Penn Points Online

Jordan vs. Chamberlain

by Matthew Tulli

In spite of the NBA Playoffs starting, I am debating who is the best basketball player to ever play the game. Over the past decade, there has been much debate over who is the best basketball player to ever play. More recently, LeBron James, arguably the best basketball player at the moment, proclaimed the four people on his NBA “Mount Rushmore,” or who he thinks are the four best players of all time.

For the best player of all time, the majority of people will say Michael Jordan, some will say Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, some will say Magic Johnson, and some will say Larry Bird, as well as a few others. But in my mind the best basketball player to ever play was Wilt Chamberlain. Chamberlain holds an astounding 71 NBA records, 63 of which are individual records. Luckily, my friend and basketball fanatic Alex Krahulik is here to debate this. He believes that Michael Jordan is the best player of all time.

Alex: So Wilt put up some big stats, but lets also look at the time period he played in. Rebounds were no big deal at the time. There were many other players that put up rebounding numbers on a night to night basis that would make them the best in the league right now with no competition. That’s because back in Wilt’s era they took way more shots per game. They shot so much that in the 14 years that Wilt played, only one team ever shot over 50%. Usually only four players in the entire league would shoot over 50% every year. So his rebounding numbers aren’t as spectacular as they may seem.

Matt: Wilt also played Bill Russell, one of the top centers of all time, 12 times in his incredible 1961-1962 season. Now, Boston and Philadelphia only play each other four times per season. Also, rebounds may not have been a big deal, he averaged 27.2 rebounds in his second season. Also, he pulled down 55 rebounds against Bill Russell. There’s no doubt the rebounds were less impressive back then, but there’s no denying that he was the best rebounder of all time.

Alex: Wilt had many hall of famers in his era, but a very small number of them were guards. The game was almost completely dominated by big men, meaning that he would get the ball almost every time on offense just for the sake of he was big. While Chamberlain played against some of the greatest big men to ever play basketball, he also had more support too, and didn’t have nearly as much success as MJ. He played with a total of eight HOF players: Tom Gola, Paul Arizin, Nate Thurmond, Hal Greer, Billy Cunningham, Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, and Gail Goodrich. And yet with his dominance and their help, he went 2-5 in the finals.
Wilt played poorly in the playoffs. All of his statistical numbers dropped in the postseason and he only snagged the trophy 2 out of the 7 chances he got at it.

Matt: Well thanks for proving my point by saying “the game was dominated by big men.” Can you imagine a Wilt Chamberlain going up against some of the centers of today? It was rare if Chamberlain played against a bad center, since there were only nine teams. The talent of players had to be better if they wanted to make it to the NBA.
Also, Wilt only played with his Tom Gola and Paul Arizin for three seasons and two seasons, respectively. He played with Elgin Baylor for three seasons and Jerry West for four seasons, and he won a championship in one of those seasons, as well. Yes, he played with many great players, but those stats are a little bit inflated.

Alex: I can see where you come from. I guess the Hall of Fame stats were a little bit inflated but Wilt still had many opportunities with great teams, but didn’t convert. Now let’s turn it over to Michael Jeffrey Jordan, the greatest player of all time. Your turn to start.

Matt: There’s no denying that Michael Jordan was an incredible player. I call him the second best of all time, and here’s why. Jordan played in a time period that was easier to win championships. When Jordan played in the late 80’s and 90’s, there were twenty-seven teams. That’s three times the players as there were when Wilt had the best single-season ever. It was easier for MJ to score because he was constantly playing against average players. Wilt had to play against the other eight best centers that were in the league at the time.

Alex: Wilt had some absolutely amazing centers to play against, but there were also some amazing guards MJ had to play against, like Gary Payton, Clyde Drexler, and Reggie Miller. Wilt lived in an era that revolved around big men, so he got more touches and therefore extreme stats. MJ put up some extremely impressive statistics with fewer opportunities to make plays than Wilt had. Also, MJ, unlike Wilt, only played with two hall of famers his whole career but had great success. His regular season numbers were amazing, and his postseason even more impressive. MJ averaged 33 ppg in the postseason for his entire career, more than anybody ever (Wilt dropped to 27 a game during playoff time). He also reached the finals 6 times, and every time he converted. He didn’t back down from the pressure like Wilt did to Bill Russell and others.

Matt (closing argument): Wilt led the league in assists in 1972 as a center, while also shooting an insane 68% from the floor while shooting 14 times a game. Leading the league in assists is an incredible feat, especially as a center. This is something that MJ never did, even though there was only one team ever shot over 50% over Wilt’s entire career. Longtime 76ers statistician Harvey Pollack said that one game he kept track of blocked shots, and he recorded 26 blocked shots for Wilt. Wilt could literally do anything he wanted to on the basketball court, and all of these reasons are why Wilt was the best player to ever play.

Alex (closing argument): Michael Jordan was the greatest player of all time because he played in an era far beyond the era that Chamberlain played in. Players were better shooters, they were more athletic, and they were just overall better basketball teams. MJ also played much better in the clutch, winning all six of his NBA Finals appearances. He also won back-to-back-to-back championships on two separate occasions with a worse supporting cast than Wilt had. Lastly, MJ had less opportunities to put up stats than Chamberlain did. Wilt took 39 shots per game when he scored 50 points. The game was run through big men, and Wilt did basically everything for his teams. Sorry Matt, but Michael Jordan was a far superior all-around basketball player than Chamberlain.

Review of Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl

by Lizzie McIlhenney

Change is always a bitter pill to swallow, and it’s no different in the new novel, Fangirl, by Rainbow Rowell. In the beginning of the novel, Cath and her twin sister Wren start college, and let’s just say Cath doesn’t adjust to college life very well. Instead of going out and making new friends, Cath prefers to stay home at her dorm room and write fanfiction about the Simon Snow series, the one constant left in her now completely uprooted life. Not one for change, Cath struggles with all the new things in her life, including a distance forming between her sister and herself. Her roommate, Reagan, takes Cath under her wing, and Cath meets Levi. And Cath’s world gets turned upside down even more.

It is by far one of the funniest and well written books that I have read in a while. Every character is well developed and the main character, Cath is the best in the bunch. Every character is so well rounded, that the story comes to life on the page. Rainbow Rowell masters the dialogue, finding that rare balance of wit without going too far. Each chapter is guaranteed to make you laugh at least once, but the story is also deals with the very real lesson of learning to let go. That is probably what makes Cath so relatable, she struggles with the same things that every teen does.

Rainbow Rowell’s ability to connect to her readers is probably what makes her novels so well loved. Her other book, Eleanor and Park, has become so popular that, according to Entertainment Weekly, DreamWorks has picked up the film rights to make a movie out of it. Eleanor and Park, which has been number 10 on the New York Times Bestsellers list for Young adults for 18 weeks, is also known for it’s relatability. Rowell’s characters all battle with insecurities and fitting in, or, in Cath from Fangirl’s case, letting go. All lessons we all must learn at least once in our lives.

The Latest Music Platform is Taking Off

By Matthew Tulli

Teenagers are always looking for ways to listen to music – from torrenting music off of illegal peer-to-peer sharing websites, like The Pirate Bay, to downloading music off of Youtube, with websites like www.youtube-mp3.org. But in recent years, the music industry had been changed by possibly the best legal music player available, called Spotify. Spotify is a free music app that can be downloaded for Windows, Mac, and even a Linux version, which is good for Penn Manor students, considering that our laptops run off of Linux. You can download Spotify onto your laptop by visiting the website, spotify.com.

Using Spotify, users can create playlists, follow favorite artists and friends to get recent activity, listen to Spotify Radio, and much more. Spotify users can either use the app for free with restrictions, pay $5 per month with fewer restrictions, or pay $10 per month with no restrictions. Some of these restrictions are listening with advertisements, only being able to play playlists on shuffle mode, not having access to Spotify Radio, and not being able to sync songs with iTunes.

Spotify has gained much success around the world in the past few years. In 2013, there were over 24 million active users, six million of which were paying subscribers. Also, Spotify pulled in over $1 billion dollars since its inception in 2008, and employs over 1,200 people worldwide. It has over 20 millions songs available at your fingertips, and over 20,000 songs are being released every day.

Basically, Spotify is a combination of Twitter, iTunes, and Pandora. Users can create playlists that other users can “follow” and listen to, and they can follow other users’ profiles. You can also see what your favorite artists are listening to. It’s basically a music-oriented social media website.

Personally, I think Spotify is the best music player right now. I have used Spotify Premium for a few months now, and it is definitely my favorite music player. I’m actually listening to Spotify as I type this article. With iTunes, you must pay for every song you want. With Spotify, any song you want to listen to is available with a quick search. It is what I use to listen to music all the time, and many of my friends do as well.

Sophomore and Spotify Premium subscriber Will Forrey says, “It’s much more convenient than iTunes. I usually add about 5 songs to my playlists every week, so its much cheaper to pay ten dollars than to pay $1.29 for every song you want to listen to.”

Freshman and Spotify Free user Alex Staub says, “When I want to listen to music I only use Spotify since it’s free and you can still listen to almost any song you want. I probably have about 2000 different songs on my playlists right now, and with iTunes, that would cost so much. I just prefer to use Spotify Free because even though its free, you still have almost any song you want in the app.”

If you’re wondering, you can’t just buy Premium and share your username and password with all of your friends. Only one device on a profile can listen at one time.

Overall, if you’re looking for a better way to listen to music, you have to try Spotify. I would definitely suggest it.

A chart showing what you can and can’t do with two different versions of Spotify. Image provided by Spotify.

ITS and Aevidum join forces to bring Penn Manor The Locker Next 2 Mine

By Cassie Kreider

Two clubs, Aevidum and ITS, are joining forces to put on a play on a touchy subject.

The play, “The Locker Next 2 Mine,” follows the story of Alisa, who has recently moved to a new school and received a locker next to the shrine dedicated to Beth Turner. Beth died in a car accident the previous year, and a group known as the ‘M’ Squad is determined to keep her memory alive. But Beth was not the only student to have died the year before, although her death overshadowed the other one and left many students feeling lost.

Mackenzie Trimble, a senior at Penn Manor, said, “this show means a lot to us and we know that it is a touchy subject.

Trimble is an ITS Member, and one of the choices to be stage manager for the play.

Mrs. Mintzer could only think of this play during the Aevidum meeting Penn Manor had at the beginning of the year and has wanted to try putting it on ever since.

Trimble said, “We are ready to take a risk and show Penn Manor what we are made of. It’s going to be rough but we will pull through.”

Mickayla Baldwin will play the parts of TV reporter and a student named Louise (Lou for short), she is also in the ensemble.

This third show is unusual for the theater department, which usually only puts on two productions a year, a play in the fall and a musical in the spring. The set will be a combination of props from other plays and musicals, and will be very minimalistic.

“The Locker Next 2 Mine” can be seen at Penn Manor on April 11 and 12 in the auditorium. Ticket prices will be announced near the end of March.

Aevidum, since its start early this year, has kept busy not only with the play, but with other things as well.

Olivia Bailey, a senior and member of Aevidum, explained some of the events the club is putting on.

“We are planning to have an anonymous pen pal system for people who need someone to talk to,” Bailey said. “We want to create positive posters to hang around the bathrooms and hallways,’ to continue to promote their message.

But that’s not all of it.

Bailey mentioned that she and fellow Aevidum member, senior Victoria Jones, along with a few actors have created a 60-second suicide prevention video for PAYSPI, The Pennsylvania Youth Suicide Prevention Initiative.

She explained that the video will be shown over the announcements.

“There will be there will be time to take out your computer and to vote for our video,” said Bailey. “There is also a 30-second video which is composed of Aevidum members standing in certain formations that spell out the suicide prevention hotline.”

Bailey also mentioned that the club has been giving out lollipops to anyone to who was willing to “Pledge Aevidum”. Students who pledge Aevidum also stamp their fingers and sign their names pledging to “Have each others backs”. Aevidum plans to hang these pledges around the school.

Mickayla Baldwin wears the Aevidum shirt. — Mickayla Baldwin wearing the Aevidum shirt.

Pros and cons of being a little brother

tulli brothers — My mom, Nick (front), and I in Pittsburgh in the summer of 2005. Photo provided

By Matt Tulli

You may have read the title of this article and assumed that there are far more positives than negatives in being the little brother. If not, you’re probably the younger sibling. Well, for the older siblings or people who thought that way, I’m here to shoot that assumption down.

Being a younger brother does have tons of positives. First, you’re the second one to experience school, so you pretty much know what to expect. For me, my brother Nick did an awesome job of filling me in on mostly everything I needed to know about high school. Nick took me through the high school towards the end of summer so I wouldn’t end up running into people trying to figure out this dang map they gave us at orientation.

I luckily had three of his former teachers in the first semester: Mr. Bender, Ms. Dowd and Mrs. Mintzer. He filled me in on the ins-and-outs of every teacher’s class and how to succeed in them. He set an awesome reputation for me; one that really helped me through the all-important first semester. If I had a question about something in high school, he was always there to answer it.

What he unfortunately didn’t fill me in on was lunch on the first day. I had no idea how to navigate through the kitchen, and I wound up being one of the last people to leave it. Then, I wound up sitting with some kids who the only contact I ever had with them was liking their statuses on Facebook in seventh grade. Two of them didn’t even have Facebook accounts, so I ate my chicken wings awkwardly listening to their conversation while staring at my food.

Away from school, Nick was the one to teach me the ever-important feat in your childhood: how to ride a bike. This process took over three days, with him just giving up and pushing me on my face at least twice. Without him, I probably would have been scared to try and never cared to learn.

Also, he was the measuring stick for my height. Whenever he comes home from State College, where he is a freshman at Penn State University, there is at least one point throughout the break when we would look each other in the eyes, look down at our feet, and look back up to the tops of our heads. Nici will usually say, “Jeez you’re getting tall,” or “You’re gonna be towering over me soon.” Laugh all you want: I take pride in the fact that I’m almost as big as my 18-year old brother

But let’s look at it on the flip side.

Nick was the one who was basically inclined to lay a beating on me at appropriate times. Like when I turned off the XBox in the middle of a game, Nick gave me a good whooping. When I beat him in a game of basketball in the driveway, he is allowed to give me a punch in the arm; I’m used to it by now. It’s what he’s supposed to do, right? And I’m supposed to be the instigator. That’s how it’s always been, and that’s how it will always be.

He was the first one to experience things like driving, cell phones, church retreats and college. The first time that Nick legally sat behind that wheel (and proceeded to pound the brake so hard it practically broke my neck), I realized it would be exactly three years, seven months and four days until I would be in that position. Not exactly a short wait, if you ask me.

When he opened up that cell phone on Christmas day of his seventh grade year, I was immediately jealous. He had his whole group of friends at his fingertips, and what did I have? I had to wait. When I had to go up to the Poconos to drop Nick off for a week-long, no-parent church retreat, I just wanted to be his age. But unfortunately, he was going into eighth grade and I was going into fourth. So I had to keep waiting. And don’t even get me started on when we dropped him off at Penn State on that fateful August day. That may have been one of the worst days of my life.

But one of the most brutal things that Nick ever did to me was basically turn me into his own personal servant. The two of us would be upstairs in the TV room, Nick playing PlayStation, and me watching, like usual. At any point that he would be hungry or have needs that would have to be satisfied, he would just tell me to “bring us some snacks,” or “go get my iPod charger,” or something along those lines. In the rare event that I would refuse, Nick would always just say “I’ll time you,” really meaning that he won’t keep track of how fast I do the task; he would just make up a certain time when I arrived back. This continued until I was about 9, when my common sense finally raised to a level where I realized what he was doing.

In the end, I realize that Nick was always there to guide me or just give me advice. We’re brothers; we don’t have to love each other at first but soon we’ll look back and be thankful for all the good things that they did. I wouldn’t change anything about the relationship between Nick and me.

Snow days cause uncertainty about graduation, last day of school

By Cassie Kreider

So far this school year, there have been 10 snow days, which has a lot of students wondering when their last day of school will be. Or, for the seniors, when they’ll graduate.

“We will do everything we can to keep school from going beyond the second week of June.” said Dr. Mike Leichliter, district superintendent, on how makeup days will be scheduled.

Dr. Leichliter says that scheduling graduation will be challenging.

“We have a contract with F&M, and they are limited on availability for the seven days after June 4 (Hempfield’s graduation night).” Franklin and Marshall has an alumni event that closes down the facility starting June 5.

Right now, the tentative last day for everyone else, if there are not any more snow days between now and mid-March, is June 12.

The end of the school year is, “contingent on final board and Pennsylvania Department of Education approvals. It is also contingent on us not getting any more snow days. I will not put out a definitive ‘last day’ until about the second week of March this year,” said Dr. Leichliter.

Senior Sarah Zerfoss isn’t looking to stay at Penn Manor any longer than she has to. Zerfoss will be one of the many students leaving for boot camp at the end of May.

“I have better things to do than be at school longer than necessary when I need to get ready for a career,” said Zerfoss.

Zerfoss said that because she’s leaving at the end of May, she isn’t walking at graduation and therefore does not care when graduation is.

Zerfoss explains that the boot camp she is attending is 12 weeks long. “

They train you in running, combat (weapons, hand to hand) and, discipline. We graduate at the end, and get a military ID and what not.”

She’s going in as a career, which means she will come out of boot camp as an E2 (Private).

The administration explained that the snow days will not affect students who are leaving for boot camp.

“Nothing changes,” said Dr. Leichliter. “We have always permitted students to leave for the military early, if necessary, even when we get out of school in early June.”

Senior Olivia Bailey is also not too keen on the thought of extra school days.

“As long as we don’t go too long I won’t be too upset,” said Bailey.

Bailey has plans to go to England at the end of June, and while she doesn’t think school will be extended until then, she’s still worried.

Senior Lydia Selman is also planning on leaving the United States for England and France at the end of June.

Seniors like Bailey and Selman with trips scheduled will be fine because the school will continue to process pre-planned trip forms.

Senior Alyson Stewart says that she hopes the graduation date will be, “the first or early second week of school.”

Currently, no official announcement has been made about the date for graduation.

“As long as seniors graduate before the second or third week of June, making up the days shouldn’t be too hard,” said Stewart. “Plus, some days (we missed) were right before or after a holiday/weekend so a lot of people probably think that there are more days to deal with than there really are.”

Some students may have heard that the school day will be extended, but that option won’t change much with the amount of school missed.

Dr. Leichliter explained that extending the school day 20 minutes “would still put the last day of school in the second week of June since it would take about a month to get enough time to reduce school by a day. We will explore that option but it really does not help us much.”

Dr. Leichliter encourages seniors to draw their attention to the information on the district website about graduation.

“The Fault in Our Stars,” from bestselling novel to world-wide phenomenon

By Lizzie McIlhenney

One of the most-loved novels today is one you’ve probably already heard of, either in a magazine article, in the newspaper or on television: ‘“The Fault in Our Stars” by John Green. It’s one of those rare books that will have you laughing or crying hysterically, depending which page you’re on.

One of the first scenes is set in a church in Indiana, in Hazel’s support group for teens with cancer, or the “Literal Heart of Jesus”. Here, she meets Augustus Waters, and (to use a well-worn cliche) her life changes. From here, Hazel and Gus share an adventurous relationship that takes them across the world, from Indiana to Amsterdam. The book is about their complicated, rollercoaster relationship.

“The Fault In Our Stars” is one of those books that you keep with you forever, in the back pocket of your heart. What makes the book so special is that it blatantly confronts and defies the stereotypes surrounding cancer and the “typical” cancer patient. Hazel and Augustus are not less whole because of their diseases, quite the contrary. The book emphasizes how their sicknesses are just a “side effect.” It’s not a story about cancer, it’s a story about Hazel and Augustus’s “little infinity.”

But “The Fault In Our Stars” is not one of those books that you can capture in a single review. This book is so much more complex. It’s something you have to experience yourself. One so fantastic and brilliant, that it has turned into a phenomenon.

Since its publication on January 10, 2012, the novel has become a New York Times bestseller. On March 2, 2014, The Fault In Our Stars is still #1 on the Young Adult list after a 64-week reign. Now, the book has been made into a highly anticipated movie, due to release June 6.The trailer, released last month, already has more than 11 million views on YouTube.

The author, John Green, has a huge fan base. People of all ages adore his books, most of which are bestsellers. “Looking for Alaska,” third on the New York Times Young Adult Bestseller list for 64 weeks, and “Paper Towns,” sixth on the list for 50 weeks, are two other popular books of his. Green collaborated with David Levithan, another well known young adult author, for the novel “Will Grayson, Will Grayson.” Also, he shares a YouTube channel, Vlogbrothers, with his brother, Hank Green, that boasts more than 1 million subscribers and hilarious and insightful videos every week.

Comet boys basketball wraps up season, looks ahead

By Matt Tulli

The 2013-2014 boys basketball season came to a conclusion on February 6 with a 54-19 loss against Lancaster Lebanon League Champion Cedar Crest.

“There were some good points of the season, like beating Lebanon, but there were also some bad points, like last night [Cedar Crest game],” said senior guard and captain Micah Brown.

The Comets started three sophomores for most of the season: Nick Lord, Sam Greenslade and Ryan Atkinson. The rest of the sophomore class will play a big role for next season’s team, since there was only one junior on the roster, Jack Elliot. This means another young team is expected next year.

The JV team also had three freshman: Cameron Lovett, Doug Kramer and Alex Krahulik. All three started the majority of their season. The younger players on both Varsity and JV had a ton of playing experience. Because of that, you can expect some big things from the boys basketball program in the upcoming years — one player to watch out for who was on the JV team is Micah Brown’s younger brother, sophomore guard Nate, who averaged 18 points per game on the season.

The team ended up with a 8-14 record this season, including wins against Lebanon and Warwick. The team was led by Brown, who will attend Messiah College next year and averaged 16 points per game, including games of 30 and 27 points. He also poured in 32 threes on the season.

Six- foot, nine-inch senior center David Carmichael averaged 11 points per game in addition to his multiple blocks per game. Sophomore forward Lord contributed 46 three pointers this season, helping him average eight points per game. Lord had four games in which he hit four threes.

Greenslade showed growth in his first season as a starter, averaging four points per game. He played a big part in holding down the middle with Carmichael, with his many blocks and rebounds. Atkinson was solid in his first year as a starting point guard and averaged three points per game.

Senior Brett Caggiano was excellent, both starting and coming off the bench for the Comets. In his 10 games played, he put up five points per game, and brought energy to the court with his hustle and nonstop motor. He was mainly utilized as a defensive stopper, as he was typically matched up against the other teams’ best player.

On the JV team, Nate Brown, Micah’s younger brother, scored 18 points per game.

The young players who will return next year have potential and will face increased expectations.

“I think the team is going to be really good in a few years,” said Micah Brown. “They will have a shot at going to states.”

History teacher ends run for state representative

By Cassie Kreider

Cynthia Lonergan, a history teacher at Penn Manor High School, ran for State Representative of the 41st district, but as of February 18, she is no longer in the race.

Lonergan withdrew from the race during a meeting of Lancaster County Republicans intended to select a candidate to receive the party’s endorsement.

Lonergan was running against Brett Miller, an East Hempfield Town Supervisor. The seat for the 41st district representative was occupied before by state Rep. Ryan Aument, who is now running to replace outgoing Sen. Mike Brubaker.

Lonergan decided to run after she was selected to represent the United States at an international governing seminar last summer. She traveled to Honolulu, Hawaii, then to Seoul, South Korea and Beijing, China, in two weeks.

Meeting with leaders from other countries inspired her.

“I joined representatives from 10 other countries to discuss problems and most importantly, solutions to issues like health care, economic development, public pensions, poverty, housing, education and fiscal impacts on social changes,” said Lonergan on her international trip. “Many of the problems we face are not unique to the world and it is incredibly beneficial to have a global network of knowledge to work together, combine ideas and find solutions.”

In addition to her international work, Lonergan is involved in local politics.

Lonergan was the campaign manager for the re-election of Lancaster County Commissioners Scott Martin and Dennis Stuckey in 2011. She said she’s always been in a supportive role, helping others run for offices and seats.

A straw poll, or a poll to figure out which person a party is most likely to endorse, took place on Monday, January 20. Lonergan received six votes and her opponent, Miller, received 42 votes.

Lonergan said that without the endorsement from her party, she was not going to run.

Lonergan said from the beginning her chances of receiving the endorsement were almost nonexistent but that the feedback she has received from the community is very positive. She’s received phone calls and emails encouraging her to “stick with it,” and informing her that it took some of the best politicians years before they were elected.

She has no plans in the near future of running again and said it all depends on the timing.

Lonergan concluded with some words of wisdom for Penn Manor students.

“Nowadays with all the social media sites, everyone’s willing to speak their ideas and opinions, but no one is willing to do anything about them,” said Lonergan. “Go beyond that, don’t just talk, act. Take advantage of the opportunities that come your way, even if they’re unexpected.”

Live production of “Sound of Music” disappoints many

By Lizzie McIlhenney

The 1965 film “The Sound of Music” is everyone’s childhood favorite. Many of us remember watching Julie Andrews as Maria teaching the Von Trapp children to sing, and learning to sing right along with them. That’s why the “The Sound of Music Live!,” which aired live on NBC on December 5, 2013, was so heavily criticised.

Everyone’s a critic. Especially when it comes to a classic like “The Sound of Music.” Hopes were high for a flawless production, since a misstep or flat high note was left for the 18.6 million people that tuned in for the three hour show to see and hear.

And during the three hours that the production aired a tsunami of tweets poured in. Every note, dance, and flaw was recounted and highlighted a hundred times. Even the original film’s Von Trapp children responded to the production, but they were much kinder critics than those on Twitter.

Angela Cartwright, who played Brigitta in the original film, was quoted in EW that she felt that some of the acting “didn’t come across as sincere.”

Most of the criticisms were not that off base, even if some were unkind. The production had its moments and was enjoyable to watch, but when held by the standards that a Broadway musical is held to, some of the acting and singing just didn’t mesh.

The most scrutinized casting was Carrie Underwood as Maria, and when it was announced that she was to play the iconic role many fans were outraged. She had large shoes to fill and big expectations, and Underwood didn’t exactly deliver exactly what everyone wanted. Her vocals were wonderful, but her acting didn’t measure up to her musical talent. She just couldn’t compare to Julie Andrew’s Maria.

What many people might not know is that “The Sound of Music Live!” was not actually based on the 1965 film . According to NBC, the live production was actually based on the Broadway musical.

NBC seems to be forming a new holiday tradition, because the network has already committed to airing another live musical production in 2014. According to Entertainment Weekly, the next musical event is “Peter Pan,” which will air on December 4.