Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 11/27/2007

Recalling the epic "Ice Bowl" NFL title game played in 1967 with a wind chill of minus 15° at Lambeau Field, Jerry Kramer described the mind-set of his cold-weather Green Bay Packers contrasted with the warm-weather Dallas Cowboys: "We were freezing, they were dying."

Birthdays:
Chick Hearn b. 1916
Mike Scioscia b. 1958
Ivan Rodriguez b. 1971
Nick Van Exel b. 1971
Jimmy Rollins b. 1978

MEMOIRS

Ann Leary’s memoir of giving birth to a premature baby is unsparing in its honesty and humor. Her son, Jack, was born at 28 weeks while she and her husband, then-struggling comedian Denis Leary, were on holiday in London. Ann spent five months with Jack in a British hospital while Denis went home to try to keep the family finances afloat. Her experience ends up being resonant for anyone who has ever felt really—no, really—far away from home, and of course, for preemie parents the turf will be very familiar and comforting.

AN INNOCENT, A BROAD, by Ann Leary (Harper Paperbacks, 2005)