Sports Fact and Book Rec of the Day 5/27/2008

5/27/1978:
An uncontrollable gallery at the Foro Italico in Rome heckles and berates Jose Higueras so badly that he walks off the court during his semifinal match against hometown favorite Adriano Panatta of Itlay. By shouting catcalls during Higueras' serving motion and heaping torrents of verbal abuse on the Spaniard during the changeovers, the unruly crowd drives him to toss his racket to the clay court in disgust and default the match. Tournament officials could do nothing to silence the nationalistic fervor of the Italian fans once their boisterous tactics began to noticeably rattle Higueras. In the finals tomorrow, the unflappable Swede, Bjorn Borg, will overcome Panatta and another obnoxious crowd in five sets.

Birthdays:
Sam Snead b. 1912
Jeff Bagwell b. 1968
Frank Thomas b. 1968
Todd Hundley b. 1969
Antonio Freeman b. 1972

1971:
The British golf team captured the Walker Cup for only the second time ever, winning four consecutive singles matches in a 13-11 upset over the heavily favored United States team.

"What happened Wednesday and Thursday was exhilarating golf competition that caused, as one St. Andrews man said, anguish, excitement and nervous exhaustion. The British underdogs came spectacularly from behind late in the second day to win six of eight singles matches and their first Walker Cup since 1938." -Curry Kirkpatrick, June 7, 1971

Packers Fact:
Greg Jennings posted his first career 100-yard receiving day in Game 3 of 2206, against Detroit. He had 101 yards in just 3 catches.

IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY FOR CHRISTMAS SHOPPING

While 65 percent of men who take jeans into a fitting room will buy them, for women the figure is only 25 percent. Narrow shopping aisles lead to the “butt-brush factor,” which makes people uncomfortable and motivates them to leave the store. These are just two of the 900 aspects of shopping that Underhill has discovered in his study. The result is highly readable and interesting for store managers and shoppers alike. As Erica Marcus wrote in Newsday, “The effect of reading this book is that of being alternately entertained by hilarious stories and enlightened by trenchant observations.”

WHY WE BUY: THE SCIENCE OF SHOPPING, by Paco Underhill (Simon & Schuster, 2000)