Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 3/11/2008

3/11/2006:
Syracuse becomes the first team in Big East tournament history to win four games in four days to win the championship when they defeat Pittsburgh, 65-61, at Madison Square Garden. Squarely on the NCAA tournament "bubble" at 19-11 entering this event, Syracuse beats Cincinnati, top-ranked UConn and Georgetown in successive nail-biting affairs led by senior guard Jerry McNamara, who made several clutch baskets to keep the Orange alive and earn MVP honors by acclimation. In tonight's title game, freshman Eric Devendorf has a basket and two free throws in the last two minutes to help preserve Syracuse's narrow margin.

Birthdays:
Louise Brough b. 1923
Dock Ellis b. 1945
Bobby Abreu b. 1974
Shawn Springs b. 1975
Elton Brand b. 1979

1982:
Dan Gable coached the Iowa wrestling team to its record fifth consecutive NCAA championship.

"Only a few coaches come along who spark utter devotion the way Gable does. Bear Bryant was one. Joe Paterno is one. The list is very short because far too many other coaches mistake fear for respect... There's a big difference between fear and respect, and athletes detect it immediately." -Douglas S. Looney, July 18, 1984


As a beta male, Charlie is a guy who picks up after alpha males, avoids change, and worries about his children. But a peaceful life is not Charlie’s fate: He has been chosen to become a “Death Merchant,” a “secret agent of karma” who collects “soul vessels” containing the essence of the newly departed. Aiding or deterring Charlie in his new career are very large ravens; Lily the Goth girl; Ray, an ex-cop; Minty Fresh, another Death Merchant; and a pair of hellhounds. It’s all Moore’s way of satirizing death and our modern take on it, and it’s wildly fast paced and wickedly funny.

A DIRTY JOB, by Christopher Moore (William Morrow, 2006)