Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 01/05/2008

1/5/1986:
The Chicago Bears begin their march to the Super Bowl with a 21-0 domination of the New York Giants on a bitterly cold day at Soldier Field. The gusting winds actually hasten the Giants' demise in the first quarter when Sean Landeta whiffs on a punt attempt near his own goal line. Shaun Gayle of the Bears swoops in to recover the loose ball and score a gift touchdown from only five yards out. Two second-half TD passes from Jim McMahon to Dennis McKinnon complete the scoring. The Bears go on to win the NFC title, blanking the Rams, 24-0, and pummel the Patriots, 46-10, to win Super Bowl XX.

Birthdays:
Lou Carnesecca b. 1925
Chuck Noll b. 1932
Chuck McKinley b. 1941
Alex English b. 1954
Warrick Dunn b. 1975

1992:
Denver Nuggets forward Alex English became only the 14th player in pro basketball history to score 20,000 career points.

"Everything about English seems a little off-balance. He plays a big man's game like a small man, scoring near the basket with finesse and smarts rather than with brute power. He's extremely graceful, yet his running one-hander, sometimes taken off the wrong foot, is an awkward-looking weapon. -Jack McCallum, December 9, 1985



Snowman is our Robinson Crusoe-like hero, “a creature of dimness, of the dusk,” alone, living by the beach, naked and dirty. This is a strange new world, a dystopia overrun by the products of genetic experimentation. Snowman was once a boy named Jimmy; he had a good buddy, Crake, and the perfect lover, Oryx; but now it’s all gone except for the beautiful, terrifying, dreamlike memories. Atwood delivers us into the vivid heart of her creation and gives us full, complex characters struggling to make sense of the human condition in the landscape of nightmare and loss.

ORYX AND CRAKE, by Margaret Atwood (Nan A. Talese, 2003)