First of all, let’s get yesterday’s final results out of the way:
4 – Joseph F. Smith 36
13 – Chieko Okazaki 8
9 – Gordon B. Hinckley 32
8 – Spencer W. Kimball 10
16 – The Companionship of the Holy Ghost – 29
1 – “As Man is, God once was; As God is, Man may become” 13
12 – Saving Ordinances 33
5 – 3 Kingdoms of Glory 9
2 – The Bible 24
15 – Jesus the Christ 18
11 – Mormon Doctrine 25
6 – The King Follett Discourse 17
3 – The Church Educational System 35
14 – Church Movies and Art 7
10 – Relief Society 38
7 – Visiting Teacher 3
With that out of the way, let’s look over next week’s match-ups and engage in some analysis.
On the 13th, the matches are:
1 – Joseph Smith vs. 12 – James Talmage
2 – Continuing Revelation vs. 11 – Restoration of Priesthood Authority
3 – The Doctrine and Covenants vs. 7 – the 1st Official Declaration
4 – Temple Building vs. 9 – The Young Women’s Program
I believe that the possible upsets here are in the 2:11 game and the 4:9 game.
On the 14th, the matches are:
2 – Brigham Young vs. 11 – Hugh Nibley
3 – Physical Divine Beings vs. 10 – Tithing and Consecration
4 – The Pearl of Great Price vs. 8 – The 2nd Official Declaration
1 – The Welfare Program vs. 12 – The Young Men’s Program
I believe that the only lock here is the 1:12 game.
On the 15th, the matches are:
3 – Bruce R. McConkie vs. 10 – David O. McKay
9 – Word of Wisdom vs. 13 – Zionism
1 – The Book of Mormon vs. 5 – The Lectures on Faith
2 – The Missionary Program vs. 6 – Sacrament Meeting
I think that the only chance for an upset here is the 2:6 game
On the 16th, the matches are:
4 – Joseph F. Smith vs. 9 – Gordon B. Hinckley
12 – Saving Ordinances vs. 16 – The Companionship of the Holy Ghost
2 – The Bible vs. 11 – Mormon Doctrine
3 – The Church Educational System vs. 10 – Relief Society
This was the seeding committees weakest group and it shows. The only one I think is close to a lock is the 2:11 game and it’s iffy.
Looking back over the voting thusfar, I was surprised by quite a number of things:
1. The weak showing for Emma Smith, about which I think the bloggernacle is just wrong.
2. The strong showing, even in defeat, of The Father and the Son ,Zeal without Knowledge, and The King Follett Discourse
3. The really tight races between Tithing and Consecration and Temple Covenants and between Heavenly Mother and Zionism
4. The ultimate defeat of some higher seeds: The King Follett Discourse, “As Man is, God once was, As God is, Man may become”, Heavenly Mother, Emma Smith, and Plural Marriage.
So, did anything surprise you? Can you explain to me where my predictions went off the track? Do you have predictions for the coming round? Please comment below
I find this whole experience just fascinating. I’m on this blog like 5 times a week right now just to vote and see how the voting is going. What I want to know is whether people are voting by their own experience, what they think the church at large believes, or a combination of both. I try my best to vote in the way I think the church thinks (though I recognize the potential mistakes in it). I mean, is Nibley really that influential? (I think he is but I know that John doesn’t)
I *so* wish I had caught the beginning of this. It looks fascinating, but I haven’t the foggiest what it’s about! Help me out?
Naiah, click here for the bracket. The round of 32 is next week.
Hmm, bracket… Voting got mentioned… Piecing it together. Going to go read back entries now. (If that doesn’t work, I’ll just go off to a dark corner somewhere and weep with my ignorance)
😛
Sorry, Naiah. We are running our own version of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, using competing aspects of Mormonism instead of actual teams. We pit one against another and decide the winner via blogpoll. By the end of the month, we will have voted on the aspect of Mormonism we find most important.
Ah, I never did get sports either, but i think I get this enough to follow along. (The “score” from the voting is the numbers after the names.)
Sentences like “the round of 32 is next week” completely edlude me, though.
Is anyone updating the ‘bracket’ as the tounrament progresses?
I was sad that no indvidual women made it through to the second round. Sad, but not surprising. In secular history as well, the big influential players are almost all men. I was actually surprised that Zionism defeated Heavenly Mother though. I mean Zionism, really?
Yes, it surprised me as well that HM lost out so early. I had no illusions about how far any woman would go, but that one was earlier than I thought.
Funny, after a year of teaching Primary I would have pegged “As Man is, God once was, As God is, Man may become.” as the ultimate winner for sure. I mean, I’m about ready to laminate all the cut-out pieces of the Plan of Salvation, before they get too messed up to use anymore.
Heavenly Mother is the bastard child of our doctrine. We don’t pray to her (officially), we know nothing about her, and we try to invent cop-out reasons why we don’t know anything (such as “The Lord couldn’t bear to have her name used in vain”). This is all despite the idea that if Heavenly Mother is really part of the creation process, “God” should apply to her too.
We teach “Heavenly Mother”, but I’m pretty convinced that we don’t really believe it.
I know I don’t believe “Heavenly Mother.” My latest personal cause is to assert that saints can decline to believe in Heavenly Mother and retain full fellowship.
We say we don’t pray to her or need to mention her, but absolutely ruling her out makes one a Mormon oddity.
Oh man. I’ve totally missed the voting so far. Can I still vote? Is it too late? Where’s this blog poll?
And Naiah – I did catch the beginning of this, but I still didn’t get it until just now when it was explained! D-oy!
Oh man. I’ve totally missed the voting so far. Can I still vote? Is it too late? Where’s this blog poll?
And Naiah – I did catch the beginning of this, but I still didn’t get it until just now when it was explained! So don’t feel bad!
Sorry. I’m so bad at this stuff.