Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 9/12/2007

9/12/1956:
Carmen Basilio of upstate New York regains the world welterweight championship with a TKO of Johnny Saxton at the War Memorial Arena in Syracuse. Basilio is unrelenting in his attack before an appreciative hometown crowd, recapturing the title he surrendered to Saxton last March in Chicago. Featuring an insistent left hook to the head and a two-handed assault on Saxson's midsection, Basilio forces referee Al Berl to stop the fight at 1:31 of the ninth round.

Birthdays:
Jesse Owens b. 1913
Albie Pearson b. 1934
Vernon Maxwell b. 1965
Ki-Jana Carter b. 1973
Yao Ming b. 1980


There is more bullshit in the world than ever before, posits retired Princeton philosophy professor Frankfurt. What is it? Where does it come from? And why the sudden epidemic? Frankfurt puts a sassy face on a solid foundation. This slender gem is delightful and insightful—a breath of fresh air on the subject of hot air.

ON BULLSHIT, by Harry G. Frankfurt (Princeton University Press, 2005)

For another take on bullshit with a more pop-cultural slant, check out Laura Penny’s Your Call Is Important to Us (Crown, 2005).