Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 12/05/2007

Hanukkah
12/5/1953:
Cliff Hagan scores 51 points to lead Kentucky to an 86-59 rout of Temple in their eagerly awaited season opener at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington. After going 29-3 in 1951-52, Kentucky was suspended for a host of NCAA violations and did not field a team in 1953-53. Tonight's return commences an unbeaten and top-ranked season for Coach Adolph Rupp's Wildcats (25-0), but they choose to decline an invitation to the NCAA tournament when three of their star players (including Hagan) are deemed ineligible because they're graduate students.

Birthdays:
Jim Plunkett b. 1947
Lanny Wadkins b. 1949
Butch Lee b. 1956
Art Monk b. 1957
Cliff Floyd b. 1972


“Landmark.”—San Francisco Chronicle

“Brilliant.”—The New Yorker

“A masterpiece.”—The News & Observer

A family reunion in South Carolina got journalist Ball thinking not just about his own family, which in its heyday had run a large plantation, but also about the slaves the family had owned. Slaves in the Family traces the history of the slaves from one such family and their descendants, many of whom Ball finds, and many of whom turn out to be distant cousins. Strong research and writing lead to stunning results in this story that won the National Book Award.

SLAVES IN THE FAMILY, by Edward Ball (Ballantine Books, 1998)