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skip to main | skip to sidebarPagesHome!M*A*S*H Essay SeriesSuper Bowl Countdown Saturday, February 10, 2018 Top Fifteen NFL QB's Of All TimeSeveral years ago, I did on this blog a list of the top ten NFL quarterbacks of all time. In light of many events taking place in the last few years, the time has arrived to edit and even expand the list. It is now a top fifteen list. Enjoy!

15) Dave Krieg (Seahawks) - This guy has never gotten enough credit for the stellar career he had in an NFL hellhole like Seattle in its AFC West days. Hall of Fame resume, especially in a day and age of power-running. 100+ more TD passes in his career than Troy Aikman and had one season of 30+ TD passes. Most impressively, in a 13 month span, he handed John Elway and Dan Marino their first career post-season losses, and Jim Plunkett his final post-season loss. Why the Hall of Fame committee continues to overlook such signature wins is beyond me!

14) Aaron Rodgers (Packers) - His ability to crush the Dallas Cowboys' hopes by overturning touchdowns via replay, keeping their pass rush at bay for an eternity, and winning the Super Bowl on their home field lands him on this list. Also of note is his ability to summon divine intervention when he needs to throw improbably long passes on the final plays of games. Danica Patrick keeps him from being higher, because the Lord and His Mother are not impressed. However, he is redeemed in part because he wears the right facemask.

13) Trey Burton (Eagles) - he is the highest rated passer in NFL postseason history, and threw what could be arguably the most consequential TD in NFL history. Judge for yourself:


12) Eli Manning (Giants) - A genuine hero in the annals of football, having slayed the forces of evil not once, but TWICE. A true model for everyone else to follow. His sheer will to ensure footballs stayed glued to helmets and toes stayed inbounds is an awe-inspiring sight no one should forget. Cementing his legacy on this list is his ability to get people to talk about him even as the same forces of evil got slaughtered by a much better set of good guys.

11) Joe Montana (49ers) He won four Super Bowls and was on the all-time lists for statistics. He doesnt get higher up on the list for three four reasons a) He should have won SIXSuper Bowls but like the complete wimp he was, he got knocked out of a bunch of playoff games; b) he was a system QB in the purest sense (i.e. he was a robot built by Bill Walsh, but not a durable one see above), c) he didnt even have the common courtesy to remain standing for the signature play of his career, and d) all the Skechers commercials he did make him look like a child molester.
10) Terry Bradshaw (Steelers) Like Montana, he also won four Super Bowls; unlike Montana, he gets remembered by John Facenda in all the NFL Films specials, which makes him much cooler. Bradshaw also has a better singing voice; his duet with Paul McCartney is one of the most moving memories of my life. Finally, he didnt destruct when a stiff breeze blew over him like Montana. However, he doesnt rate higher because his success was due to a sheet of steel, a ballet dancer, and of all things, an Italian army.
9) Kenny Stabler (Raiders) Stabler is on the list for his proximity to so many miracles in his career, whether for or against him. Fastest ever to 100 wins at the time and a holds a Super Bowl victory. What bumps him up is having to put up with John Madden as his head coach for much of his career: Now, Ken, if we are going to be successful, you are going to have to complete passes and throw touchdowns.
8) Len Dawson (Chiefs) one of the greatest AFL quarterbacks of all time, and a Super Bowl victor as well. His ring counts for one and a half (which is one and a half more than Dan Marino, by the way), because he won as an AFL QB and because of the big gambling scandal that threatened to break out. Not every man can play under that strain. Spygate? Pfft. Big deal. Some cameras in practice, who cares? We are talking about GAMBLIN, man! The most eeeeevil thing that can happen in sports. Just ask Pete Rose. Or Art Schlicter. And Len Dawson won with that over his head. Thats how you become one of the greats!
7) Troy Aikman (Cowboys) No quarterback in history was as good as Aikman in taking the ball through the centers legs andhanding it off to the most prolific running back in history. A true leader! No one could delegate authority like Troy Aikman, and it goes to show that you dont have to do it all yourself. One of the great field generals of all time. Like Patton, Aikman never had to actually fire a cannon or a gun to succeed in leading one of the greatest armies of his era.
6) Joe Namath (Jets) Only once in the history did anyone guarantee victory on camera against a behemoth of a favorite in an NFL-AFL World Championship Game and succeed. Hence, Joe Willie Namath. Also provided one ofthe signature shots of ABC Sportsfor some time. Put that along withsome epic pantyhose ads, aSimpsonsappearance, and a blog named afterhis most embarrassing drunken moment, there is no possible way that he couldnt crack the top three.

5) Jeff Hostetler (Giants) First, no one can ever argue with a 112.0 passer rating in a postseason career. Secondly, who else has a cool nickname like Hoss? Just think of the possibilities. Thirdly, Hostetler has the distinction of beginning the complete and utter disintegration of the NFL franchise formerly known as the Buffalo Bills in what isthe single greatest Super Bowl of all time, bar none. Guys like Aikman are mere beneficiaries of the truly groundbreaking moments for which Hostetler was responsible. A true American hero! Also think of the inspiration he provided for the defeat of the forces of evil in the most recent installment of the Big Game! His favorite target in college is the father of the Eagles' fifth wide receiver. That's some weird stuff. The truth is out there...

4) Trent Dilfer (Ravens) Super Bowl champion. Yes, hard to believe, isnt it? But before you chuckle, remember some things about Dilfer. a) He was so good that the Ravens were able to win games despite not scoring a single offensive touchdown for a month. b) He was also such a great leader that the Ravens allowed the fewest points in modern NFL history. c) He never lost a game as the starter in that great Raven season. Dont forget also, that he made many appearances onESPNs SportsNation, which is still the most important show on the World Wide Leader In Sports. How many appearances has Dan Marino made on SportsNation?

3) Jim Plunkett (Raiders) Two-time Super Bowl champion and has the amazing distinction of being the only quarterback in the history of the NFL to defeat the Eagles in the Super Bowl AND the final winning QB to have John Facenda narrate his victory. He was also so good that TV networks used film of him playing when they show career highlights of other quarterbacks. If that isnt incredible, I dont know what is!

2) Nick Foles (Eagles) - First, he holds the NFL record for greatest TD-Int ratio in a season, as well as the single-game record for most touchdown passes. He also owns the highest post-season passer rating in league history for a QB. And those are just the warm-ups.

Now, scroll up and observe arguably the most consequential touchdown in the history of the National. Football. League. In slaying the forces of evil, Foles showed he could in fact do what the queen of the forces of evil said couldn't be done. Contrast that to the leader of the forces of evil:


He is also responsible for dialing up his own number in the aforementioned consequential touchdown. You now understand why the play is so important - one of the greatest QB's ever threw to another while being inspired by a third. That epic combination led to slaying the forces of evil. Foles was also so great that he single-handedly kept an entire city from burning down through his awesome ability and took ownershipof the forces of evil.
1) Bob Griese (Dolphins) Only completely undefeated season ever. No one can ever top this. Are there any questions?

Honorable Mentions - Brett Favre and Jim McMahon, for they too have helped slay the forces of evil.Written ByJoshua Lattanziat7:43 PM0CommentsFiled Under:Football Thursday, March 19, 2015 Reflection on St. Joseph and FatherhoodGrowing up in a Catholic family and in a Catholic environment, St. Joseph was always an afterthought. Yeah, he was Marys husband and Jesus earthly (or foster) father, as I had been taught, as well as the third person of the Holy Family. And every Catholic school kid remembers putting J.M.J. at the top of each paper, but there was no doubt which J stood for Joseph.
Getting into theology as a course of study, I began to look a little closer at St. Joseph and what he was entrusted to do: model himself as a sacrifice for the greater good of the Holy Family. Everything was geared around raising the Son of God in the flesh and being the provider for him and his Most Blessed Mother. He exhibited much fear with discovering Marys pregnancy, but he eventually overcame that. The undertaking of the great responsibility came at the expense of his own pursuits and desires, and provides for us a model of doing for those who are at their most helpless, a point Jesus made toward the end of his public ministry (Matthew 25).
Im sure that some Catholics look at Joseph as a good (or even great) man for some of the reasons above. Im also sure that for most, their experience regarding him is limited to the Christmas play and the Nativity scenes under the tree. For much of my life, that was me as well.
And then she happened
One Day OldShe being our beloved daughter, Gabriella, whom we adopted in 2012. A long-standing prayer was answered, we finally had our child, and much of the pain and bitterness of many years subsided (although, believe me, we are never going to forget it). We couldn't have adopted her without the love, prayers, and support of so many friends and family members. Shes almost three now, growing like a weed, and always has a mouthful to say. Quite frankly, life is much better with her, warts and all, than it ever would have been without her.
So, the question becomes: what does that have to do with St. Joseph?
The answer lies in my affinity for the great (and silent) saint; he, too, adopted a Child, and made Him his own son. Joseph raised Jesus as if He were his own flesh and blood, taught him and helped formulate the man he would become. Gabbie is not our flesh and blood, but she was an angel delivered unto us (part of the rationale for her name). From Day One through the present, we have proudly watched her grow while we eat together, laugh, play, get frustrated, watch TV, and pray together (yes, we even have a routine for the praying).
On the Road At One Year Old!People tell me how lucky she is that she has us for parents. Thats not entirely true: we are the lucky ones. Or more to the point (as my grandmother reminded me on the phone last week), we are blessed to have her. I dont know what the future holds or whether there will be any other children, but there is no doubt that if she is the only one, she is truly a blessing from above.
St. Joseph had the most difficult task of all time: being the most (by far) inferior member of the Holy Family. He had a perfect wife and a perfect Son, and it was his responsibility to lead, protect, and provide. Whenever I am getting frustrated in my own failings as the man of the family, I look to what he had to do and the circumstances in which he was and remind myself that whatever my issues are, they cant possibly be that difficult to overcome. Every father should look to St. Joseph as a model of dedication and paternal love, but as an adoptive father, I particularly identify with him in ways that most other men do not.
(Pretend) Driving Daddy's CarAs cool as Fathers Day in June is, I regard March 19th as the real Fathers Day, and in some countries (such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal), it is Fathers Day. Its proximity to the Feast of the Annunciation (March 25) also makes for a nice bonding and combination between Father and Mother while reminding us of the greatest model of all in the realm of the domicile: The Holy Family.
St. Joseph is a hero, a model, and an inspiration of what I can be, and what I should strive to be, especially as a dad. I only hope that I can achieve even a modicum of what he demonstrated in his faithfulness to God and Family.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray For Us.
St. Joseph, Pray For Us.Written ByJoshua Lattanziat12:43 PM0CommentsFiled Under:Personal,Religion Saturday, February 28, 2015 The Use Of Letters In M*A*S*HOne of the cool things about M*A*S*H was any episode that is premised on a letter being written. Nearly every season had some kind of deeper look into the nut house that was the 4077. The fascinating part about many of these is that it gives a look into the individual writing the letter just as much as the subjects of said letters.
By my count, there are 14 episodes that the plot is entirely revolved letters being written to the outside. There are others in which letters make for a minor plot point The Pilot itself, when Hawkeye wrote to his father at the beginning; Kim, when Trapper is looking to adopt an ostensibly orphaned Korean boy; and Bulletin Board, when Trapper writes to his young daughters explaining what it is he did at the 4077.
There are a few odd ones involved. Some aren't, strictly speaking, letters, and there is a handful that goes outside the bounds of established practice of these letters. Lets take a look; I rate the episodes on a scale of 5-10 out of 10. I dont go lower than five because of my longstanding view that from a technical sense, there are no badepisodes of the series. My complaints would be mostly plot, dialogue, and directionally-based.
Dear Dad (Season 1: 8/10) the first to use the letter trope from start to finish. Hawkeye is writing to his father at Christmas time and shares the humorous side of the 4077, such as Radar mailing a jeep home piece by piece and Frank and Margarets attempts to hide their relationship. The ending, with Hawkeye jumping to the front in a chopper in a Santa suit, really drove home the ugly side of the war, without being preachy.
Dear DadAgain (Season 1: 9/10) I always find this one to be exceptionally humorous, especially with the scenes in which Hawkeye bets Trapper he could walk across camp naked. He succeeds until Goldman drops his tray. My brother and I maintain Hawkeye actually won this bet, but the episode treats it as if he lost. The Charity No-Talent Night is also a good scene and is the first time we see Hawkeye in his famous tuxedo.
Dear DadThree (Season 2: 8/10) this one takes on a slightly more serious tone, due to the bigoted attitudes of a wounded sergeant named Condon. The doctors also had to deal with a live grenade in the wounded body of a soldier. Even Henrys home movie was on the serious side, although the addition of him messing around with his next door neighbor adds a light touch to it.
A Full Rich Day (Season 3: 9/10) this was the first to do a letter format without the written word; Hawkeye uses a tape recorder to give a look at a day in the life of the 4077. The missing Luxembourg soldier plot line was pretty funny, but the best one was clearly the crazy Turkish guy. Good Joe. Damn good Joe!
Dear Mildred (Season 4: 9/10) Sherman Potter had only been at the 4077 shortly, and this is the first real insight into his character. It is his 27th anniversary and his is writing to his wife about adjusting to life at M*A*S*H. The ending when Radar presents the horse (eventually known as Sophie) to Potter is one of the most touching scenes in the entire series. Sophie was as much a part of that unit as any person.
Dear Peggy (Season 4: 8/10) out of the three letter episodes of Season Four, this one was the weakest. What Dear Mildred did for Potter, this one does for BJ. Im not going to lie: the Ned Beatty character, who was a superior officer in the chaplain corps to Fr. Mulcahy, was one of the most annoying guest shots this side of Robert Alda (Dr. Borelli). The line, though, about how Frank became a doctor after washing out of embalmers school is a classic.
Dear Ma (Season 4: 9/10) the sweet, innocent Radar is in full force here, writing to his mom in Iowa about the monthly foot inspection, Franks paranoia regarding Koreans, and Potter having to hide being shot from his wife. What sets this apart from the rest so far is that we have the point of view from an enlisted man rather than an officer, especially someone who has such an important role to play in the unit.
Dear Sigmund (Season 5: 10/10) this is one of my top ten M*A*S*H episodes (#4) of all time. Sidney Freedman comes to the 4077 after dealing with a rough patch in which one of his psychiatric patients commits suicide, and ends up taking vacation in the dead of winter at the unit. For therapy, he writes a letter to Sigmund Freud about the characters of the unit. I always enjoy this one because it is the outsiders view of the unit and its people. In some ways, Freedman stands in for the audience.
The Winchester Tapes (Season 6: 9/10) this is for Charles what we saw in Season Four with Potter and BJ. It is mostly a complaint filled audio recording of Charles to his parents begging them to get him out of front-line duty. Such was mostly what Charles did in the early days of Season Six.
Dear Comrade (Season 7: 9/10) the second of the outsider letters, this time from a North Korean spy who infiltrated the 4077 as a houseboy to observe the medical success of the unit to emulate it. The conclusion was that the unit was too insane to even try to mimic. Which, I suppose, would be true. The 4077 is a lot like a sports team. You can teach technique and have good coaching, but talent wins the games. The 4077 had the talent. No talent, no success.
Dear Sis (Season 7: 9/10) its Christmas at the 4077 and Fr. Mulcahy feels completely useless and writes to his sister about those feelings. Throughout the episode, though, his actions, small and large do make a difference. Another very touching scene in the series is when Charles finds his hat from his mother. I have long been about the little things making life enjoyable, and the glee Winchester has with his hat is a great demonstration.
Dear Uncle Abdul (Season 8: 10/10) this was the final letter written by a main character to a family member. Klinger has finally adjusted to being the company clerk after Radars departure and he takes the time to write to his uncle about what hes done. Some of the bits are still among the funniest in the series, such as the competition between Hawkeye and BJ over who can tell a joke better, and Margaret shooting her footlocker with Charles shotgun. Klingers final bit to Hawkeye and BJ in the Officers Club is one of the best comeuppances of the show.
Letters (Season 9: 8/10) this episode breaks from the previous style by using a fourth-grade class from Crabapple Cove. They wrote letters to the personnel of the 4077 in a plethora of different tones and manners. Some are frivolous, some are touching, and some are full of angst, such as the boy who wrote about his brother being killed after being treated at a field hospital. The only negative to the episode is that falls prey to the late-season Alan Alda-fueled anvilicious moralizing.
Give Em Hell, Hawkeye (Season 10: 8/10) Hawkeye writes a letter to Harry Truman after getting frustrated with the lack of peace talks. It is a very well-done episode, even to the point that Im willing to overlook a lot of the late-season malaise (mentioned with the previous episode). The Klinger-Margaret dynamic is always an underrated and forgotten one; here it is on full and glorious display.
For the record, I have rated every single episode. Eventually, that will be compiled into a database that Ill keep here. Hope you enjoyed reading this. Please let me know if you think I have neglected anything.Written ByJoshua Lattanziat10:38 PM0CommentsFiled Under:M*A*S*H Monday, January 6, 2014 Lattanzi Land 2014 Hall of Fame BallotEvery year the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) 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 have done ballots for the past three years (2011,2012, 2013); no, I dont possess a BBWAA ballot, but this is how I would vote if I did.
There are thirty-six men on the ballot this year, and we have never seen this kind of jam-packed potential Hall of Fame class. At least, if the idiot gatekeepers who make up a large amount of the BBWAA writer-voters actually did their jobs without passion or prejudice. There is a plethora of returning members of the ballot - one only needs five percent to remain on the ballot (as stated in the preface), although that did not seem to be enough to keep good players like Bernie Williams and Kenny Lofton on it, to the eternal shame of the BBWAA voters. Thus, there are nineteen new names on the ballot, and they range from laughable to worthy of consideration to what-are-you-thinking-NOT-voting-for-that-guy?
As always, I divide my ballot here at Lattanzi Land into four categories:
1) HELL-No.
2) No
3) Borderline No
4) Yes

If you are looking for stats - GO HERE - this is the Baseball-Reference complete Hall of Fame Ballot, complete with the breakdown of numbers for each player on it. There are also links to each players page. When I mention stats, I use the numbers from Baseball-Reference. The ballot begins after the jump.

Continue Reading...Written ByJoshua Lattanziat12:50 PM0CommentsFiled Under:Baseball Tuesday, August 20, 2013 M*A*S*H Season 3 RamblingsThe third season of M*A*S*H is generally considered the apex by quite a few fans of the series, especially the ones who only like the original cast and faded during all the changes (between Seasons Four and Six). I acknowledge that it is anapex of the series, at least, in the sense of the various eras of the series, because one (that one being me) could argue that the entire eleven year run of the series is really at least four different incarnations.

I argue that the apex of that era came in Season Two, mostly because the writing was much tighter in nature than in Season Three; it is very good in Season Three, but there were many more head-scratchers present. Consider some of the lines emanating from Hawkeye:
Its inhuman to serve the same food day after day. Fish, liver, day after day! Ive eaten a river of liver and an ocean of fish! Ive eaten so much fish Im ready to grow gills. Ive eaten so much liver I can only make love if Im smothered in bacon and onions. Adams Ribs
I will not carry a gun, Frank. When I got thrown into this war I had a clear understanding with the Pentagon: no guns. I'll carry your books, I'll carry a torch, I'll carry a tune, I'll carry on, carry over, carry forward, Cary Grant, cash and carry, carry me back to Old Virginia, I'll even 'hari-kari' if you show me how, but I will not carry a gun! Officer of the Day
There is nothing organic about these words; it sounds like a TV show, and thats one of the key differences between Season Two and Season Three.
Before anyone gets on me for being too critical, let me remind you that I enjoythis season very much. As an entire season, it is very strong. While I do prefer Season Two, Season Three really is the coming out party for the series, and also denotes the first attempts at experimentation in the writing and direction of the series.
The only episode I really didnt care for in the entire season was The Consultant, when Robert Alda (Alans father) plays an older doctor who comes to the 4077th and he cracks under the stress of having been in his third different war zone. Its not a bad episode (as I maintain there are no bad episodes from a production standpoint), but I just dont like it a whole lot.
When I speak of Season Three as a coming out party, take a look at some of the episodes that are stepping out of the comfort zone.
1) O.R. the first episode of the series to go without a laugh track, and every single scene centers in the hospital area; there is nothing in the Swamp or the Mess Tent. It also has the origin of Sidney Freedmans signature quote: Ladies and Gentlemen, take my advice: pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
2) Rainbow Bridge and Aid Station both of these involve great personal danger to the doctors and other personnel to help wounded in need, whether in a Chinese hospital or at an army aid station. I consider these to be developmental in the character of Klinger and the latter to be the first major defrosting in the Hawkeye-Margaret relationship.
3) Abyssinia, Henry Of the first three seasons, this was probably the most shocking. Henry is going home, but his plane is shot down over the Sea of Japan and he is presumably killed. While the series had done death before Sometimes You Hear the Bullet (Season One), it had not dealt with a main character being killed previously, and the final O.R. scene is about as genuine a shock as you will ever see (the actors did not know it was coming until just before).
One final point to end these ramblings, this season is the one (in my opinion) where Radar truly becomes Radar that sweet, naïve farm boy. This actually takes place over two episodes in the middle of the season: Mad Dogs and Servicemen and Private Charles Lamb the former has Radar being bitten by a dog which they think has rabies. It is also the first time we see the true extent of Radars menagerie of various animals and rodents.

The latter has Radar saving a lamb that was meant to be eaten for Orthodox (or Greek) Easter by forging travel orders and an identity for the lamb. In the first two seasons, we see Radar being a shyster and a meat-eating glutton on occasion. By this point, he is innocent, vegetarian, and more of (as my mom calls him) the Radar we came to know and love.Written ByJoshua Lattanziat10:26 AM0CommentsFiled Under:M*A*S*H Thursday, December 27, 2012 Lattanzi Land 2013 Hall Of Fame BallotEvery year the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) 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 have done ballots for the past two years (2011 and 2012); no, I dont possess a BBWAA ballot, but this is how I would vote if I did.
This is an interesting year for Hall of Fame voting. There are thirty-seven players on the ballot, and thanks to the rules of the self-appointed gatekeepers of the Hall of Fame, each voter can only submit a ballot with up to ten names on it, regardless of who is actually worthy. Thirteen of the thirty-seven are returning to the ballot from last year, so there are twenty-four new names on the list.
As I have done in the past, I divide my ballot here at Lattanzi Land into four categories:
1) HELL-No.2) No3) Borderline No4) Yes
If you are looking for stats - GO HERE - this is the Baseball-Reference complete Hall of Fame Ballot, complete with the breakdown of numbers for each player on it. There are also links to each players page. When I mention stats, I use the numbers from Baseball-Reference. The ballot begins after the jump!

Continue Reading...Written ByJoshua Lattanziat11:50 PM1 CommentsFiled Under:Baseball Monday, May 14, 2012 M*A*S*H Issues - Hawkeye PierceOut of all the main characters on the series, Hawkeye is my least favorite. Much of that has to do with Alan Aldas projections onto the character, but at the same time there seems to be too much of an over-the-top aspect to the writing and the framing of the character. This was true even early on, before Alda got ahold of the writing and direction for the character (and the series) and drove him into the ground.
If one were to look back to even first season episodes such as I Hate A Mystery and Yankee Doodle Doctor, the character lacks a certain subtlety to it that is present in other characters. The third season episode Adams Ribs has a memorable scene in the mess tent, but the lines ascribed to the Hawkeye character are so unrealistic; no person would actually think to say something like this after being told that he would have to eat either liver or fish for the eleventh straight day:

Its inhuman to serve the same food over and over again. Liver, fish, day after day! Ive eaten a river of liver and an ocean of fish! Ive eaten so much fish, Im ready to grow gills. Ive eaten so much liver I can only make love if Im smothered in bacon and onions.

Really?
Or perhaps the following line, though memorable, is not something a regular person would say, from the episode Officer of the Day:

I will not carry a gun, Frank. When I got thrown into this war, I had a clear understanding with the Pentagon: no guns.I'll carry your books, I'll carry a torch, I'll carry a tune, I'll carry on, carry over, carry forward, Cary Grant, cash-and-carry, carry me back to Old Virginia, I'll even 'hari-kari' if you show me how, but I will not carry a gun.

Right.
While not portrayed the same way, Donald Sutherlands Hawkeye from the 1970 feature film has a subtle and quiet quality to it. He is a much more cynical character in the film, and while they tried to play it that way at first in the series, over time the tie between film and series faded and Hawkeye became solely associated with Alan Aldas rendering.
I understand the whole great humanitarian thing, but that also became a parody of itself eventually, as if Hawkeye was the onlyone who cared about the fate of all of humanity, only he had the guts to take on the man. The latter was where it descended into parody more than anything else; no one doubted that BJ, Potter, Winchester, Radar, Klinger, or Margaret were humanitarians too, but none of their efforts were caricatured in such a positive fashion (if there is such a thing).
This is not to say that there werent positive things of Hawkeye. I have found myself moved at times with some of the things the character has said and done. His nervous breakdown and recovery in the finale (Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen) is one of the most riveting and chilling television experiences I have ever had, and even though I have seen it a thousand times, the chill remains each viewing.
So where can we find the problems? Part of it, no doubt, is the fact that the series went eleven seasons. With that long of a run, continuity is a huge problem, and characters just cant stay stale for too long Frank Burns became stale after four seasons; the series would have been intolerable with eleven seasons of Burns.
The other main problem was Alan Aldas projection of his issues and pet causes onto Hawkeye. While this could be seen all through the series, there were just too many things that were not part of an early 1950s world and there was no way in hell that the stuff Hawkeye did and said that would have been tolerated in the army, even as skilled a surgeon as he was. They tried to write that away at various points in the show (even the pilot), but the reality is that he would have been at Leavenworth many times over, and not for the stupid stuff of which Burns accused him constantly (i.e. "The Novocaine Mutiny" - Season Four).
Thankfully, the series wasnt justabout Hawkeye, or else I think I would have hated the show completely, with all his whining about war, the army, and life in general. There were enough plot lines that didnt depend on him to make it worthwhile, and many of the other characters were strong enough to provide a good counterbalance. Written ByJoshua Lattanziat11:21 AM0CommentsFiled Under:M*A*S*H Wednesday, May 2, 2012 Microcosms And Looking The Other Way...Photo from the LA TimesJunior Seau is dead.
The former great linebacker for San Diego (and others) was found dead in his home of what is being called a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest (link via PFT). He was forty-three years old.
This is a tragedy. Unfortunately, we are on the cusp of a large trend, especially if it comes out that Seau made reference to head injuries in his alleged suicide note. If concussions play a role in this tragedy (and others), I think eventually the NFL will be shelling out millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars to former players in damages.
There will be no immediate impact on the NFL because of this, because people will rationalize it away and claim that this is an isolated incident. I can guarantee one group of people that is paying attention though - parents of boys under the age of 14. That's when you'll start seeing the impact (an unfortunate term to use, I must say). Football will always be around, but one (and by 'one', I mean myself) has to wonder when it will be softened up to the point that it is no longer recognizable as the inherently violent sport we have come to know and love in our society - just out of fear of being sued back to the Stone Age. Give it around twenty years, so sometime between 2030 and 2035, the NFL as we know will cease to exist.
That's my call. I will keep it here for posterity's sake.
Now, getting back to the rationalizing and claiming of isolated incidents, there has been some remarks on Twitter (I am @The_Tonz) that have wondered why people look the other way and ignore the concussion issue in the NFL but scream bloody murder about steroid and PED (performance-enhancing drug) use in Major League Baseball.
Part of it simply the tyranny of low expectations. We know the NFL is ultimately a Neanderthal league that plays to the lowest common denominator, and likewise we treat it as such. Professional football is a bunch ofoversizefreaks who tackle each other and hit each other as hard as possible while grabbing random body parts that may or may not be allowed by the rule book. It appeals to our most base thoughts and feelings and as much as people are divided by the use of war analogies in football, this one holds up - the first rule of war is bloodshed, and it is the same in football, although substitute injuries instead of death. However, we shall see how long that remains purely analogous and begins to run parallel.
Baseball is an intellectual game and is held to a much higher standard in this regard. It was once regarded as the 'every-man' sport, although there are as many freakish athletes in MLB now as there are in other sports. However, the romanticized aspects are still heavily present in baseball and this sense of history and the legends of 'purity' (although there's no such thing) still weigh deeply in the minds of many.
In one sense, I appreciate that higher standard. The students that I call out for their misbehavior sometimes get upset with me, but eventually they get it when I tell them that I expect better from them. If I truly didn't care, then I wouldn't say anything. But I do care, and as such, I feel an obligation to hold them to some kind of standard. Now, the so-called 'gatekeepers' of baseball are often very misguided, but I will say that their hearts are in the right place and they have good intentions. Yes, I am well aware about roads to hell and all that crap...
It just strikes me that many NFL fans sycophants know deep down they are watching pieces of meat, and they just don't care. And I can accept that. However, the shrieks of outrage from the same people over these deaths and stuff like the Saints' bounties are just a little over the top and quite frankly, very very disingenuous. People only started caring about these things when it looked like their precious NFL might be taking a few knees to the family jewels and they wondered whether it would be able to get back up. So far it has, but those same people have cause to be concerned.
These injuries and the aftermath (suicides or disability or lack of memory) may all seem as if they are isolated, but they are all also symptomatic of a larger systemic condition. Times are changing, and the NFL may not be able to outrun the series of challenges. Baseball has had a more realistic view on these things, and thus have been able to deal with them; the NFL has been blind-sided by these things and are in a much weaker position than a) people think and b) they themselves are letting on.
Twenty years from now. Just watch.Written ByJoshua Lattanziat5:05 PM0CommentsFiled Under:Baseball,Culture,Football,Sports Thursday, February 2, 2012 Levels Of Sports Misconceptions...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.

Continue Reading...Written ByJoshua Lattanziat9:58 PM0CommentsFiled Under:Media,Sports Thursday, October 13, 2011 Competition Is Good......except when it isn't, according to the Montgomery County Superintendent of Schools, Joshua Starr.

Elementary is doing this pretty well, but we need to have it more in middle and high schools," Starr said. "We need to convince folks out there that competition might not be the most important thing for our kids."

What is the most important thing, then? It's one thing to say we put an overemphasis on competition to the detriment of other things, but it's another thing to say this:

"I'm a little concerned about the level of competition that exists these days," he said. "There's something in the American value system where we value competition over collaboration and cooperation, and if you look at how problems are actually solved in the world, many more are actually solved through cooperation and joint teamwork."

That's just a bunch of malarkey. Cooperation and teamwork are all fine and dandy, but if there is no competition, the reasons for, ahem, TEAMWORK (and all of the implications that go along with the use of the term teamwork) simply vanish. Competition implies a standard of some sort, and without said standards, it's a little harder to get things done. Another problem is that Montgomery County doesn't rank their students anyway. It's hard to compete when there is no system that allows for it.
I'll probably be in the minority in saying this, but the lack of emphasis on competition is a bit insidious. Part of the larger problem in society, in my opinion, is that a whole generation has been brought up not knowing how to lose and how to fail. I see it in a lot of the kids I have worked with, I see it in my own peer group, and I see it in the people who are out 'protesting' in New York, DC, and assorted other places. Life is, for good or ill, one gigantic competition. There are winners and losers in all aspects of life, with death being the great equalizer to that end.
I have always said that the most valuable lesson my parents ever taught me was how to lose. When I was a kid, I never was justallowedto win, and if I did win, it was because I earned it, not because Mom and Dad threw the game against me. Thus when I do lose or something bad happens, I don't just go into a hole or a funk for a long stretch of time. Perseverance has been lost, because self-esteem has become the highest value instead of some semblance of self-reliance.
The world isn't necessarily built for failure, but no one is guaranteed success either. The faster we learn this the better off we are. I don't like the ever-increasing creep of not keeping score, participation trophies in lieu of actual awards, and a requirement that everyone receive somethingfor their effort. Why? So we don't hurt feelings. The problem is that kids always know the score (even in my T-ball league in the 80's when we didn't keep score, we always knew who had won and lost), participation trophies cheapen the events, and mere effort is not enough to get a reward. It would like reward someone who burned a house down because he didn't intendto do it. We don't pat people on the head for good intentions (paving roads to hell and all that), and we shouldn't reward effort for its own sake.
So what's next? Are we going to play high school football games 'just for fun'? Are colleges just going to let anyone in who has a high school diploma, which may have been given out rather than earned? Actually, come to think of it, the whole attitude of taking away competition reeks of the whole notion of good intentions.
Or are we going to start rewarding people just for having good intentions too?
(Pardon my extremepessimismon the subject...)Written ByJoshua Lattanziat4:52 PM2CommentsFiled Under:Academics,Rants,Stupidity,The World Older PostsHomeSubscribe to:Posts (Atom)Share...Lattanzi Land Archives 2018(1) February(1)Top Fifteen NFL QBs Of All Time 2015(2) March(1) February(1) 2014(1) January(1) 2013(1) August(1) 2012(4) December(1) May(2) February(1) 2011(29) October(2) September(1) August(5) June(3) May(2) February(1) January(15) 2010(19) December(2) October(1) July(1) February(9) January(6) 2009(14) December(2) August(11) July(1)

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