Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 9/10/2007

9/10/2000:
After joining Lee Trevino (1971) as the only golfers to win the U.S., British and Canadian Opens in the same year, Tiger Woods poses with the gleaming Bell Canadian Open trophy and the distinctive Triple Crown trophy presented by the Royal Canadian Golf Association. Woods uncorked an electrifying six-iron from a fairway bunker to a heavily protected green on the 72nd hole to secure today's victory.

Birthdays:
Arnold Palmer b. 1929
Roger Maris b. 1934
Bob Lanier b. 1948
Randy Johnson b. 1963
Gustavo Kuerten b. 1976


Woody Allen meets Bill Bryson in this wry, one-of-a-kind travelogue. When New Yorker Sam Apple hears about a shepherd in Austria who wanders the countryside tending his flock and occasionally giving concerts of Yiddish folksongs, he decides to become his apprentice. Under Hans’s tutelage, Sam learns surprising truths about sheep (they are terribly narcoleptic) and Austria (anti-Semitism runs deep). Apple finds just the right blend of humor and introspection, making his story a walk to remember.

SCHLEPPING THROUGH THE ALPS: MY SEARCH FOR AUSTRIA’S JEWISH PAST WITH ITS LAST WANDERING SHEPHERD, by Sam Apple (Ballantine Books, 2006)