Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 01/22/2008

1/22/1989:
Unbeaten Illinois scores 13 unanswered points in the second overtime to run away from Georgia Tech, 103-92, at Assembly Hall in Champaign on a Super Bowl Sunday. The come-from-behind triumph (trailing by 16 in the second half) gives the Fighting Illini (17-0) the top spot in the wire-service polls due out later this week. Kenny Battle, Kendall Gill, Nick Anderson and Steve Bardo lead the Illinois rally in regulation time, and when three Georgia Tech starters foul out during the overtime sessions, the Yellow Jackets' downfall is assured.

Birthdays:
Elmer Lach b. 1918
J.C. Tremblay b. 1939
Serge Savard b. 1946
George Foreman b. 1948
Mike Bossy b. 1957

1982:
Edmonton Oilers center Wayne Gretzky added to his growing legacy when he set a National Hockey League record and scored his 61st goal of the season in his team's 50th game.

"Gretzky's anticipation, whether innate or learned, has long been astounding; he always seemed to know what his opponent would do with the puck. And he knew exactly where everyone was on the ice. Ask him where his four teammates were on a given goal, and he could tell you." -E.M. Swift, October 12, 1981

FAVORITES

The title begs the question: Is there ever enough Liebling? This omnibus reader, with selections covering some of A. J. Liebling’s many obsessions—eating, women, the war years, boxing (he coined the phrase “the sweet science”), the press, and Louisiana’s Huey Long—will at least keep you occupied for a few heavenly days with the incomparable prose, wit, and sheer charm of the man. “As Just Enough Liebling proves, [he] sounds as fresh and irreverent and relevant today as he did nearly fifty years ago” (Allan Barra, San Francisco Chronicle).

JUST ENOUGH LIEBLING: CLASSIC WORK BY THE LEGENDARY NEW YORKER WRITER, by A. J. (Abbott Joseph) Liebling; edited and with introduction by David Remnick (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004)