 – 1992 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals (Bulls vs. Knicks, Seven Game Series): A lot of people think this was the Conference Finals. Chicago went on to absolutely destroy Cleveland in the East Finals and then defeated Portland in the Finals. This series though, was one of the nastiest set of games I’ve ever seen, and only through Jordan’s 42 points in Game Seven did the Bulls finally prevail.

Example #2 – Game 1, 1995 NBA Eastern Conference Semifinals (Reggie Miller scores eight points in the last nine seconds): I would actually qualify this in a sense as before the ESPN 30 For 30 series – once the film Winning Time aired, this drops steeply to a Level 1, because now even casual fans know when this took place. However, before that aired, it was a fairly legendary event that was thought to have ‘crippled’ the Knicks, even as the series went to seven games and the Knicks even had a shot to win it altogether at the end of Game Seven.

Example #3 – Game 3, 1970 NBA Finals (Jerry West’s miracle shot): in this time period (Prior to 1979), that shot only counted for two points, and thus only tied the game, sending it to an extra session for West's Lakers. The Knicks, however, actually won the game in overtime, and would win the series in seven games.

Level 4 – these are Level 3 events, with the key difference being that these events have been mythologized in the world of sports.

Example #1 – 1986 AFC Championship Game (John Elway’s “The Drive”): Elway led a 98 yard drive on the road in Cleveland and led the Broncos to….overtime. The Drive didn’t win the game, and Cleveland could have won the game after winning the toss in overtime, but had to punt. However, most people will remember The Drive more than anything else. The fact that we capitalize it is precisely what I am getting at with the ‘mythologizing’.

Example #2A and #2B – 1972 AFC Playoff Game (“The Immaculate Reception”) and 1999 AFC Wild-Card Game (“Music City Miracle”): To hear people tell it, you’d think that the Steelers and the Titans were propelled to the Super Bowl by these two miraculous finishes. The Steelers lost the next week at home to the Dolphins (who went undefeated that year) and the Titans were just short of another miraculous victory by a yard in the Super Bowl against the Rams. There is no doubt that both of these events were wonderful for the teams and their fans, but mythology obstructs the truth of the facts that both of these were merely opening round playoff games.

Example #3 – Game 6, 2003 NLCS (“The Bartman”): this one comes in because even the 30 For 30 films about this game and series would lead a casual observer to believe that Steve Bartman interfering with Moises Alou at Wrigley Field cost the Cubs a trip to the World Series. The fact is that the Cubs had a lead in this game and many people fall into the trap of the Fallacy of the Pre-Determined Outcome (i.e. if Bartman had not touched it, Alou would have caught it, and the Cubs would have held on). The Cubs D could have still screwed up and lost Game Six, and the Cubs still had the opportunity to win Game Seven. You know what? A lot of Game Sixes have made their way onto this list!

Level 5 – Games and events that most truly believe were the final and championship moment due to the complete overhyping, overplaying, AND the mythologizing of the event. These events actually transcend sports in many ways…

Example #1 – 1980 Men’s Olympic Hockey (“The Miracle On Ice”): Someone needs to get the reminder out there that the underdog US men’s hockey team defeated the mighty Soviet Union in the…

Semifinals.

For all the movies and talk (like Miracle), the fact remained that the United States still could have finished fourth and been denied a medal had they lost to Finland two days later. That has got to be the most understated championship game of all time, and quite likely also the least acknowledged. It also functions as probably the biggest trap and letdown game in the history of mankind, but hey, we beat the eeeeevil Ruskies! USA!!! USA!!! USA!!!

Example #2 – Game 1, 1988 World Series (Kirk Gibson’s Crippled Deluxe): Oh yeah, did you know that Oakland actually won Game Two? Neither did I! What? You mean Oakland didn’t just forfeit the whole damn Series because a guy with two bad knees and two bad hamstrings popped a one-in-ten-thousand home run? I’m shocked, shocked! The way people talk about this one, you’d think the A’s went into a hole so deep they ended up in China the next day. By the way, the real hero of 1988 was Orel Hershiser, but Kirk Gibson’s moment (and his only AB of the World Series) is what endures in commercials and on top ten lists.

Example #3 – Game 6, 1986 World Series (Bill Buckner’s Flub): As a baseball fan, I know that Bill Buckner is one of the better players to have ever stepped onto a diamond. I also know that for years he has been disproportionately blamed for what happened. Anyway, how many people forget that the Red Sox had to lose Game Seven, and they actually held a 3-0 lead going into the late innings! Or they forget that it never should have actually gotten to a Game Seven had John McNamara not been given to sentimentalism, or Bob Stanley actually remembered how to pitch!

These are the levels; they can be considered a bit fluid. Discuss these among yourselves and feel free to dispute or add events and tell me why they belong on a particular level of Sports Misconception.

I Can't Believe It's Been Two Years Already...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 18:50:00 +0000

On this day in 2010, my grandmother died. It still feels like only yesterday, probably because of all the time I had spent with her in the last three and a half years of her life. I am fortunate, since I truly knew her; so many people, even in this day and age of longer life expectancy have not had the privilege of knowing their grandparents the way I have known all four of mine.

I remember the day she died very well - it was a Sunday and I was at DeMatha getting set up for the Middle School Academic Challenge, a yearly tournament our quiz bowl team (of which I am a moderator) helps produce along with the school's admissions department. My mom called just before noon crying that Grandma had died; she had been in a hospital bed for a few days in her room in what only could be called hospice. Her breathing had been irregular, but when she did go, it was still a shock.

We didn't get to bury her until Friday, February 5, due to the fact that she was going into Arlington National Cemetery. Incidentally, that was also the day the famed 'Snowpocalypse of 2010' began. It was a nasty day, but we managed to have the funeral and burial in a timely and tasteful manner and get back home before being hit by 45 inches of snow over the following four days.

In the final two years of her life in which I was a regular caregiver, I learned a lot from her and from the experience, namely...

a) That the elderly absolutely need all the care and dignity possible. I knew this previously, but only in the academic sense. Taking Grandma to the bathroom, washing her up, and helping with the little things healthy and able-bodied people take for granted helped me realize NOT to take it for granted, that one day it could very well be me in that same position. Unfortunately, there is a growing chorus of people who are ok with letting our elderly just waste away or even being 'put away' (a euphemism for euthanasia, which is in itself a euphemism for killing them off).

b) That I need taken my own health a little more seriously. Grandma died ultimately from complications of diabetes, something to which I allude when I eulogized her. In the final two months of her life, I was diagnosed with the same, and it was not something I thought would happen so young. In the past two plus years, my health has improved vastly, but mostly because I am afraid of suffering the same fate as she did. I want to live to an advanced age without having to worry about my sight going or my legs being amputated.

Even though it has been two years, I still miss her immensely and it still is a bit painful to recall, especially having witnessed the decline. I have a lot of fond memories all through my youth when she was spry and running around with us in the yard or at the park, but some days those are harder to remember than the more recent moments of her. Nevertheless, she was a great woman and I hope she continues to rest in peace complete with the hope of the resurrection.

Of Course They Do...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:14:00 +0000

Feel Safe. OR ELSE!!

White House stands by TSA detention of Senator Paul

From the same administration that has codified assassination of American citizens as well as the infinite detention of the same.

Safety! Security!

Some Observations...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 15:05:00 +0000

It's been quite some time since I have broken out the quick-hit Sunday Observation feature here on Lattanzi Land. It usually replaced the football picks during the offseason, but we didn't do that much. Anyway, here we go...

- A mini war broke out on my Facebook page over the last post. What's interesting about it is how fast it moved to talking about the whole healthcare bill at large, rather than the fairly narrow point espoused in the original post. Now, I think this is a good thing - because for all the talk about how much the bill (The 'Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act') was going to improve the health care system and lower costs, it will do neither. Why is this? Because when you increase the demand (by allegedly 30 million people) while keeping the supply the same, costs will necessarily have to rise, so the only way to keep costs down is to ration what people can and cannot get. That day is coming, mark my words.

- I find it a bit odd to see people who support a statist agenda and the 'Occupy (fill in the blank)' movement. It's quite the show of cognitive dissonance, at least on the surface, until you realize that while the Occupiers complain about the bailing out of banks by the government, their solution to everything is more government. In other words - pick a consistent position. Either you are for the statist agenda, or you are not. You can't have it both ways. You want more government? Then bailing out big businesses is going to be part of the deal. Such is the way of corporatism.

- It has been reported recently that former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno is near death. He has very advanced lung cancer and is just old, so the body isn't quite as willing to respond as it would have even ten years ago. While a very sad story and he will be mourned when he does finally die, let's not somehow try to say that his being fired from Penn St. accelerated his demise. Cancer doesn't care what one's occupation is. He would be going through this kind of thing whether Jerry Sandusky's shenanigans had happened or not.

- Certain media were reporting Paterno's death, only to be called out on it by Paterno's family, who had to take to Twitter to refute the reports (10:22 AM - Paterno has indeed died, according to Sportscenter and the AP). I guess accuracy has been tossed aside in favor of 'being first'. Unfortunately, this is the trade off that has been made. The proverbial genie is not being put back into the bottle, for good or ill.

- It snowed Friday night, but was only really a dusting here east of DC. The kicker came with the half inch of ice that fell on top of the snow. Looking outside early yesterday morning, the field out behind my home looked like a hockey rink - shiny and slippery as hell.

- Newt Gingrich winning the South Carolina primary is not a surprise; that he won handily (40.4% to 27.8% for Mitt Romney) is a surprise. Following reaction on Twitter (shocker - most of the people I follow are media types), many of the Romney supporters were getting downright nasty and beside themselves. Sorry, people, a vote for Gingrich in the third primary of the season is NOT a vote for Obama. The Romneyites are so invested in the 'inevitability' narrative that they don't know what to do now, since Gingrich won South Carolina, and Rick Santorum is now the declared winner of Iowa. In other words, nothing is inevitable, and things are now a lot more interesting in the Republican race for the nomination.

- It's Championship Sunday in the NFL. The first game is Baltimore versus New England, and I hope the Patriots drop fifty on the Ravens. It won't happen because of the Baltimore D, but I can hope, right? I pick the Flying Elvii (to channel TMQ) to win 34-17. The Nevermores will not recover from this, and Joe Flacco will be the scapegoat. In the other game, the 49ers host the Giants in a battle of teams of destiny. I hate the Giants (NFC East rivals), and thus cannot root for them in any circumstance. Squared Sevens win a close game, probably something like 21-17.

- Annoying trend in sports fandom: people who don't know how to use the word 'versus'. They say 'verse', as in "Today it's the Patriots verse the Ravens". NOOOO!! It's versus...verSUS! A verse is a rhyme or a stanza in a song; versus denotes opposition. That is all.

- Today is the 39th anniversary of the abominable Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. Last year, I wrote a whole series of posts on this topic. I will have something else up later (or tomorrow) about the subject.

Enjoy the day and get some football watching in!

Law Of Intended Consequences...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:06:00 +0000

YOU. MUST. OBEY!

Close to six months ago, I blogged that it looked like the Obama administration was going to order insurance companies and health plans to cover contraception without any co-pays.

It has come to pass...

Starting August 1 of this year (religiously affiliated organizations get a one-year 'delay' and have to be in compliance by August 1 of next year)

Our ever delightful Secretary of Health and Human Services said the following...

“This decision was made after very careful consideration, including the important concerns some have raised about religious liberty,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. “I believe this proposal strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services."

The appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services. How...Orwellian.

Before anyone goes off and screams about how intolerant I am and how I just 'don't understand', bear in mind that I am not in favor of banning contraception; as I said in the aforementioned linked post, I just don't want my taxes or my premium costs to subsidize it. It should be paid for in its entirety by the one who seeks access to the, ahem, 'preventive service'.

The deeper problem is not even necessarily about birth control, but rather about how much control we are going to give the state over what we should and should not have to tolerate being forced upon us. I suggested back in August that the administration is either incompetent or malevolent in their inability to understand that someone is going to have to pick up the tab for 'free' contraception (or any other elective drug or medical procedure, for that matter).

I am leaning toward the latter, because it would seem that the ultimate plan of the 'Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act' is the destruction of private insurance in this country and a slide toward single-payer healthcare, which is why I entitled this post the way I did. If this endgame is what you wanted all along, congratulations, you are already a good part of the way there. If not, the long and slow slide toward single-payer will be all the more painful. The only way to stop it is to repeal the bill in its entirety. The Supreme Court will probably not help much.

Repeal. That's the only hope.

On Sports Loyalties...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 21:08:00 +0000

As anyone who reads this blog knows, I am not a fan of the Redskins, although I do count fans of them among my closest friends - such is the nature of living in this area for nearly twenty-three years. However, despite not liking the team and actively rooting for the Redskins to finish with double digit losses every season, I can completely respect the loyal fan who knows that this is his team, no matter what.

On that note, I was gratified to read a column by Robert McCartney in the Washington Post Metro section entitled "No Self-Respecting Redskins Fan Dares Root For the Ravens".

(However, there is a caveat to this gratification - I do NOT consider the Ravens to be in any way, shape, or form to be a 'rival' to the Redskins. At all. Under any circumstances. The Redskins' rivals are the Cowboys, Eagles, and Giants. The Ravens' rivals are the Steelers and Browns. The fact that they play thirty miles apart is of no consequence. They don't even play in the same conference, much less the same division. The Olympics, for God's sake, happen as often as a Ravens-Redskins regular season game. Ok, so that is now off my chest. Back to the regularly scheduled ~~programming~~ blogging.)

No adult who has selected a particular team to follow should be allowed to actively root for another team. It's one thing to be happy for another team, or to pull for another team, but to actively root for another team as if it is one's own, is a mortal sin in the annals of sports fandom. It irks the hell out of me for, say, an Eagles fan to 'adopt' the Packers as his 'new team' in the playoffs. No, you are an Eagles fan, and that's that. Of course, not everyone agrees, like this guy quoted in the column...

Ben Rapisardi, 26, suggested people like that [those who root for one team and one team only -- J.L.] need professional help.

“There’s something psychologically wrong with you if you’re from Maryland, and you don’t root for the Ravens,” Rapisardi declared at Babes in Silver Spring.

That's complete and utter nonsense. I am from Maryland, but I don't root for the Ravens. I suggest that people who believe that they need to be beholden to artificial political borders to root for a team need to be slapped. Don't get me wrong, the Ravens have done a marvelous job in marketing themselves as 'Maryland's Team', even co-opting the Maryland flag in some of its logos (see here for what I mean) despite the inconvenient fact the Redskins play in...Maryland.

Ravens fans are Ravens fans, but let's not try to pretend that dual loyalties are healthy or a good thing. I dislike the Ravens as well, mostly due to their whiny, conspiracy theorist fans and their incredibly boring style of playing football. In the AFC Championship Game on Sunday, I know for whom I will be pulling - the Antichrist and the Pretty Boy. I hope New England puts fifty points up on Baltimore. I will be joining Mr. McCartney and real Redskins fans everywhere in their desire for the Patriots to metaphorically piss on the Ravens' Super Bowl hopes.

See! There can be common ground between people like me and Redskins fans - hate on the Cowboys, hate on the Giants, and hope that the Ravens have to set up tee times by January 23rd.

True loyalty is an underrated attribute in sports fandom, but unfortunately it seems to be slipping away in this fantasy sports universe. Too bad. Thankfully we have some that have kept their sanity.

Well played, Mr. McCartney.

An Interesting Little Thing...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 19:40:00 +0000

I haven't done one of these little internet memes in the longest time, but since Nick has tagged me as the next in line for what is called the "Liebster Award", which apparently means I am beloved in some fashion (the explanation can be found here - H/T to Nick) by Sir Nicholas. Anyway, just wanted to thank Nick for this tagging and such - now on to the major parts of this...

Rules

1. Thank the person who gave you the award.

2. Link back to the Blogger (or Bloggers) who awarded you.

3. Answer the following questions, down below.
4. Pass the award out and recognize other Bloggers letting them know that you love them.

Now to the questions....

Favorite color: Blue, although I like Green and Black also.
Favorite animal: Cats, always. Especially The Real Author™
Favorite number: 36
Favorite drink: Coke (can't have anymore), Diet Pepsi, Royal Wedding (Crown Royal and RC Cola), and Yuengling.
Facebook or Twitter? Facebook, although Twitter does serve its purpose for me.
Passion? Baseball, Theology, Politics
Getting or giving presents? Giving. Just as the Prayer of St. Francis says, "It is in giving that we receive" - never have truer words been spoken.
Favorite day: November 5th - for an incredibly perverse reason.
Favorite flower: Tulips. Roses are too clichéd for my taste.

He is going to absolutely hate me for doing this, but I select Adam to be the next in the Liebster line.

A View From The Wrong Side...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 00:38:00 +0000

One of the more interesting things on Deadspin during this NFL season has been the 'roundtable' feature presented during the week. It is essentially a glorified email exchange, but one of the exchanges today caught my eye, and it's about how 'instant classic' games are seen. Josh Levin explains...

Some losses are totally meaningless. (For 11 examples, consult the 2011 Washington Redskins game log.) Others, like the Patriots' 45-10 stomping of the Broncos, inflict a pain that's intense but fleeting, the result of an irrefutable beatdown by a superior opponent. A third category—the defeats the Giants piled up during their midseason swoon, for instance—become a part of team lore, the valley before the peak. And then there are the losses in which your team is doomed to forever play the mark in someone else's highlight reel. Depending on where your allegiance lies, these are either known as "classics" or "those times I went catatonic."

As a Philly fan, I can speak to this pretty well on both ends. For example, a game better known as 'classics' (in Levin's words) would be the longest game in the expansion era (since 1967) of the NHL, when the Flyers took five (yes, FIVE) overtime periods to defeat the Penguins in Game Four of the 2000 Eastern Conference Semifinals. My dad and I stayed up to watch this until the bitter end. Never had a wrist shot been as pretty as when Keith Primeau sent one over Ron Tugnutt's left shoulder. Never had we yelped so loudly at three in the morning. Even though it 'merely' tied up the series, the Penguins played the rest of the series with a deer-in-the-headlights look and didn't win another game.

The other 'classic' I can think of off the top of my head is the famous '4th and 26' game - the Divisional Round game between the Eagles and Packers at the end of the 2003 season. It was a devastating loss for the Packers, who only had to stop 26 yards from being gained with just over a minute to go and then couldn't do it, only to let the Eagles tie it up and then lose it to David Akers in overtime.

On the flip side, there is always going to be the two games of the 1993 World Series (Games Four and Six) that fit the 'instant classic' label, but the Phillies were on the losing side of both, including a series ending home run by Joe Carter. Both of those games induced a catatonic state in the eleven-year-old me. Interestingly enough, there aren't a lot of these in the other sports, since most of the defeats in football, basketball, and hockey were either full-fledged ass-kickings or losses we were completely expecting without any sort of last second or minute drama involved.

This is just a reminder that not all losses (or wins for that matter) are created equal. There are some we will remember much more for many different reasons - a point I covered when I looked at the Levels of Losing. And so it must be, even if they all count the same technically.

Asininity Of Football Analysis...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 20:48:00 +0000

I am a regular reader of Mike Florio's ProFootballTalk, and most of the time, the writers (Florio, Rosenthal, Alper, and Smith) posit good information and fairly sound analysis (except during the lockout). This morning, though, was not one of those times.

Florio wrote a post entitled 'Saturday's exciting finish shouldn't have happened', with the case being made for Alex Smith taking a knee at the one yard line on his 28 yard touchdown run around the two-minute warning.

On my way home from the gym early this afternoon, I heard Kevin Sheehan (a favorite target of mockery here) make the exact same point on his radio show 'The Sports Fix'. So it is apparently a point of obviousness to the so-called 'brights' of the football media that this is what Alex Smith should have done.

And they are a bunch of asinine morons. Every single one of them...

The first and most important thing that they all seem to miss is that the 49ers were trailing at that point in the game. I kept hearing/reading references to Brian Westbrook from 2007, but there is a HUGE difference between leading and trailing in a game, much less a playoff game. New Orleans was leading 24-23 when Smith took off on the brilliantly executed bootleg and scored. Competitors score. Robots and armchair analysts programmed like robots take a fall at the one in the name of 'running out the clock'.

Secondly, in a game where you are trailing, do you take the six points, or do you give that up for an attempt at a field goal - close as it may be? Remember this? Anything can go wrong, especially when a trip to the NFC Championship Game is on the line, and when the game is tied or you are leading, things like this can be risked, but not when trailing. Just imagine the headline if Akers missed the kick or Lee bobbled the snap...

Why did Alex stop??

Florio says that had this course of action taken place (assuming a kick is made), the Saints would have gotten the ball with forty seconds left - but only needing a field goal to win. Considering that they scored a touchdown in thirty-seven seconds on the next possession, a field goal try in that amount of time is not outside the realm of possibility.

Alex Smith did the right thing. He was in the right, and all the armchair quarterbacks are wrong. Of course, they will never admit to that, preferring to retreat into their silly robotic diagrams and pure hypotheticals that only take place under laboratory conditions.

*UPDATE* - Add Mike Greenberg to the Chorus of Stupid, even after admitting that the scenario would only occur in a perfect world (i.e. laboratory conditions), he still crapped on Smith for not taking the knee at the one.

Hall of Fame Results...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 01:22:00 +0000

First of all, congratulations to Barry Larkin for being elected to the Hall of Fame. It is a great honor for him, and a very deserving one. I was always convinced he was worthy, and so did 86% of the voters who submitted their ballots. Unfortunately, the voters shirked their duties in many other ways....

1) Nine voters actually submitted blank ballots. That's a good sign that they don't take their job seriously. Craig Calcaterra over at HBT says the following about this phenomenon:

[T]hey strike me as evidence of a voter whose standards are unreasonably high and who is possessed of a basic failure of performance assessment and a general lack of understanding of baseball history. Whether you’re small-hall, big-hall, anti-PED or PED-apathetic, there has to be at least one candidate who appeals to you, right?

If, on the other hand, a blank ballot is a protest of some kind, such a thing strikes me as evidence that the voter in question is not worthy of his ballot.

2) Guys like Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines are still well short of the required 75% - and with a glut of first-time candidates coming onto the ballot over the next 2-4 years, their hills are going to be even higher over that time. Bagwell and Raines both got a higher percentage this year than last year, but both are more deserving than this.

3) Bill Mueller got a vote! Swear to God. It was Pedro Gomez too!

Thank God that Jack Morris didn't get in, although with close to 67% of the vote, he is having that kind of creeping last ballot momentum that propelled Bert Blyleven to Cooperstown. The difference, of course, is that Blyleven deserved it; Morris does not. And quite honestly, I am a bit flummoxed by the folks who keep arguing that there isn't an iota of difference between Barry Larkin and Alan Trammell. Compare their numbers, please. There is a world of difference, and I went over some of them here.

I await the 2013 balloting process - it will be a mud fight of proportions never seen before. Bring it on!

Redux: Idiotic Announcer Terminology

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 03:23:00 +0000

Last winter, around this time for the start of the NFL Playoffs (PLAYOFFS!!???), I presented a series of stupid football announcer clichés and other little statements they love to say ad nauseum with the deranged notion that they are being a) clever, b) deep, or, God help us, c) cool. They are, of course, none of the above.

So in 'honor' of the start of the playoffs tomorrow, I felt it prudent to bring these back, especially since any and all sports fans will be exposed to national broadcasting crews who spew these ridiculous tropes nonstop. The clichés and silly statements presented are mostly indicative of NFL announcers (I don't mention college ones, because a) I don't care, and b) I DON'T CARE!), but they can apply to football announcers at all levels and even the CFL (yes, I watch Canadian football...so sue me).

Anyway, here are the five parts, broken down by terms. Click on the links to get the full explanations as to why they drive me insane...Enjoy!

Part I - "Put Eight In the Box" and "Tackle Box"

Part II - "Scheme", "X-Factor", and "One Player Away"

Part III - "Explosive", "Heady", "Double Reverse", and "Nearly Picked Off!!"

Part IV - Explaining Challenges and "National Football League"

Part V - "Football" (As An Adjective And A Noun)

Mid-Terms! And Other Academic Musings...

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 00:52:00 +0000

Before Christmas, there was the lovely process known as semester exams (or midterms), and teaching a full year's course in the New Testament, the examination covered the following major topics of the first semester...

1) The run-up to, and the early life of Christ - in other words, setting up the conditions for his arrival on earth in Bethlehem. This does matter, believe it or not, especially the attitudes that were fostered within the people of Israel between 2,000 and 2,500 years ago.

2) The preparation for, and the execution of the public ministry of Christ - Baptism, Temptation by Satan, miracles, teachings, the Sermon on the Mount, and the like. One of my favorite sections to teach.

3) The final weeks of Jesus' life - this actually begins with the raising of Lazarus from the dead, which is the ultimate miracle of the public ministry. This leads to the conspiracy, then the events of what we now call Holy Week, culminating in the Last Supper, the Agony, the arrest, the trials, and the death and burial of Jesus.

4) The early apostolic age - this begins with the Resurrection of Jesus, and how the Apostles go forward from there. The unit and semester ends with the Council of Jerusalem - being a springboard to Paul's missionary journey into the Gentile world.

Exciting, isn't it? Actually, I was going to discuss the exam results (without giving names or sections) and give some reaction to it from a purely data standpoint, but first, I want to place a chart here with the breakdown of sections and grades...

The first thing to note is that there were 122 students over five sections taking this exam; they all took the exact same exam in the exact same room (cafeteria), so there is no sense of different questions or environment that would skew the results. The total grade distribution of all 122 students is thus...

The A, B, and C range also include any and all minuses that were gained - which are the 0-2 of the 90, 80, and 70 range (i.e. 90-92: A-, 80-82: B-, 70-72: C-). The average grade of all 122 students was 79.31%, which could actually be inferred from looking at the pie chart - roughly half (64) of the total students scored an 80% or better, and about the same scored lower. It's obvious which individual group would have the highest average, but I would be willing to bet that figuring out the order in which the groups finished after Group II would be more difficult to ascertain just by deciphering the amount of particular marks, because an 89.9% counts just as much a B just as 80.0% does (no, I don't round up - call me fickle, call me an ass, but numbers don't lie).

This brings me to an idea that has been percolating in my head for about the last year and a half - of applying the principle of Sabermetrics to grading as a way to compare students across sections and even across years. The ultimate goal I have, although I don't know how to implement it, is to make an 'Adjusted Grade' system a permanent part of high school transcripts and college applications. Consider the problem...

Grade inflation is a bigger issue now than it ever has been, and thus, trying to raise up the best to a higher and more deserved level is ever-more difficult. Lots of kids get A's, but the real question is: how are they doing in comparison with their peers? Some high schools have been putting class averages on their transcripts when they send them to college to show that a particular student has been above the fold, but that is a messy proposition. I say that it should be streamlined and made on a 100-based system, so it's incredibly easy to interpret.

My inspiration for such a system is the adjusted statistics in Sabermetrics, especially OPS+ and ERA+ - both of these are pretty simple to interpret: 100 is average, and anything above or below is that many percentage points away from 'league average'. How does this apply to grading and transcripts? The fundamental principle is to show that not all grades are created equally. A kid who gets a 95% with a class average of 93.5% does not have as impressive of a grade as a kid who has the 95% with a class average of 75%. It can mean different things: 1) The instructor is tough and the kid in the class with the lower average grade worked his behind off to attain that 95%; 2) The instructor is easy and is giving away A's like Halloween candy, or 3) the entire class is just very smart, but that still means the kid with the 95% isn't standing out very much.

So at this point, this is all still very much a work in progress - if you couldn't tell by my stream-of-conscious style of rambling over the past couple of paragraphs! Hopefully in the next few months it starts to come together and it will be pitched to someone (who, I don't know). But I do know that it is time to try something new in academia. I expect major push-back, but I think it is worth considering. What do you think?

Happy Feast of The Epiphany!

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 15:27:00 +0000

This is always one of my favorite days and stories in Scripture - the visit of the Magi to Bethlehem. Merry Christmas to our brethren in the Eastern Christian traditions! And finally, January 6th also has a lot of meaning because it was my grandmother's birthday - she would have been eighty today. We all miss her and pray to see her at the Resurrection. Rest in peace, Grandma.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.

Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently what time the star appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshiped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

The New Mass Translation - UPDATE #1

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 17:38:00 +0000

I figured here in the New Year, I would give my thoughts on the Revised Roman Missal as it has been practiced for the past six weeks. Some of you may recall that I did a fisking on an atrocious piece of journalism from the Washington Post a little over two months ago – which was about four weeks before the Revised Missal went into practice here in the United States.

Firstly, I have to say that I was thoroughly amused by the reaction of people at Christmas time who don’t normally attend Mass (the ol’ “C and E” Catholics). It was as if they had no idea that any of this was going on and were completely blown away by this ‘regression into darkness’, with regard to the wording. I am not sure how people could have missed this, though – if it made its way into mainstream papers like the Post and other publications. I suppose that, in their defense, it is a lot different to hear it rather than just read about it – which I can completely understand.

Secondly, I will admit that I have screwed up a good number of times. The biggest one is reflexively starting to say ‘and also with you’, only to switch in the middle of the stream and say something like ‘and also with your Spirit’. Annoying as hell to catch myself doing this. The spot where I tend to do it the most is at the little dialogue prior to the Eucharistic Prayer, because I would be so intent on making sure I said ‘it is right and just’ that I would totally forget to say ‘and with your Spirit’ at the first command ‘the Lord be with you’. I think it will be a whole year before everyone is completely adjusted.

The other main spot of error I keep making is during the Creed – when it comes to discussing the birth of Christ, I have said at least three or four times ‘by the power of the Holy Spirit’, instead of ‘and by the Holy Spirit, he was incarnate…’. Do you know how awkward it is to say that with NO ONE ELSE in the whole church saying it with me? Embarrassed silence ensued from me each time, indeed!

Thirdly, I really, really like the wording of the Institution Narrative in the Eucharistic Prayers. I mentioned it briefly in the fisking, but the changing of the word ‘cup’ to ‘chalice’ is a small, but important feature. In the Latin, it is rendered as ‘calix’, which is a type of cup, and gives it a sense that something sacred is going on. I have said it to quite a few people that the banal and mundane does not really have a place within the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Thus, the elevation of our language demonstrates that we are in the ‘other’, that we are in the world, but not of it. The other major change - of ‘for all’ to ‘for many’ - I commented in the fisk:

Look up the actual words that are found in Scripture - Matthew 26:28: ‘this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins’. If you have a beef with the line, take it up with the Lord, not the Church.

Also, words (in the Creed) like ‘consubstantial’ and ‘incarnate’ actually do better than ‘one in being’ and ‘born of’, because they convey the theological meaning that is not necessarily present in the short phrases that we had formerly spoken. Can they be considered ‘awkward’? By our modern American English standards, probably, but it is not the same thing as being ‘bad’ or ‘wrong’, and they are more impactful for the same reason as ‘chalice’ being inserted into the Institution Narrative.

So far, I like what I have seen – and for the most part, the faithful in the pews have done well in their adjustment, save for a few cranks that have no sense of irony in complaining about the new wording of the Mass. Otherwise, I expect the relatively smooth sailing to continue. The next update will probably be around Easter time, when we have gone through Lent and the Triduum. Stay tuned…

The Banished Words of 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 20:00:00 +0000

Each year, Lake Superior State University publishes a list of words that they believe should be banished from the English language due to their ubiquitousness, poor use, or just plain annoyance. I have covered this the past two years (2009 and 2010 lists and thoughts), and as always, I confess to being guilty of using some of these terms. Consider it weakness or a character flaw. To the ~~highlights~~ lowlights...

'Amazing' - this word used to be a great compliment to receive, but now it has achieved through overuse, an annoying connection with banality. I suppose it's better than 'awesome' (a word I throw around a lot in speech, but not in writing), but when you hear things like a pair of pants being described as 'amazing', you know it is time to dial it back or eliminate it altogether.

'Shared Sacrifice' - usually on these lists, you will see terms that are used by politicians who in turn got them from whatever focus group recommended them (such as 'Shovel-Ready' from a couple years back and 'Win the Future', also on this year's list). The public has slowly become dumbed down thanks to the nonsense on television, but they aren't so dumb that they can't see that a particular term or phrase is meant to be some kind of euphemism to help the medicine go down.

'Man Cave' - ironically, in commenting on last year's list, The Doyler commented that this term should have been on the list, and so here it is. Now, I like the idea of a man cave in principle, although I do think it is time to retire the term since it has lost a lot of it's meaning, as one of the people submitting notes:

Overused by television home design and home buying shows, has trickled down to sitcoms, commercials, and now has to be endured during interactions with real estate people, neighbors and co-workers.

Once it started getting used by professional-types, then that's when the term jumped the shark and needs to be replaced.

'The New Normal' - I can't do justice to this one myself, so I will allow the submission to do it for me...

The phrase is often used to justify bad trends in society and to convince people that they are powerless to slow or to reverse those trends. This serves to reduce participation in the political process and to foster cynicism about the ability of government to improve people's lives. Sometimes the phrase is applied to the erosion of civil liberties. More often, it is used to describe the sorry state of the U.S. economy. Often hosts on TV news channels use the phrase shortly before introducing some self-help guru who gives glib advice to the unemployed and other people having financial difficulties.

Couldn't have put it any better. It's one big rationalization and part of the attempt to make relativism more palatable, even though in and of itself, it will collapse under its own weight.

'Ginormous' - I use this mostly in an ironic sense, because as many note, it is a bit ridiculous to combine 'gigantic' and 'enormous'. It is an awkward turn of phrase and just sounds like something a teenager would say (and I would know, given what I do for a living). Just stick to the tried and true words like big, or consult the large amount of synonyms.

'Thank You In Advance' - guilty of this one periodically. A better explanation than I can give is...

Usually followed by 'for your cooperation,' this is a condescending and challenging way to say, 'Since I already thanked you, you have to do this.

Well said. This is mostly used in emails, and when I do use it, it's where I exclusively use it.

If there are any others, please put them in the comment thread and the reasons why they should be banned.

Lattanzi Land 2012 Hall of Fame Ballot

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 19:43:00 +0000

Every year the Baseball Writers Association of America has the opportunity to put retired or deceased players into the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, New York. The rules for election require that a player needs to be named on seventy-five percent of all submitted ballots. He can remain on the ballot if he does not gain election for up to fifteen years, provided that the player has received at least five percent of the ballots. I have written about changing this process but this is the system we have.

I did a full ballot for last year's vote, discussing which players I felt deserved Hall of Fame election if I actually had a BBWAA vote; I don’t obviously, but this isn’t stopping me from sharing my opinion on the issue. Just as last year, I am separating into four categories – 1) HELL-No, 2) No, 3) Borderline, and 4) Yes. The first two involve merely the lists of the players (there are 27 players on the ballot for this year), and the latter two involve explanations. What I am doing for the players who were on the ballot last year is excerpting what I wrote last time along with any kind of notes that should have been added since then.

If you want to look up stats - go here - the Baseball-Reference complete ballot, with links to each player's page. When I cite stats, I use Baseball-Reference's plethora. We begin the ballot after the jump...

Christmas Music Countdown - #1

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 18:51:00 +0000

Thanks for the reading the Lattanzi Land Christmas Music Countdown - it will be found under the Greatest Hits link at the top of the page - you can also click on it here!

Number One on this countdown is an easy one - it's "O Holy Night". The toughest part was deciding which version of that great and wonderful song to use. There are at least five variations of it that I absolutely love. I have decided to put three particular versions of it. The first is from Celtic Woman in their Christmas concert:

The second is from Josh Groban...

And the third is from Méav Ní Mhaolchatha, who was featured in Number Three ("Silent Night") as part of Celtic Woman, but here she sings it as a solo, and much like her singing "Silent Night", it is absolutely angelic, and the high note she hits on the final "Noel" in the song is positively tear-inducing.

Again, thanks for following the Countdown. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and enjoys the beauty of the songs!

The Christmas Proclamation!

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 14:59:00 +0000

This has always been one of my favorite things about going to Midnight Mass every year at Christmas time. The proclamation is a moving piece when done very well - and it always is at my parish. A special shout out to my dear friends Eddie and Hilary, who became engaged at the end of Midnight Mass! Cent'Anni! And may the blessings of the Lord be upon them! To the proclamation itself:

The twenty-fifth day of December.

In the five thousand one hundred and ninety-ninth year of the creation of the world

from the time when God in the beginning created the heavens and the earth;

the two thousand nine hundred and fifty-seventh year after the flood;

the two thousand and fifteenth year from the birth of Abraham;

the one thousand five hundred and tenth year from Moses

and the going forth of the people of Israel from Egypt;

the one thousand and thirty-second year from David's being anointed king;

in the sixty-fifth week according to the prophecy of Daniel;

in the one hundred and ninety-fourth Olympiad;

the seven hundred and fifty-second year from the foundation of the city of Rome;

the forty second year of the reign of Octavian Augustus;

the whole world being at peace,

in the sixth age of the world,

Jesus Christ the eternal God and Son of the eternal Father,

desiring to sanctify the world by his most merciful coming,

being conceived by the Holy Spirit,

and nine months having passed since his conception,

was born in Bethlehem of Judea of the Virgin Mary,

being made flesh.

The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.

Merry Christmas to all, and God bless us everyone!

Christmas Music Countdown - #2

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 00:17:00 +0000

For the rest of the countdown - go here!

Number Two on this Christmas Eve is a song that is fairly new, but it is one that I find to be a sweet song - "Mary Did You Know?" - a duet by Wynonna Judd and Kenny Rogers. While this isn't a song I would recommend for any kind of worship, and the Christology is a bit underdeveloped (theology nerd shining forth!), it is nonetheless a type of song that leads one to ponder who Jesus is. In this day and age of over-commercialization and a tendency to forget just what Christmas is about, it is a song that at least attempts to bring us back to what Christmas is about, and there is something to be said for that - a LOT to be said for that. Enjoy!

Christmas Music Countdown - #3

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 21:00:00 +0000

For the rest of the countdown - see here!

Number Three is perhaps the sweetest of all Christmas carols - "Silent Night". There are many wonderful versions out there, but none stirs the soul like the rendition performed by Méav Ní Mhaolchatha (then of Celtic Woman) and fiddler Máiréad Nesbitt (still with Celtic Woman). Méav's voice along with Máiréad's violin is haunting, and she actually sings it in Gaelic first before singing in English. Her voice is truly that of an angel and no one will be able to convince me otherwise. Enjoy!

Christmas Music Countdown - #4

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:00:00 +0000

For the rest of the countdown - click the link!

Number four comes from a source that is well known for its Christmas concerts - the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The selection is "Joy To the World". All through my life, there has never been anything more rousing than listening and singing this song as we leave Midnight Mass every year, especially the final climactic verse. Every year when the Mormon Tabernacle Choir is on TV, I stop and listen. I obviously don't belong to that particular church, but damn it, they have a fine fine choir. Enjoy!

Christmas Music Countdown - #5

noreply@blogger.com (Joshua Lattanzi) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:23:00 +0000

For the rest of the countdown - go here!

Number five is one that I have come upon fairly recently, only in the last few years. I wish I had known about it earlier - it's "Christmas Canon" by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. I love the Canon in D by Pachelbel, and so any kind of addition to it like this is usually going to sound very nice. I love the singing of the children, as well as the medium speed orchestral arrangement. I can't say, however, that I care too much for the companion "Christmas Canon Rock". The remaining four are still to come! Enjoy!