Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 02/04/2008

2/4/1997:
The Missouri Tigers thrill their home fans at the Hearnes Center in Columbia by upsetting top-ranked and unbeaten Kansas, 96-94, in double overtime. Kelly Thames (24 points) and Derek Grimm (20) lead the Missouri offense, but both players foul out during the overtime sessions. With the shot clock winding down and six seconds left in the second OT. Corey Tate picks up a loose ball in the lane and scores the game-winning basket. It's the only loss of the regular season for the Jayhawks, who will finish No. 1 in the wire-service polls but lose to Arizona in the NCAA tournament in the round-of-16.

Birthdays:
Byron Nelson b. 1912
Lawrence Taylor b. 1959
Denis Savard b. 1961
Dan Plesac b. 1962
Oscar De La Hoya b. 1973

Baseball owners settled on a new commissioner, Bowie Kuhn, and gave the compromise candidate a term of only one year.

"A betting man would be wise to lay $5 that Kuhn will eventually hold the job for as long as he wants it. After a judge, a governor, a newspaperman and a retired Air Force general, baseball's owners, bless them, finally turned the game over to a fan." -William Leggett, February 17, 1969

Packers Fact:
Linebacker A.J. Hawk's parengs called him A.J. because they were fans of Indy car driver A.J. Foyt.


Much like George Eliot herself, Maggie Tulliver was a girl, then a woman, of independent mind and spirit. Such qualities were bound to get her into trouble in the Midlands of Victorian Britain, not only with disapproving aunts and neighbors but even with her brother, Tom. Tom’s attitude was especially hurtful because of their close childhood relationship. Eliot, ever the novelist of character and society, renders Maggie and Tom beautifully as children, and as adults. One of Eliot’s best-loved works and a great book for rereading.

THE MILL ON THE FLOSS, by George Eliot (1860; Modern Library, 2001)