Tuesday, May 16
Mass Confusion
(from Alex Beam's column, Boston Globe, April 28)
Peter Ambler of Cambridge contributes this item: "Last month on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,' the contestant was asked the following question: Which of the following did not write a Requiem Mass: Rossini, Brahms, Mozart, or Verdi? The hapless contestant had no idea and neither did his phone source (a law school professor yet!). The contestant took a stab at Verdi and was adjudged wrong - the (nominally) correct answer was Rossini. The real question is, what's wrong with this question?
"The answer: Brahms also did not write a Requiem Mass. His German Requiem is not a Mass, and is based on biblical text associated with Martin Luther."
ABC's position, which we deem defensible, but not accurate, is this: "Requiem" and "Requiem Mass" are synonyms. The question was worth $250,000, not that it mattered to Shane Demmitt, whose answer was wrong anyway. Demmitt pocketed $32,00 for his night with Regis.
Round Robin: Wednesday's round robin has been cancelled.
Backboard update: The backboard will be re-built, and painted, by the weekend. We hope.
Bill, working hard on the backboard.
Court conditions: Just about perfect.
Joe DeBassio, Webmaster.
