Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 01/07/2008

1/7/2001:
Lining up for a 36-yard field goal to give the Tennessee Titans the lead in the fourth quarter of their AFC divisional playoff game against Baltimore, place kicker Al Del Greco could hardly envision the game-changing play set to unfold. His kick is blocked and run back 90 yards for a touchdown by Ravens safety Anthony Mitchell, propelling Baltimore to a 24-10 victory. Despite Tennessee's wide advantage in the stats-23-6 in first downs, 317-134 in total offense and 40-20 minutes in time of possession-Baltimore's defense carves out the victory in Nashville. The Ravens will go on to beat Oakland for the AFC title next week and then rout the New York Giants in the Super Bowl.

Birthdays:
Alvin Dark b. 1922
Eddie LeBaron b. 1930
Tony Conigliaro b. 1945
Eric Gagne b. 1976
Alfonso Soriano b. 1976

1/7/1992:
Pitching legend Tom Seaver was elected to baseball's Hall of Fame with the highest percentage of the vote in history.

"The reason Seaver has always been so hard to grasp is not just because he defends his privacy so...but also because he had never been content to stand in one place and because circumstances have providently helped him remain a moving target." -Frank Deford, July 27, 1981

Packers Fact:
Cornerback Charles Woodson not only won the Heisman Trophy his final season at Michigan in 1997, but he also won the Thorpe Award as college football's top defensive back and the Nagurski Award as the top defensive player (among several other player of the year awards).


“What a little vessel of sadness we are, sailing in this muffled silence through the autumn dark.” What a line! It may send some people running for the comfort of a nicely constructed mystery, but braver readers will gamely accept its challenge and explore with Banville the muddled and troubled side of the human condition. Winner of Britain’s prestigious Man Booker Prize in 2005, The Sea begins as an exercise in nostalgia and becomes a struggle with grief and loss. Banville relates it all with a richness of expression seldom encountered since Nabokov. Keep your dictionary handy because his vocabulary is Nabokovian, too.

THE SEA, by John Banville (Knopf, 2005)