Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 01/20/2008

1/20/1990:
LSU head basketball coach Dale Brown's vision of a huge crowd at the Superdome, a huge payday for homeless charities in the New Orleans area and a huge win for his team is fully realized as the Bengal Tigers rout Notre Dame, 87-64, before a record collegiate crowd of 68,112 fans (since broken). Chris Jackson leads LSU (12-2) with 21 points amidst a carnival atmosphere with the home team leading comfortably all the way.

Birthdays:
Carol Heiss b. 1940
John Naber b. 1956
Ozzie Guillen b. 1964
Ron Harper b. 1964
Brian Giles b. 1971

CHATTERING CLASSES

Conversation isn’t just talk for Stephen Miller. Rather, it is something, to quote Jonathan Swift, like the “greatest, the most lasting, and the most innocent, as well as useful Pleasure of Life.” Miller looks to Swift, Montaigne, Benjamin Franklin, and a host of other clever chatterboxes to reveal the art of conversation at its best, before turning to examine its unhappy state in contemporary America. Miller’s playful style is itself reminiscent of good conversation and makes for a truly entertaining read.

CONVERSATION: A HISTORY OF A DECLINING ART, by Stephen Miller (Yale University Press, 2006)