Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 12/19/2007

After watching his top-ranked and previously unbeaten USC Trojans play listlessly and get upset by Arizona on a Saturday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1981, a game sandwiched between Friday-Sunday sold-out concerts at the same stadium by The World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band, head coach John Robinson lamented: "We played like we were just the halftime show for the Rolling Stones."

Birthdays:
Al Kaline b. 1934
Kevin McHale b. 1957
Reggie White b. 1961
Warren Sapp b. 1972
Jake Plummer b. 1974

EPICS

Readers of Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent will like this colorful tale of the life of Sarah, Abraham’s wife. Her life, as Halter imagines it, is rich with drama and poignancy. The 12-year-old rich girl flees an arranged marriage, falls in love with a poor nomad, becomes a priestess of Ishtar, reunites with and marries the poor nomad, and with him becomes the matriarch of the Jewish people. Lavish backdrops, action, conflict, and forbidden love make Sarah irresistible. It’s the first book in Halter’s internationally bestselling Canaan Trilogy. Zipporah and Lilah follow it.

SARAH, by Marek Halter (Three Rivers Press, 2005)