Delaney: Merry Christmas, Erin Hamlin

The timing of Erin Hamlin's finish at a World Cup series luge race Sunday got me thinking.

What a great Christmas present for the 23-year-old Remsen woman to lock up a place on her second Olympic team.

Hamlin pre-qualified for February's Vancouver Games with her World Championship gold medal earlier this year. She added the bow to the package Sunday in Altenberg, Germany with a second run that moved her to fifth from eighth place. A top five was all she needed to complete her qualification for Olympic sliding on the fast track in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada outside of Vancouver.

'A Charlie Brown Christmas,' a holiday staple for forty years, is on this week. As a tribute to Hamlin, we give you a one-verse luge version of the climactic final scene where Charlie Brown's gang sings 'Hark The Herald Angels Sing.'

Merry Christmas, Erin Hamlin

Hark the Herald Angels sing, Erin Hamlin's sliding rings
Peace on Earth and mercy mild, U.S. luge fans reconciled.
Joyful all ye Remsenites rise, Join the triumph of the sleds
With Alten-berg in the books, Hamlin earns Olympic look.
With Alten-berg in the books, Hamlin has a Whistler look.