Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 01/06/2008

1/6/1972:
After a 25-minute melee involving several fans and a phalanx of policemen at the end of the second period, the St. Louis Blues rally for three third-period goals to beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 3-2, at the Spectrum. When Blues coach Al Arbour pursues a protest with referee John Ashley into the off-ice corridor at the end of the second period, a fan throws a cup of beer on Arbour, setting the imbroglio in motion. Four members of the Blues, including Arbour, are subsequently arrested and booked for assault and battery against the police. Blues ownership, incensed at the lack of security for their players, threatens to sue the City of Philadelphia for police brutality, but the matter is settled out of court.

Birthdays:
Early Wynn b. 1920
Lou Holtz b. 1937
Nancy Lopez b. 1957
Keenan McCardell b. 1970
Gilbert Arenas b. 1982

TRUE CRIME

The inside story to end all—the tale of Frank “The Irishman” Sheeran and how he took his trusting friend Jimmy Hoffa, head of the Teamsters union, to a safe house and made the hit. His account is quite credible, if only because Sheeran was so close to Hoffa. Along the way, there’s mesmerizing material on the Mob’s role in JFK’s assassination (Sheeran claims to have helped deliver the murder weapons). Sheeran’s chilling take on life as a “house painter” (hit man), told in hundreds of interviews with author Charles Brandt, who gives invaluable background and analysis, makes a ripping good true-crime read.

“I HEARD YOU PAINT HOUSES”: FRANK “THE IRISHMAN” SHEERAN AND CLOSING THE CASE ON JIMMY HOFFA, by Charles Brandt (Steerforth, 2005)