Sports Fact of the Day 10/20-10/31/2008

Oct. 20:
10/20/1996:
Playing in a steady downpour, D.C. United overcomes a two-goal deficit and defeats the Los Angeles Galaxy, 3-2, in overtime at Foxboro Stadium to win the inaugural MLS Cup in the debut season of major league soccer in the United States. After Tony Sanneh and Shawn Medved score late to regulation time to bring D.C. United even, Eddie Pope converts a header off a perfect corner kick from the game's MVP, Marco Etcheverry, to clinch the title. Over 34,000 fans brave the awful weather to attend the game despite the absence of the hometown New England Revolution in the title match.

Birthdays:
Mickey Mantle b. 1931
Juan Marichal b. 1937
Keith Hernandez b. 1953
Lee Roy Selmon b. 1954
Aaron Pryor b. 1955

1980:
The Chicago Blackhawks honored their great centerman Stan Mikita when the team retired his uniform jersey number 21.

"Mikita is an all-around hockey player, but he is not as spectacular as Bobby Hull, nor is he equipped with Hull's brute strength. Hull's marvelous combination of speed, build, strength and looks forces Stan to play Gehrig to Bobby's Ruth, but Gehrig was a pretty fair ballplayer." -William Leggett, January 31, 1966

Packers Fact:
The Packers beat the Minneapolis Marines 7-6 at Green Bay's Hagemeister Park in their first official league game in 1921.

Oct. 21:
10/21/1964:
In accord with an established tiebreaking procedure, Valeri Brumel of Russia is awarded the Olympic high jump gold medal over John Thomas of the United States on the basis of having fewer misses at a previously made height, after each athlete fails to clear 7'2-1/2" in three attempts. The victory in Tokyo's Olympic Stadium ends a four-year quest for Brumel, who finished second in the 1960 Games at Rome.

Birthdays:
Red Klotz b. 1921
Whitey Ford b. 1928
Vern Mikkelsen b. 1928
Ted Uhlaender b. 1940
Joey Harrington b. 1978

1975:
The Boston catcher Carlton Fisk hit a home run in the bottom of the 12th inning to give the Red Sox a dramatic win over the Cincinnati Reds in Game 6 of the World Series.

"The Red Sox had won this epic struggle 7-6. It was V-J Day at home plate when Fisk arrived, a hero of heroes in one of the finest games ever played, one that may well have attracted multitudes of new fans who had considered baseball a sedentary occupation." -Ron Fimrite, November 3, 1975

Packers Fact:
The Packers joined the NFL in 1921, the second year of the league's existence.

Oct. 22:
10/22/1950:
The Los Angeles Rams drub the Baltimore Colts in the regular season by the same lopsided score they recorded in the preseason, 70-27, at the Coliseum in L.A. The Rams score 10 TDs in this game, 64 during the year and 466 points in a 12-game season, all league records. With two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Norm Van Brocklin and Bob Waterfield, two future Hall of Fame receivers in Crazy Legs Hirsch and Tom Fears, and the Bull Elephant backfield of Dick Hoerner, Tank Younger and Deacon Dan Towler, the Rams are virtually unstoppable. They'll just miss out on an NFL title, losing 30-28 on a Lou Groza field goal in the final seconds of the championship game at Cleveland, but Los Angeles will rebound in 1951 and win the crown, beating the Browns in a playoff rematch at L.A.

Birthdays:
Jimmie Foxx b. 1907
Pete Pihos b. 1923
Slater Martin b. 1925
Butch Goring b. 1949
Ichiro b. 1973

1975:
The World Football League, which had hoped to compete against the National Football League, went out of business in the 12th week of its second season.

"And so it ended, quietly, in midseason, with hardly enough of an impact to make headlines. Indeed, the biggest news about the end of the World Football League concerned not the WFl itself but the disposition of the handful of good players it had. ... Like a freshly killed shark, its future is nil." -Robert W. Creamer, November 3, 1975

Packers Fact:
The first completed pass in Packers' NFL history was Curly Lambeau's 18-yard strike to Buff Wagner in the fourth quarter of the club's inaugural game against Minneapolis in 1921. It led to the only touchdown in Green Bay's 7-6 triumph.

Oct. 23:
10/23/2005:
Outfielder Scott Posednik, who hadn't hit a home run during the entire regular season, hits his second of the postseason-a walk-off shot to right center field in the bottom of the ninth inning-to give the Chicago White Sox a 7-6 win over Houston and a 2-0 lead in the World Series. Podsednik's homer off Brad Lidge, the 14th walk-off homer in Series history, negates a Houston comeback in the ninth when Jose Vizcaino's pinch single tied the score at 6-6. Chicago first baseman Paul Konerko had the game's key blow, a grand-slam homer in the seventh inning. Three nights from now, the ChiSox will end 88 years of frustration, winning their first world title since 1917.

Birthdays:
Bruiser Kinard b. 1914
Chi Chi Rodriguez b. 1935
Pele b. 1940
Doug Flutie b. 1962
Keith Van Horn b. 1975

1979:
The scrappy New York Yankees manager Billy Martin got into a barroom brawl with a marshmallow salesman in a Minnesota tavern.

"He has a neighborhood morality that is a heady mixture of "do unto others" and an "eye for an eye". His inflexible adherence to this code has long been an invitation to strife, and as a result of it Martin has had more fights than Abe the Newsboy." -Ron Fimrite, June 28, 1971

Packers Fact:
The Packers joined the NFL in 1921, though that was not the official name of the league until 1922. It was called the American Professional Football Association (APFA) during the Packers' inaugural season.

Oct. 24:
10/24/2004:
One NFL record is set and another is tied as the Arizona Cardinals beat the Seattle Seahawks, 25-17, at Tempe. Arizona running back Emmitt Smith, the league's all-time leading rusher, gains 106 yards on 26 carries, the 78th time he's gained over 100 yards in a game, to pass Walter Payton in that category. Cards placekicker Neil Rackers boots field goals of 55, 55 and 50 yards, becoming only the second man to have three placements from 50 yards or better in one game, tying Morten Andersen's mark.

Birthdays:
Y.A. Tittle b. 1926
Jim Brosnan b. 1929
Ron Gardenhire b. 1957
Arthur Rhodes b. 1969
Corey Dillon b. 1974

1994:
The Atlanta Braves pitcher Greg Maddux won an unprecedented third consecutive National League Cy Young Award.

"Maddux can walk down any street in America and barely turn a head, unless maybe somebody mistakes Maddux for his or her tax accountant. With his round spectacles (for off-field use only) and a pinch of tobacco stuff under his upper lip, Maddux looks more like Jerry Lewis as the Nutty Professor than the greatest active pitcher." -Tom Verducci, May 1, 1995

Packers Fact:
Fullback Art Schmaehl ran 4 yards late in the fourth quarter of the Packers' inaugural league game against Minneapolis in 1921 for the first touchdown in club history. Schmaehl's run, plus Curly Lambeau's extra point, lifted Green Bay to a 7-6 victory.

Oct. 25:
10/25/1977:
Walt "Clyde" Frazier returns to Madison Square Garden in the burgundy-and-gold uniform of the Cleveland Cavaliers and gets a warm reception from the gallery that he thrilled for 10 years, winning two world titles with the Knicks. Frazier rises to the occasion with 28 points, 8 rebounds, 5 steals and 4 assists, leading the Cavs to a 117-112 overtime victory over New York. Plagued by a series of foot injuries, he'll play only 66 games for the Cavs over parts of the next three seasons before being released.

Birthdays:
Bobby Thomson b. 1923
Zelmo Beaty b. 1939
Bobby Knight b. 1940
Dave Cowens b. 1948
Dan Issel b. 1948

1991:
Minnesota's Kirby Puckett hit a home run in the bottom of the 11th inning off Atlanta's Charlie Leibrandt as the Twins won the sixth game of the World Series.

"The man was going to hit a home run no matter what. That was the only logical conclusion to his Saturday in the park. Puckett did just that, and the tortured Leibrandt walked off the field, his face buried in the crook of his right arm." -Steve Rushin, November 4, 1991

Packers Fact:
George Calhoun co-founded the Packers' franchise with future Pro Football Hall of Fame member Curly Lambeau.

Oct. 26:
10/26/1980:
Earl Campbell becomes only the second running back to rush for 200 yards in consecutive NFL games, leading the Houston Oilers to a 23-3 rout of the Cincinnati Bengals at the Astrodome. The Tyler Rose gains 202 yards on 27 carries today after amassing 203 yards against Tampa Bay last week. O.J. Simpson had accomplished the feat twice, in 1973 and '76. Campbell is midway through a four-year period of leading the AFC in rushing each season (178-81). He'll gain a career-high 1,934 yards this year and well over 9,000 yards in only eight seasons before injuries force his early retirement.

Birthdays:
Primo Carnera b. 1906
Sid Gillman b. 1911
Jumpin' Joe Fulks b. 1921
Mike Hargrove b. 1949
Jessie Armstead b. 1970

Oct. 27:
10/27/1991:
Former star quarterback John Brodie wins his first event on the PGA Seniors Golf Tour, sinking a short birdie putt on the first playoff hole to defeat Chi Chi Rodriguez and George Archer and capture the Security Pacific Classic in Los Angeles. Brodie shoots a final-round 68 today and finishes with a 13-under-par 200 for the three-round tournament to win his first seniors title in 157 tries since joining the circuit seven years ago.

Birthdays:
Ralph Kiner b. 1922
Patty Sheehan b. 1956
John Kasey b. 1969
Brad Radke b. 1972
Peerless Price b. 1976

1984:
The Mississippi Valley State wide receiver Jerry Rice set a Division I-AA single-game record with five touchdwon catches.

"Rice's hands are big, thick, rough, the kind that convey power even in a gentle introductory clasp. And when people describe Rice's catches, they usually finish the simulation with a kind of space age schhooop that cuts off as the imaginary pigskin is sucked neatly into form-fitting fingers." -Jaime Diaz, November 14, 1983

Packers Fact:
The first field goal in the Packers' NFL history was Curly Lambeau's 25-yard drop kick against the Rock Island Independents in 1921.

Oct. 28:
10/28/1939:
Jackie Robinson scores two touchdowns, one on a 66-yard pass play and the other on an 82-yard run, to lead UCLA to a 16-6 victory over Oregon at the Coliseum. Robinson's breakaway speed helps the Bruins achieve an undefeated season despite four ties (6-0-4). He'll letter in four sports at UCLA-football, baseball, basketball and track-before undertaking the mission of breaking the "color line" in major league baseball in 1947.

Birthdays:
Jim Beatty b. 1934
Lenny Wilkens b. 1937
Jude Drouin b. 1948
Bruce Jenner b. 1949
Terrell Davis b. 1972

1962:
The New York Giants defeated the Washington Redskins, 49-34, as New York quarterback Y.A. Tittle threw for 507 yards and seven touchdowns.

"Tittle's throwing style is his own. He holds the ball with his fingertips, no part of his palm touching it. Throwing and accuracy are instinctive; he can't explain why he is accurate or how. "It's something you can do or you can't," he says. "It's like a pitcher's control."" ~Tex Maule, November 18, 1963

Packers Fact:
The Packers won their first NFL championship in 1929. They went 12-0-1 that season to edge the 13-1-1 New York Giants.

Oct. 29:
Trying to describe the decibel level and energy rush of playing with the roof closed at Houston's Minute Main Park, slugging Astros third baseman Morgan Ensberg remarked: "Imagine being in your high school basketball gym when your team hits a buzzer-beater to win the game. That's what it's like for nine innings."

Birthdays:
Frank Sedgman b. 1927
Pete Richert b. 1939
Denis Potvin b. 1953
Jesse Barfield b. 1959
Mike Gartner b. 1959

1988:
The lightweight boxing champion Julio Cesar Chavez was declared the winner in a controversial bout against Jose Luis Ramirez.

"After Chavez unified the WBA and WBC titles ... on the strength of some classic combinations and an apparently inadvertent butt that split open Jose Luis Ramirez's head at the hairline in the 11th round, most observers didn't know whether to hail Cesar or a cab." -Ralph Wiley, November 7, 1988

Packers Fact:
Arnie Herber passed for more than 1,000 yards twice in his career with the Packers (in 1936 and in 1939). Green Bay won the NFL championship each of those seasons.

Oct. 30:
10/30/1993:
Wisconsin's 13-10 victory over Michigan at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison is marred when thousands of students rush the field to tear down the goalposts but are restrained by a chain-link fence that had been erected for just such an occurrence. Fans from the rear continue to pour forward, crushing those stuck in the middle of the maelstrom and causing dozens of injuries. Many of the Wisconsin players, after their stirring triumph puts them on the fast track to the Rose Bowl, come back onto the field to help the injured students and carry them to safety.

Birthdays:
Bill Terry b. 1896
Joe Adcock b. 1927
Dick Vermeil b. 1936
Jim Ray Hart b. 1941
Diego Maradona b. 1960

1974:
Muhammad Ali used the "rope-a-dope" strategy and won the heavyweight boxing title from George Foreman.

"Ali laid his back against the ropes, buried his face in his gloves and accepted the barrage. ... And then, slowly, Ali's plan revealed itself. Near the end of each round, with a wicked smile, he would come out of his shell and play a quick riff on Foreman's head." -Gary Smith, October 8, 1984

Packers Fact:
The Packers won their first NFL Championship Game in 1936. They beat Boston 21-6.

Oct. 31:
10/31/1963:
A performance of the Ice Follies figure skating troupe is the setting of a horrific Halloween night tragedy at the State Fairgrounds Coliseum in Indianapolis. Propane gas, escaping from a leaky valve at a concession stand, explodes and hundreds of spectators in the seats above are hurled high into the air or buried under a crumbling mass of concrete and steel. A second explosion of pent-up propane follows moments later. Sixty-five people die at the scene; nine more will efventually die of their injuries. Accountability for the catastrophe is never clearly established, and a minuscule $4.6 million in settlements is awarded to the victims and their families.

Birthdays:
Phil Goyette b. 1933
Frank Shorter b. 1947
John Lucas b. 1953
Fred McGriff b. 1963
Steve Trachsel b. 1970

1994:
The Chicago Bears honored linebacker Dick Butkus by retiring his uniform jersey number 51 during halftime of a Monday night football game.

"There was a time when Dick Butkus truly believed he was an animal, and the transmogrification was nearly perfect. Now he is not so sure. In Chicago, where he exercises his territorial imperative to the fullest, Bear fans still think of him as the ultimate in ursine violence." -Robert F. Jones, September 21, 1970

Packers Fact:
Clarke Hinkle led the Packers' 1936 NFL championship club with 476 rushing yards. That was a club record at the time.

Book Rec of the Day 10/20-10/31/2008

HISTORY REVISITED

Mann, a contributor to Atlantic Monthly and Science, marshals an array of evidence and documentation to paint a vivid picture of the “New World” before Columbus and Pizarro, and it’s quite different from what you learned in school. The indigenous populations were highly civilized, organized, and sophisticated. The Inca had metallurgical skills and weapons; the Maya had a well-developed political system. With 56 black-and-white photos and 15 maps.

1491: NEW REVELATIONS OF THE AMERICAS BEFORE COLUMBUS, by Charles C. Mann (Vintage, 2006)

Pnin is the antidote if you have found Nabokov too difficult, too literary, or too serious or have not yet read him, perhaps fearing he might be too something. In Pnin, our unheroic hero is a Russian émigré and professor of English literature at an American university. As the gentle soul bumbles from unremunerative lecture to unsympathetic landlady to insensitive librarian, we can only wonder why Nabokov lavishes such rich comic prose on the rotund, terribly shy, repressed character. Was it necessary to go to so much trouble just to break our hearts?

PNIN, by Vladimir Nabokov (1957; Everyman’s Library, 2004)

HERSTORY

Mad King George III of England (1760-1820) and Queen Charlotte had 15 children, six of them girls. While the six surviving sons led active (or overactive) adult lives as privileged spendthrifts and roués, the daughters were cloistered and exposed to the twisted domestic life of the royal family, which was increasingly tainted by the king’s insanity and the resultant political turmoil. With intimate detail drawn largely from the letters of the queen and princesses, Fraser paints an engrossing group portrait of these talented women who were driven to “subversive behavior and even acts of desperation.”

PRINCESSES: THE SIX DAUGHTERS OF GEORGE III, by Flora Fraser (Anchor, 2006)

READ ME

Historian William Hickling Prescott and his biographer, George Ticknor, were real figures in 19th-century Boston, but Sheila Heti uses them only as the basis for a wonderful novelistic treatment of the relationship between a fawning, jealous biographer and his Olympian, successful subject. Why does destiny reward some and punish others? The answer is hidden somewhere in the ways of the world and in the myriad choices we make.

TICKNOR: A NOVEL, by Sheila Heti (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006)

SHORT FICTION

Yes, he’s the son of Stephen King, but he’s also a powerfully talented new author in his own right. Set mostly in Maine, often with a gory or macabre twist, this collection shows a poignant heart, warmth, and bittersweet humanity that do not rely on the supernatural but on the rich, earthy soil of moral choices, guilt, love, and hate. The title novella deals with a son and his single mother, who is about to remarry, and the son’s attempt to sabotage her (and his own) happiness.

WE’RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER: A NOVELLA AND STORIES, by Owen King (Bloomsbury USA, 2005)

ST. CRISPIN’S DAY

“[A] thoroughly engrossing study of Henry and the battle that made him.”—William Grimes, The New York Times

Though the Shakespeare version of Henry V is marvelous, we learn from Barker once again that he was a poet rather than a historian. She addresses Henry’s strategy and the events that led to the battle, as well as its ramifications for France and England afterward. But at the center is, of course, St. Crispin’s Day, the flower of French chivalry, and the power and reach of the Welsh longbow.

AGINCOURT: HENRY V AND THE BATTLE THAT MADE ENGLAND, by Juliet Barker (Little, Brown, 2006)

FOODIE MEMOIR

Longtime New York magazine food writer and novelist Gael Greene, known as the “Insatiable Critic,” offers her juicy, ripe life (and some good recipes) upon a platter in this memoir. Coming of age in the 1960s, the world was her oyster, along with many, many famous lovers, friends, and mentors. She knows how to tell a story, and she has more than enough material. Not for prudes or ascetics, but for the rest of us, a feast of fun.

INSATIABLE: TALES FROM A LIFE OF DELICIOUS EXCESS, by Gael Greene (Warner Books, 2006)

On October 27, 2004, the Boston Red Sox won the World Series for the first time in 86 years—one of the biggest baseball stories in the history of the game. The next year the Red Sox gave Seth Mnookin unprecedented access to the team, both management and players. He investigated every nook and cranny of Fenway Park, every deal concluded, every decision made, and every player’s drama. The result is an exhaustive account of the re-creation of the Red Sox and a fascinating must read for every citizen of Red Sox nation.

FEEDING THE MONSTER: HOW MONEY, SMARTS, AND NERVE TOOK A TEAM TO THE TOP, by Seth Mnookin (Simon & Schuster, 2006)

Much has been written of Israel’s King David, the giant-killer and psalmist, lover of Bathsheba, father of Solomon and Absalom. But Robert Pinsky, former poet laureate of the United States, gives us a unique perspective on the poetry of David’s life and how it has enlivened our civilization over the last 3,000 years, capturing the historical David as he might have lived in triumph and anguish in those ancient days. Pinsky writes: “David’s drama is that of a life entire.”

THE LIFE OF DAVID, by Robert Pinsky (Schocken, 2005)

SLEEPING BEAUTY

“The year I turned ninety, I wanted to give myself the gift of a night of wild love with an adolescent virgin,” the journalist narrator begins. But instead of a wild night, the nonagenarian merely contemplates the sleeping form of the girl and falls in love for the first time in his life. In his New Yorker review, John Updike wrote: “Márquez . . . has composed, with his usual sensual gravity and Olympian humor, a love letter to the dying light.”

MEMORIES OF MY MELANCHOLY WHORES, by Gabriel García Márquez; translated by Edith Grossman (Knopf, 2005)

TRAVEL

You may think the subtitle says it all, and you may have taken cross-country road trips before, but if you haven’t taken a ride with Robert Sullivan (compulsively readable author of Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants), you should try it.

CROSS COUNTRY: FIFTEEN YEARS AND 90,000 MILES ON THE ROADS AND INTERSTATES OF AMERICA WITH LEWIS AND CLARK, A LOT OF BAD MOTELS, A MOVING VAN, EMILY POST, JACK KEROUAC, MY WIFE, MY MOTHER-IN-LAW, TWO KIDS, AND ENOUGH COFFEE TO KILL AN ELEPHANT, by Robert Sullivan (Bloomsbury USA, 2006)

FAVORITE SERIES

If you can’t get enough Nora Roberts, you’re in luck, because the bestselling author shows no signs of slowing down. In Morrigan’s Cross, the first volume of the Circle Trilogy, Roberts forays into paranormal territory, set in 12th-century Ireland. Sorcerer Hoyt Mac Cionaoith is waging an epic battle with Lilith, a vampire who has turned Hoyt’s twin brother, Cian, into one of her kind. On Hoyt’s side are the goddess Morrigan and the five others—“the witch, the warrior, the scholar, the one of many forms, and the one you’ve lost”—he must gather as a “circle of six” in order to vanquish Lilith.

MORRIGAN’S CROSS (CIRCLE TRILOGY), by Nora Roberts (Jove, 2006)

apckrfan's NFL picks: Week 8

Week 8:
Sun, Oct. 26:
OAK @ BAL - Baltimore
ARI @ CAR - Carolina
TB @ DAL - Tampa Bay
ATL @ PHI - Philadelphia
KC @ NYJ - NY Jets
WAS @ DET - Washington
BUF @ MIA - Buffalo
STL @ NE - New England
CLE @ JAC - Jacksonville
NYG @ PIT - Pittsburgh
SEA @ SF - San Francisco
SD @ NO - New Orleans
CIN @ HOU - Houston

Mon. Oct. 27:
IND @ TEN - Tennessee

Book Rercs of the Day 10/14-10/19/2008

A GOOD GIFT

One of the foremost choreographers of our time distills 35 years of creative work into a practical, inspiring look at discipline, skill, and time management that demystifies the process. Tharp is at ease with her subject, and her confident modesty is winning. The inimitable satisfaction of a sustained idea, from first emergence through discipline, disappointment, perseverance, shaping, redefining, and polishing, is a powerful force, and it’s a shame to lose it. Tharp shows how to harness it and make it work.

THE CREATIVE HABIT: LEARN IT AND USE IT FOR LIFE, by Twyla Tharp (Simon & Schuster, 2005)

YOU GOTTA LAUGH

This is a big comic novel about a big comical man. Misha Vainberg, a Russian émigré, is forced to return to his homeland after his father, a career criminal in the “new” Russia, is murdered. Though desperate to return to America (and to Rouenna Sales, his “giant multicultural swallow” from the South Bronx), Misha is stuck in Absurdistan battling Russian bureaucracy, eating, drinking, womanizing, and snidely commenting his way through a grotesquely excessive, corrupt Russia that is in love with America.

ABSURDISTAN: A NOVEL, by Gary Shteyngart (Random House, 2006)

It was one of the greatest partnerships in show biz—Lewis the goofy monkey and Martin the unflappable foil. For ten years they entertained a postwar America that was eager to laugh. Then, in 1956, the team broke up with such acrimony that the two men didn’t speak to each other for 20 years. In this fascinating account straight from the “monkey’s” mouth, Lewis gives us the whole story, candidly and without sparing himself. This is one of the best tell-all memoirs to come along in years.

DEAN AND ME (A LOVE STORY), by Jerry Lewis and James Kaplan (Doubleday, 2005)

FAVORITE AUTHOR

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Deep End of the Ocean comes the story of 12-year-old Veronica “Ronnie” Swan. The eldest daughter in a Mormon family, she is in charge of her younger siblings when the unthinkable happens: Scott Early, a sweet young man when taking his medication, kills Ronnie’s two sisters. Ronnie cannot forgive or forget: She hunts Early and eventually manages to get hired as the nanny for his young daughter. But the closer she comes to her quarry, the more she understands about him, about life, about love and understanding.

CAGE OF STARS, by Jacquelyn Mitchard (Warner Books, 2007)

Barker’s World War I trilogy takes on the insanity of war and questions of class and identity. The books center on William Rivers, a psychologist and social anthropologist who treats shell-shocked soldiers so they can return to the front. Rivers is one of the actual historical personages who inhabit the book. Using both real historical figures and fictional characters, Barker weaves real and imagined worlds together beautifully, with spare, lucid writing that proves to be truly moving and insightful. The Ghost Road was awarded the British Commonwealth’s Booker Prize.

REGENERATION (Plume, 1993); THE EYE IN THE DOOR (Plume, 1995); THE GHOST ROAD (Plume, 1996), by Pat Barker (All three books are available in a single volume, titled The Regeneration Trilogy, Viking, 1996)

LITTLE LAUGHS

By “very short,” they mean single paragraphs, like Cliffs Notes for the attention-deficit crowd. There’s an unauthorized autobiography called “I Did What?” by Iben Stoned; the rise and many falls of struggling artist Wanda Warhol, Andy’s second cousin; the nondeath of salesman Wiley Lomann, who tried to collect life insurance for his family by taking an overdose of placebos; and so on. Quick laughs for a fast-paced world.

FICTOIDS . . . SHORT FICTION . . . VERY SHORT, by Bill Dutcher; illustrated by Jack Ziegler (Dutcher & Company, 2006)

Sports Fact of the Day 10/14-10/19/2008

Oct. 14:
10/14/2003:
In the sixth game of the NLCS at Wrigley Field and only five outs from their first pennant since 1945, cruel and almost comical fate derails the snake-bitten Chicago Cubs. An impetuous fan, Steve Bartman, interferes with left fielder Moises Alou's attempt to catch a foul fly ball and this missed putout serves as the springboard for an eight-run rally by the Florida Marlins, who will win this game 8-3, clinch the pennant against the traumatized Cubs tomorrow and ultimately beat the Yankees in the World Series. Bartman's try for a souvenir doesn't account for all eight Florida runds in the decisive inning, but rueful Chicago fans will forever cite that moment as the linchpin of the Cubs' demise.

Birthdays:
John Wood b. 1910
Harry Brecheen b. 1914
Charlie Joyner b. 1947
Beth Daniel b. 1956
Frank Wycheck b. 1971

1990:
The San Francisco 49ers quarterback Joe Montana set team records by passing for 476 yards and six touchdowns in a game against Atlanta.

"Where others see chaos and danger after the snap, Montana sees order and opportunity. He has stated baldly that when he is flowing well in a game and has time to throw, he cannot be stopped. The unflappability that sets him free is almost eerie." -Rick Telander, September 19, 1994

Packers Fact:
The Packers set a club record for the fewest sacks allowed in a season in 2004. Green Bay's opponents drops its quarterbacks just 14 times that year.

Oct. 15:
10/15/1975:
Rick Barry returns to the Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, Lon Island, for the first time since he played there in 1972 and scores 49 points to lead the NBA champion Golden State Warriors over his former team, the New York Nets, 119-114, in an exhibition game. Barry outduels Julius Erving, the Nets' newest scoring sensation, who pours in 43 points in the defeat. Barry, the only man to lead the NCAA, the ABA and the NBA in scoring, puts on a show for his old fans with 15 field goals, including 3 three-pointers and a near-flawless 16 of 17 from the foul line with his feathery underhanded style.

Birthdays:
John L. Sullivan b. 1858
Mel Harder b. 1909
Bobby Morrow b. 1935
Jim Palmer b. 1945
Joe Klecko b. 1953

1988:
In the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs, the injured Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Kirk Gibson cracked a dramatic pinch-hit home run to win Game 1 of the World Series.

"He knew what he'd done the instant the ball exploded off his bat. He raised his arm and held it aloft until he reached first base [and] then he limped around the bases as if he were straggling home from the Russian front." -Peter Gammons, October 24, 1988

Packers Fact:
After forming their squad in 1919, the Packers mostly played teams from Wisconsin and Upper Michigan before joining the fledgling NFL in 1921.

Oct. 16:
10/16/1983:
Scott McGregor pitches a five-hit shutout and Eddie Murray homers twice, leading the Baltimore Orioles to a 5-0 victory over the Phillies to clinch the World Series title. Orioles pitchers posted a 1.60 ERA during the five games, holding the Phils to a .195 team batting average. For handling the stingy Baltimore pitching staff and hitting .385 (including a double and homer in the final game), veteran catcher Rick Dempsey is named the MVP of the Series.

Birthdays:
Dave DeBusschere b. 1940
Tim McCarver b. 1941
Juan Gonzalez b. 1969
Kordell Stewart b. 1972
Paul Kariya b. 1974

1983:
American golfer Lanny Wadkins hit an 80-yard wedge shot to the pin and then tapped the ball into the hole to clinch a United States victory in the Ryder Cup.

"Wadkins was the perfect guy for an occasion like this: cocky, a gambler, a thriver on pressure. He almost holed the shot, and his teammates swarmed over him as if he'd kicked a winning field goal with no time remaining." -Dan Jenkins, October 24, 1983

Packers Fact:
After scoring a touchdown against the Raiders in 1993, Safety LeRoy Butler started teh famous "Lambeau Leap".

Oct. 17:
10/17/1965:
Spellbinding rookie running back Gale Sayers scores four second-half touchdowns to lead the Chicago Bears to a 45-37 victory over the Minnesota Vikings. After the Vikes go ahead, 37-31, Sayers returns the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown with only two minutes left. Following a Dick Butkus interception on the next Vikings drive, Sayers closes out the scoring on a 10-yard run. Earlier, the Kansas Comet had scored on 18- and 25-yard passes from Rudy Bukich. He'll go on to set a new NFL record with 22 touchdowns in one season (since broken) and win the Rookie of the Year award in a landslide.

Birthdays:
Jim Gilliam b. 1928
Evel Knievel b. 1938
Bob Seagren b. 1946
Ernie Els b. 1969
John Rocker b. 1974

1969:
Lew Alcindor, who will later change his name to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, scored 29 points in his professional basketball debut for the Milwaukee Bucks.

"He will not change the style of the pro game, because Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell have already done that with similar though lesser physical endowments. But he dominates it-every game in which he plays-and the thoughts of rivals before and after they meet him." -Tex Maule, March 9, 1970

Packers Fact:
Dan Devine's first game as coach in 1971 was not successful. Not only did the Packers lose to the Giants 42-40, but Devine also broke his leg when a play spilled over onto the sidelines.

Oct. 18:
10/18/1992:
An innocent mistake produces a major embarrassment for major league baseball before Game 2 of the World Series between the Braves and the Toronto Blue Jays at Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium. The U.S. Marine Corps Color Guard displayed the Canadian flag upside down with the distinctive maple leaf insignia pointed downard during pregame ceremonies. MLB offers profuse apologies to the Canadian government and all baseball fans after the diplomatic snafu. The Blue Jays get the last laugh, rallying in the ninth inning on a home run by Ed Sprague to beat the Braves, 5-4, evening the Series at a game apiece.

Birthdays:
Forrest Gregg b. 1933
Mike Ditka b. 1939
Mel Counts b. 1941
Marina Navratilova b. 1956
Thomas Hearns b. 1958

1968:
The American long jumper Bob Beamon set a world record with a leap of 29 feet, 2-1/2 inches at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City.

"When he realized what he had done, Beamon sagged into a neural collapse that suggested to physiologists that he had somehow summoned the superhuman strength that ordinarily comes upon people only in disasters." _Kenny Moore, September 9, 1991

Packers Fact:
The Packers have won more championships than any other NFL team. They've won 12.

Oct. 19:
Being fired as head coach of the Cal. (Berkeley) Golden Bears football team after five disappointing seasons, Joe Kapp put a positive spin on his dismissal: "I'm graduating with my seniors."

Birthdays:
Lionel Hollins b. 1953
Tim Belcher b. 1961
Evander Holyfield b. 1962
Brad Daugherty b. 1965
Keith Foulke b. 1972

apckrfan's NFL picks: Week 7

Week 7:
Sun, Oct. 19:
SD @ BUF - Buffalo
PIT @ CIN - Pittsburgh
TEN @ KC - Tennessee
SF @ NYG - New York Giants
DAL @ STL - Dallas
BAL @ MIA - Miami
NO @ CAR - Carolina
MIN @ CHI - Chicago
DET @ HOU - DET
CLE @ WAS - Washington
NYJ @ OAK - NY Jets
IND @ GB - Green Bay
SEA @ TB - Tampa Bay

Mon, Oct 20:
DEN @ NE - Denver

BYE: St. Louis, Atlanta, Jacksonville, Philadelphia

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/13/2008

10/13/2001:
Yankee shortstop Derek Jeter adds to his considerable legend with a one-of-a-kind play late in the game to preserve a 1-0 victory in the ALDS against the Oakland A's. Jeter ranges into foul territory along the first-base line to retrieve an overthrow from right fielder Shane Spencer and backhands the ball to catcher Jorge Posada, who tags A's base runner Jeremy Giambi to end the seventh inning. Trailing 2-0 in this best-of-five series, the Yankees stay alive and go on to win three straight games against Oakland.

Birthdays:
Eddie Mathews b. 1931
Doc Rivers b. 1961
Jerry Rice b. 1962
Paul Pierce b. 1977
Jermaine O'Neal b. 1978

1985:
Dallas Cowboys running back Tony Dorsett became the sixth player in National Football League history to rush for more than 10,000 career yards.

"There is an unmistakable style to Dorsett's running, a tremendous grace that will make him distinctive among NFL backs. His motions are fluid, so fluid that it looks as though he could balance a bowl of soup on his head while moving with the ball." -Joe Marshall, September 19, 1977

Packers Fact:
According to newspaper accounts, Adolph Kliebhan started at quarterback in the inaugural NFL game in Packers' history in 1921. It was the only game in which he played in his career.

SURVIVOR

On October 13, 1972, a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team and their supporters crashed into the Andes. Three days after the crash, Nando Parrado awoke from a coma with a fractured skull. Overcoming every obstacle and forced into cannibalism to survive, he and several other team members climbed their way out to rescue. This extraordinary testimony, by one who actually lived through it, deeply and movingly enhances the Piers Paul Read’s 1974 bestseller about the incident, Alive.

MIRACLE IN THE ANDES: 72 DAYS ON THE MOUNTAIN AND MY LONG TREK HOME, by Nando Parrado with Vince Rause (Crown, 2006)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/12/2008

Architect of two national championship teams (1935 and '38) and head coach of the TCU Horned Frogs football team for nearly two decades, Dutch Meyer espoused unyielding dedication from his teams as he exhorted his players to: "Fight 'em till hell freezes over-then fight 'em on the ice."

Birthdays:
Joe Cronin b. 1906
Jaroslav Drobny b. 1921
Tony Kubek b. 1936
Jack Marin b. 1944
Charlie Ward b. 1971



One was a Muslim, one a Jew. One was black, one white. One was young and pretty, one old and ugly. That was Ali and Cosell: a team that never failed to keep its viewers fascinated and talking. Veteran sports writer Dave Kindred knew both of them, and in this book he seeks to “recover Muhammad Ali from mythology and Howard Cosell from caricature.” This is a story about two careers circling and working off each other to dazzling effect, told as only an insider could.

SOUND AND FURY: TWO POWERFUL LIVES, ONE FATEFUL FRIENDSHIP, by Dave Kindred (Free Press, 2006)

apckrfan's NFL picks: Week 6

Sun, Oct. 12:
CHI @ ATL - Chicago
OAK @ NO - New Orleans
CAR @ TB - Carolina
STL @ WAS - Washington
CIN @ NYJ - NY Jets
DET @ MIN - Minnesota
MIA @ HOU - Miami
BAL @ IND - Indianapolis
JAC @ DEN - Denver
DAL @ ARI - Dallas
PHI @ SF - Philadelphia
GB @ SEA - Green Bay* (I haven't been impressed with Seattle so far this season, so sticking with my Pack)
NE @ SD - New England

Mon, Oct. 13:
NYG @ CLE - NY Giants

BYE: Buffalo, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Tennessee

Sports Fact of the Day 10/6-10/11/2008

Oct. 6:
10/6/1962:
The Purdue Boilermakers become the first visiting team to win five straight games at Notre Dame Stadium with a 24-6 victory at South Bend. Purdue quarterback Ron DiGravio passes for one touchdown and scores another on a short run to cap a 93-yard drive. The Irish register only seven first downs all day, and only a meaningless touchdown in the closing moments averts a shutout.

Birthdays:
Tony Dungy b. 1955
Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd b. 1959
Ruben Sierra b. 1965
J.J. Stokes b. 1972
Rebecca Lobo b. 1973

2000:
The Major League Soccer goalkeeper Tony Meola led the Kansas City Wizards to victory over the Los Angeles Galaxy. The Wizards, one year after finishing with an 8-24 record, advanced to MLS Cup 2000.

"Meola added one more chapter to his growing legend. He set an MLS record with 16 shutouts this season, helped turn the last-place Wizards into the league's winningest team, and, after missing most of 1999 with a torn left ACL, he was set to be honored this week as MLS's 2000 Comeback Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year and (in all likelihood) Most Valuable Player." -Grant Wahl, October 16, 2000

Packers Fact:
The Packers have perhaps the largest NFL following despite playing in the smallest television market in the country (number 69; next is Jacksonville at number 52).

Oct. 7:
10/7/1919:
Honest Dickie Kerr wins his second game of the World Series despite eight of his teammates conspiring against him, going the 10-inning distance to hurl the Chicago White Sox past Cincinnati, 5-4, in the sixth game of a best-of-nine series. After Cincinnati wins the title in eight games and the sordid gambling entanglements involving the White Sox are fully disclosed nearly a year later, Kerr's irreproachable pitching, along with the efforts of Hall of Famers Eddie Collins and Ray Schalk, stands as a pillar of integrity amidst the squalor of the "Black Sox Sacandal."

Birthdays:
Willie Naulis b. 1934
Dick Jauron b. 1950
Johnnie Morton b. 1971
Priest Holmes b. 1973
Charles Woodson b. 1976

1984:
The San Diego Padres defeated the Chicago Cubs, 6-3, in the deciding fifth game of the National League playoffs. San Diego reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage recorded the save that propelled San Diego to its first-ever World Series berth.

"Gossage is one of the few athletees in American sport who can single-handedly dominate a game. When his manager summons Goose into a game in a late inning, with no outs and the lead run on, the move is as near as anythign there is in baseball to the closing of the mating net in chess." -William Nack, September 28, 1981

Packers Fact:
Before A.J. Hawk in 2006, Nick Barnett was the last Packers' rookie to start at linebacker on Kickoff Weekend in 2003.

Oct. 8:
10/8/1950:
The Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings thrash the NHL All-Stars, 7-1, at the Olympia. After beating the 1947-49 NHL champion Toronto Maple Leafs three straight years, this is the first time the All-Stars are beating in this increasingly popular preseason exhibition. Ted Lindsay notches the first hat trick in the four-year history of the event, scoring only 19 seconds after the opening face-off and also notching Detroit's final goal late in the game. Rookie goalie Terry Sawchuk, destined to become one of hockey's all-time greats, turns aside 25 shots and just misses a shutout when the All-Stars score in the final moments.

Birthdays:
Billy Conn b. 1917
Fred Stolle b. 1938
Paul Splittorff b. 1946
Rashaan Salaam b. 1974
Amos Zereoue b. 1976

1961:
The New York Yankees ace Whitey Ford pitched five shutout innings in Game 4 of the World Series against Cincinnati and broke Babe Ruth's Series record by pitching 32 consecutive scoreless innings.

"He pitched with the icy competence that is his trademark, and it during his 14 scoreless innings the Reds looked tense, puzzled and generally inept at the plate, credit Ford. He has done the same thing to many good teams, including the Pirates in last year's World Series." -Anonymous, October 16, 1961

Packers Fact:
In 1950, Gene Ronzani became the first man besides Curly Lambeau to be the Packers' head coach.

Oct. 9:
10/9/1957:
Bold Ruler, carrying top weight of 130 pounds, leads all the way on a sloppy track and captures the Vosburgh Handicap at Belmont Park by nine lengths over Tick Tock. Ridden by Eddie Arcaro, the three-year-old colt sets a new track record for seven furlongs, 1:21-2/5, bettering the old mark, which had been unmatched for 51 years. It's Bold Ruler's eighth victory of the year in 13 starts, including wins in the Flamingo Stakes, Wood Memorial and Preakness.

Birthdays:
Mike Hershberger b. 1939
Joe Pepitone b. 1940
Mike Singletary b. 1958
Kenny Anderson b. 1970
Aunike Sorenstam b. 1970

1994:
At the Monterey Grand Prix at Laguna Seca Raceway, motor sports legend Mario Andrett raced for the last time in his 31-year career.

"The crew formed a gantlet along the pit lane and, wearing T-shirts emblazoned with ARRIVEDERCI, MARIO, cheered for him as he rolled to a stop. It was a wonderful sound, those Italianate vowels of his name pealing like church bells amid the methanol fumes." -Bruce Newman, October 17, 1994

Packers Fact:
Linebacker Rich Wingo set a Packers' rookie record when he posted a team-leading 166 tackles in 1979.

Oct. 10:
10/10/1948:
With Cleveland leading the World Series three games to one, more than 86,000 fans pour into Municipal Stadium to watch Bob Feller nail down the championship for the Indians. But it doesn't happen this day. Bob Elliott hits two home runs for Boston early in the game and the Braves break the contest open with a six-run seventh inning, staving off elimination with an 11-5 win. Cleveland will defeat Boston, 4-3, tomorrow at Braves Field to clinch their first world title since 1920.

Birthdays:
Bruce Devlin b. 1937
Gus Williams b. 1953
Norm Nixon b. 1955
Brett Favre b. 1969
Pat Burrell b. 1976

1973:
The San Diego Conquistadors of the American Basketball Association opened their season with a game in San Antonio under new coach Wilt Chamberlain.

"Wilt, the holder of records, four times the NBA's MVP and teh reputed bane of eight different pro coaches, gathered his new club around him. On this night, Chamberlain joined a profession to which he has long been considered least likely to accede: coaching." -Peter Carry, October 29, 1973

Packers Fact:
Pro Football Hall of Famer Curly Lambeau's given first name was Earl.

Oct. 11:
10/11/1980:
Led by flashy center-iceman Denis Savard, the Chicago Blackhawks beat the Montreal Canadiens, 5-4, in the Habs' home opener in an arena full of disillusioned fans and second-guessing media. The French-Canadian Montreal native, a high-scoring star for the Montreal Juniors of teh QMIHL, is just the kind of player normally drafted by the Canadiens. Instead, this past summer they selected Dough Wickenheiser from Western Canada. While Wickenheiser is a healthy scratch tonight, the mercurial Savard scores a goal and goes on to a Hall of Fame career.

Birthdays:
Maria Bueno b. 1939
Steve Young b. 1961
Dmitri Young b. 1973
Jason Arnott b. 1974

1991:
Chip Beck blazed around the new Sunrise Golf Club with an 18-hole score of 59-equaling Al Geiberger's PGA record-and yet some critics minimized Beck's feat.

"[Here's] the obvious flaw in the "easy course" argument: A zillion tournament rounds had been played on golf courses, easy and hard, and until Friday, only Geiberger had broken 60. In essence, the biggest hazards were in the golfer's mind, not on the course." -John Garrity, October 21, 1991

Packers Fact:
Safety Johnnie Gray led the Packers with 123 tackles in 1975.

Book Recs of the Day 10/6-10/11/2008

THE SONG IS YOU

Shakespeare called it “the food of love”; John Cage described it as “a means of rapid transportation”; cognitive neuroscientist (and former record producer) Levitin implies that it is as active as a drug in the way it connects directly to our brains. The book starts with the basics of music and neuroscience, but keep reading, because the rest—exploring such matters as the brain’s reaction to music, music’s role in evolution, why we like the music we like—is a lively work from a man with an infectious enthusiasm for his subject.

THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON MUSIC: THE SCIENCE OF A HUMAN OBSESSION, by Daniel J. Levitin (Dutton, 2006)

FRIENDS AND LOVERS

“From the opening gun, Sisman delivers pleasant prose, clever repartee, and insight into the differences between men and women. . . . A pleasure to read.”—The Boston Globe

British art dealer Freya and struggling writer Jack have been friends for years. They are both thirtysomethings, living their hip single lives in Manhattan. When she breaks up with her live-in boyfriend, Jack invites her to share his apartment until she can find her own. Of course, that’s when the fun begins. These characters are winning and witty, and the book is simply delightful.

JUST FRIENDS, by Robyn Sisman (Ballantine Books, 2002)

ROBOT WARS

Wilson holds degrees from the Robotics Institute of Carnegie Mellon University and has worked at Intel Research Seattle and Microsoft Research, to name a few. So he knows a few things about robots. He teaches us about the latest advances in the field while showing us how to recognize when robots, and other smart machines such as microwave ovens, are about to rebel. And for when the fateful uprising begins, he offers simple tips about what to do.

HOW TO SURVIVE A ROBOT UPRISING: TIPS ON DEFENDING YOURSELF AGAINST THE COMING REBELLION, by Daniel H. Wilson (Bloomsbury USA, 2005)

Charley LeBlanc is the black-sheep son of Virginia aristocrats. At a family gathering, a bomb kills his oldest brother’s entire family. Charley is suspect number one, and this novel is the tale of his struggle to prove his innocence. Hoffman, author of ten other books, is able to create vivid characters and move them easily and entertainingly through a compelling if somewhat formulaic plot. The West Virginia characters are a special pleasure.

TIDEWATER BLOOD, by William Hoffman (Harper Paperbacks, 2002)

As history, as literature, as autobiography, this book is one of the gold standards in American letters. Unless you are very young, you’ve probably read it, but how long ago? It’s time to read it again, with all the insight you have gained since you first read it. Adams viewed his country through the mirror of himself and his family. What he saw gave him a great deal for his acute and wide-ranging mind to mull over. We, his fortunate readers, enjoy the result, a work arresting, entertaining, and profound.

THE EDUCATION OF HENRY ADAMS, by Henry Adams (1918; Oxford World Classics, 1999)

A horrible virus is killing three women in a Baltimore hospital. Dr. Nathaniel McCormick from the Centers for Disease Control must find out what the virus is and where it came from before a major, lethal epidemic gets under way. The smart, brash McCormick must contend with, among other things, an old girlfriend, a murder victim who happens to have had sex with all three patients, and treachery by people who are trying to thwart his investigation. Isolation Ward is absolutely everything you want a medical thriller to be—a genuine page-turner.

ISOLATION WARD, by Joshua Spanogle (Delacorte Press, 2006)

Sports Fact of the Day 9/25-10/5/2008

Sept. 25:
9/25/1971:
Bringing its football program back to life after a plane crash on the return flight from a game at East Carolina killed 37 players and 8 coaches last November, Marshall scores a touchdown on the final play of the game to edge Xavier, 15-13, and send an emotional home crowd surging onto the field in celebration at Huntington, West Virginia. Quarterback Reggie Oliver tosses a 13-yard touchdown pass to Terry Gardner as time runs out for the victory in Marshall's first home game since last fall's catastrophe.

Birthdays:
Phil Rizzuto b. 1918
Hubie Brown b. 1933
Bob McAdoo b. 1951
Scottie Pippen b. 1965
Chauncey Billups b. 1976

1982:
Ricky Edwards rushed for 177 yards as the Northwestern University football team snapped its 34-game losing streak iwth a 31-6 victory over Northern Illinois.

"Behind running back Rickey Edwards's four touchdowns-and despite Northern supporters bearing KEEP IT ALIVE WITH 35 buttons-Northwestern ended its three-year nightmare 31-6. The win was the Wildcats' first since beating Wyoming 27-22 on Sept. 15, 1979." -Alexander Wolff, October 4, 1982

Packers Fact:
After quarterback Brett Favre, who had apperaed in 223 consecutive games entering 2006, Tackle Forrest Greeg (187) holds the second longest string of games played in Packers' history.

Sept. 26:
9/26/1942:
Though well out of the National League pennant race, the New York Giants are denied a doubleheader sweep when young fans, many of whom had gained free admission by bringing scrap metal for the war effort, run onto the field in droves in the eighth inning of the second game against Boston, causing a forfeit. The Giants won the opener over the Braves, 6-4, and were leading 5-2 in the nightcap when the youthful crowd runs amok and order cannot be restored. While the Giants may have been deprived of a meaningless win in the standings, the cavorting revelers did contribute many tons of scrap metal to be smelted down by the military.

Birthdays:
Bobby Shantz b. 1925
Dave Casper b. 1951
Craig Heyward b. 1966
Craig Janney b. 1967
Serena Williams b. 1981

1981:
Nolan Ryan of the Houstaon Astros pitched a no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was Ryan's fifth career no-hitter, the most of any pitcher.

"Consider the mythic status of Walter Johnson...or consider Lefty Grove, or Bob (Rapid Robert) Feller, or Van Lingle Mungo, or Dizzy Dean, or Dazzy Vance, or Sandy Koufax. ... But all these legends, living and dead, are so many balloon-tossers when compared with Nolan Ryan." -Ron Fimrite, September 29, 1986

Packers Fact:
The 4.75 million shares in the Packers' franchise are owned by 111,967 stockholders.

Sept. 27:
9/27/1959:
Vince Lombardi's debut as head coach of the Green Bay Packers is triumphant when the Pack edges the Chicago Bears, 9-6. His impact on the floundering franchise is immediate. Installing a ball control offense, cohesive defense and the integral ingredient of pride in their collective performance, he builds a championship-caliber team in only two years. From 1961 to '69 the Packers will win five NFL titles.

Birthdays:
Johnny Pesky b. 1919
Kathy Whitworth b. 1939
Mike Schmidt b. 1949
Monte Towe b. 1953
Steve Kerr b. 1965

1988:
The Los Angeles Dodgers righthander Orel Hershiser pitched 10 shutout innings against San Diego to set a record of 59 consecutive scoreless innings.

"As the fly ball disappeared into the glove of Los Angeles Dodger rightfielder Jose Gonzalez, Orel Hershiser watched on bended knees just in front of the pitcher's mound. His posture suggested genuflection, and, indeed, the out was the answer to a prayer." -Hank Hersch, October 10, 1988

Packers Fact:
Safety Willie Wood appeared in every game the Packers played in the 1960s.

Sept. 28:
9/28/1958:
Phillies outfielder Richie Ashburn goes three for four, raising his batting average to .350, which is good enough to hold off Willie Mays (.347) and win his second National League batting title. Mays goes three for five with a double and a homer in his final game, but it's not enough to overtake Ashburn, a speedy singles hitter who played his whole career in the shadow of power-hitting center fielderrs like Mays, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider. Following his career, Ashburn will become a popular broadcaster for the Phils and finally earn Hall of Fame enshrinement in 1995.

Birthdays:
Alice Marble b. 1913
Tom Harmon b. 1919
Steve Largent b. 1954
Grant Fuhr b. 1962
Emeka Okafor b. 1982

Sept. 29:
9/29/2005:
Journeyman Yankee right-hander Aaron Small completes a remarkable 10-week stretch following his mid-season call-up from the minors to buttress New York's injury-depleted pitching staff. He not only defeats Baltimore, 8-4, at Camden Yards for his 10th straight win without a defeat, but he becomes only the fourth pitcher in big league history to have 10 or more decisions in one season without a loss. Small joins Tom Zachary (12-0 for the 1929 Yankees), Dennis Lamp (11-0 for the 1985 Blue Jays) and Howie Krist (10-0 for the 1941 Cardinals) in the peculiar club.

Birthdays:
Ellsworth Vines b. 1911
Kermit Zarley b. 1941
Carol Blazejowski b. 1956
Sebastian Coe b. 1956
Hersey Hawkins b. 1965

1991:
The United States won the Ryder Cup for the first time in six years when Bernhard Langer missed a crucial, deciding putt.

"The match boiled down to Langer and six feet of Bermuda grass, with the hole and the Cup at stake. When the ball slid over the right edge of the cup, Langer straightened and grimaced as if a knife had been thrust into his back." -John Garrity, October 7, 1991

Packers Fact:
No other team in pro football has had the same nickname in the same city for as long as the Green Bay Packers.

Sept. 30:
Summarizing the progression of Andre Agassi's eventful tennis career from counter-culture rebel to elder statesman and respected ambassador of the sport, ebullient commentator Bud Collins captured it perfectly: "From punk to paragon."

Birthdays:
Robin Roberts b. 1926
Johnny Podres b. 1932
Jamal Anderson b. 1972
Martina Hingis b. 1980
Dominique Moceanu b. 1981

1913:
Francis Ouimet, a 20-year-old amateur, beat the two big men of British golf, Harry Vardon and Ted Ray, and won the U.S. Open at The Country Club in Brookline, Mass.

"It was a case of little David knocking down two Goliaths, and his victory, to put it mildly, was an extremely popular one. It ignited an enthusiasm for golf in great numbers of people across the country whose previous notions about the game had been largely in terms of white flannels and blue blood." -Gwilym S. Brown, June 17, 1963

Packers Fact:
Two men played in every Packers' game during Vince Lombardi's tenure as head coach from 1959 to 1967. Pro Football Hall of Fave tackle Forrest Gregg was one. Wide receiver Boyd Dowler was the other.

Oct. 1:
10/1/1977:
Pele, the world's finest and most beloved soccer player, is honored by a capacity crowd at Giants Stadium and plays a special exhibition game arranged for teh occasion. He plays the first half for the New York Cosmos, his professional team in the North American Soccer League, and the second half for Santos of Brazil, the team of his youthful days in international competition. Delivering a memorable parting thrill for his legion of fans, he scores on a free kick late in the first half for the Cosmos, who go on to win the game, 2-1.

Birthdays:
Rod Carew b. 1945
Grete Waitz b. 1953
Jeff Reardon b. 1955
Mark McGwire b. 1963
Cliff Ronning b. 1965

1975:
Muhammad Ali won the "Thrilla in Manila" when Joe Frazier failed to answer the bell for the 15th round. Though Ali retained his heavyweight championship belt, both fighters were bruised and beaten.

"Ali opened the fight flat-footed, his hands whipping out and back like pistons of an enormous and magnificent engine. ... Head up and unprotected, Frazier stayed in the mouth of the cannon, and the big gun roared again and again." -Mark Kram, October 13, 1975

Packers Fact:
The Packers boast season-ticket holders from all 50 states, as well as from Washington, D.C., Canada, Japan, and Australia.

Oct. 2:
10/2/1972:
In a pivotal game in the American League East pennant race, future Hall of Famers Luis Aparicio and Carl Yastrzemski of the Red Sox end up on third base on the same at bat. Aparicio retreated to third when he was unable to score on a double by Yastrzemski, who thought Little Looie would score easily and advanced to third. Yaz is called out, and the gaffe proves costly. Detroit wins this game, 4-1, and clinches the AL East crown by also beating Boston again tomorrow. Detroit finishes on top with a final margin of just one-half game because of an uneven schedule, occasioned by games being wiped out by a player strike at the outset of the season.

Birthdays:
Maury Wills b. 1932
Dick Barnett b. 1936
Mark Rypien b. 1962
Thomas Muster b. 1967
Eddie Guardado b. 1970

1968:
In Game 1 of the World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals righthanded pitcher Bob Gibson set the Series record by striking out 17 Detroit Tiger batters.

"When he got Willie Horton to end the game, the crowd stood and roared its approval, almost as much at the excellence he had somehow sustained through the season as at the new record. There must be something about Gibson's habits that differs from those of mere mortal pitchers." -William Leggett, October 14, 1968

Packers Fact:
John Brockington was the last Packers' rookie to start at running back on Kickoff Weekend in 1971.

Oct. 3:
10/3/1942:
Whirlaway, ridden by George Woolf, edges Alsab by three-quarters of a length to win the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park. It's sweet revenge for the Calumet Farms colt and 1941 Triple Crown winner after losing to Alsab by a nose in a match race earlier this summer. Whirlaway, trained by Ben Jones and carrying a weight-for-age 124 pounds, overtakes three-year-old Alsab (117 pounds) in the latter stages of the two-mile test and is pulling away at the finish. He'll win 13 of his 22 races in 1942 to earn his second straight Horse of the Year award.

Birthdays:
Marques Haynes b. 1926
Jean Ratelle b. 1940
Dave Winfield b. 1951
Dennis Eckersley b. 1954
Fred Couples b. 1959

1980:
The Alabama Crimson Tide routed Kentucky, 45-0, to give coach Paul "Bear" Bryant his 300th career coaching victory.

"He is the enduring symbol of his profession, a coach who could make his players crave his love and respect so desperately that they gave everything they had every Saturday. ... He always said if you gave him players who came from "good mamas and papas," he would take care of the rest." William F. Reed, September 19, 1994

Packers Fact:
Recent additions to the Packers' list of season-ticket holders include people who had put their names on the waiting list of more than 71,000 back in the 1970s.

Oct. 4:
10/4/1980:
Mike Schmidt's major-league-leading 48th home run, a two-run shot in the 11th inning, gives the Philadelphia Phillies a 6-4 victory over the Montreal Expos at Olympic Stadium and clinches the National League East title. Schmidt also leads the NL in RBIs (121), total bases (342) and slugging percentage (.624) as the Phils win their fourth NL East crown in five years. They'll proceed to beat Houston in the NLCS and Kansas City in the World Series to capture their first world championship in franchise history, dating back to 1883.

Birthdays:
Rip Repulski b. 1927
Sam Huff b. 1934
Vic Hadfield b. 1940
Tony LaRussa b. 1944
A.C. Green b. 1963

1994:
The 14-year-old tennis prodigy Martina Hingis made her professional debut a successful one by defeating the world's 45-ranked player, Patty Fendick, in straight sets at the European Indoors championships in Zurich, Switzerland.

"There is no question that the young Hingis, the junior French Open and Wimbledon champion, has the talent to play professionally. Hingis demonstrated elegant ground strokes, a champion's two-handed backhand, a sound grasp of strategy and a composure far beyond her years." -Sally Jenkins, October 17, 1994

Packers Fact:
Charles Lee was the last Packers' rookie to start at wide receiver on Kickoff Weekend in 2000.

Oct. 5:
10/5/1952:
Cuban welterweight champion Kid Gavilan defends his title with a unanimous 15-round decision over New Yorker Billy Graham before 40,000 boisterous onlookers in Havana. Gavilan controls the bout from the start, throwing in an occasional bolo punch to excite the crowd and build up a huge lead on points. There are no knockdowns in the fight as Gavilan beats Graham for the third time in four lifetime meetings on an extremely hot night at Gran Stadium.

Birthdays:
Barry Switzer b. 1937
Laura Davies b. 1963
Mario Lemieux b. 1965
Patrick Roy b. 1965
Grant Hill b. 1972

Book Rec of the Day 9/25-10/5/2008

WORKING LATE

Edward Said, best known for his study of the West’s perception of the Middle East, was also a music critic and professor of literature. In a class at Columbia University, “Late Works/Late Style,” he explored the nature of artists’ late work. The challenging book that grew out of the class examines the work of musicians and writers such as Beethoven, Jean Genet, and Thomas Mann in their later years. Said argues that as artists approach death, their work may “crown a lifetime of aesthetic endeavor” but can often develop as works of “intransigence, difficulty, and unresolved contradiction.” It’s a fascinating look at the late work of great artists by a brilliant intellect.

ON LATE STYLE: MUSIC AND LITERATURE AGAINST THE GRAIN, by Edward Said (Pantheon, 2006)

FRUSTRATED POET

Father Urrutia Lacroix lies on his deathbed, recalling his life in one long, all-through-the-night confession. He had wanted to be a poet, but instead he became a Jesuit priest, literary critic, and a lackey of Chile’s ruling class. By Night in Chile is the first of Bolaño’s books to be translated into English. This story of morality and politics has been hailed as “one of the great Latin American novels” in Kirkus Reviews.

BY NIGHT IN CHILE, by Roberto Bolaño; translated by Chris Andrews (New Directions, 2003)

“An astonishing, beautiful, deeply intelligent record of an extraordinary life.”—Toni Morrison, winner of the 1993 Nobel Prize in Literature

John Hope Franklin studied at Harvard and taught in America’s most prestigious schools. He served on presidential committees. He wrote the seminal work on African-American history, From Slavery to Freedom. He was threatened by a lynch mob while doing research on black cotton farmers in Mississippi during the Depression. A great deal of doing and observing and thinking went into making a very full life, and this is the book Franklin wrote about it.

MIRROR TO AMERICA: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JOHN HOPE FRANKLIN, by John Hope Franklin (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005)

ROMANTIC FICTION

The Pilot’s Wife opens with a knock at the door at 3:00 in the morning, when Kathryn Lyons learns that her husband, Jack, has died in a plane crash. But who was the man she had loved? Following rumors of Jack’s secret life, as well as her heart, Kathryn bravely reaches into the depths of love, memory, loss, and betrayal to grasp at the truth. Shreve delivers a seamless, sensual page-turner.

THE PILOT’S WIFE, by Anita Shreve (Little, Brown, 1998)

ARTIST BIO

In the first volume of Spurling’s epic biography, The Unknown Matisse, the painter struggled to establish himself. Here, at age 40, he is “the master.” Using primary documents, mostly letters, Spurling gives us Matisse the man, not just the painter. Outwardly conventional, cushioned in what we would now call a suburban lifestyle, while many of his contemporaries were barely eking out an existence, he was never comfortable with his success. Spurling’s command of her subject is impressive, always with an eye to the intersections of the artistic life and the personal.

MATISSE THE MASTER: A LIFE OF HENRI MATISSE: THE CONQUEST OF COLOUR: 1909-1954, by Hilary Spurling (Knopf, 2005)

PHOTOGRAPHY

The great photographer Robert Capa (1913-54) is represented here in a stunning collection of 937 photographs selected by his brother Cornell, himself a noted Life photographer, and his biographer, Richard Whelan. From the famous war images (the Allied landing on Omaha Beach; the Loyalist soldier in the Spanish Civil War caught at the moment of a bullet’s fatal impact) to celebrities and artists at work and at play, this handsome volume is an inspiring testament to Capa’s eye and heart.

ROBERT CAPA: THE DEFINITIVE COLLECTION, edited by Richard Whelan and Cornell Capa (Phaidon Press, 2001)

“All the Sherlock Holmes stories with the most learned, interesting, revelatory annotations possible. . . . An indispensable set.”—Peter Straub

These three hefty volumes are handsome and exhaustive, filled with notes and illustrations illuminating in almost superhuman detail the life and times of the great detective and his friend Dr. Watson. They are great resources for those coming to the stories for the first time, as well as seasoned Baker Street Irregulars.

	THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE COMPLETE SHORT STORIES, VOLS. I & II, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; edited by Leslie S. Klinger (W. W. Norton, 2004)
	THE NEW ANNOTATED SHERLOCK HOLMES: THE NOVELS, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; edited by Leslie S. Klinger (W. W. Norton, 2005)

EMERALD ISLE

The final volume of The Dublin Saga, The Rebels of Ireland picks up where The Princes of Ireland left off: with Ireland under the heel of the English in the 16th century. The epic colorfully tramps from one generation to the next through Ireland’s bloody history until the rise of Parnell and finally the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922. Rutherford fills the book with enough intrigue and romance to keep a person reading late many nights running.

THE REBELS OF IRELAND: THE DUBLIN SAGA, by Edward Rutherford (Doubleday, 2006)

THE BAND PLAYED ON

The 33⅓ series comprises small books about significant rock albums, written with a contagious enthusiasm by writers who love the music. John Niven casts his entry in the form of a novella in which he blends fact and fiction to convey the high life of drugs, sex, and rock and roll that went into one of the most famous rock albums (Music from Big Pink, by The Band), to come out of that most famous time (July 1968).

THE BAND’S MUSIC FROM BIG PINK: A NOVELLA, by John Niven (Continuum International, 2005)

“Really comic, really tragic, bracingly unsentimental . . . What a triumph! What joy!”—The Boston Sunday Globe

Atkinson’s first novel is the funny and poignant story of Ruby Lennox and her difficult, dysfunctional family. It’s a bumpy ride with a philandering father and an unhappy mother, Bunty. Ruby also has two older sisters, one headstrong and one depressed. And there are the previous generations who are splendidly taken up in footnotes at the end of the chapters.

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE MUSEUM, by Kate Atkinson (Picador USA, 1999)

“I’m still a bit puzzled as to why no one has come forward to make me look like thirty cents. But except for an occasional tour-de-force like The Big Clock, no one has.”—Raymond Chandler

George Stroud, editor of Crimeways magazine, knows that his boss, Earl Janoth, the CEO of the media empire that owns Crimeways, is responsible for the murder of a woman Stroud has been seeing. The woman was Janoth’s girlfriend, and Janoth knows somebody saw him leaving her place on the night of her murder. But he doesn’t know who it was. He picks Stroud to lead an investigation to find out the identity of the man whom we know to be Stroud himself.

THE BIG CLOCK, by Kenneth Fearing (1948; New York Review of Books Classics, 2006)

apckrfan's NFL picks: Week 5

Week 5:

Sun, Oct. 05:
TEN @ BAL - Tennessee
SEA @ NYG - NY Giants
WAS @ PHI - Washington
SD @ MIA - San Diego
CHI @ DET - Chicago
ATL @ GB - Green Bay
IND @ HOU - Indianapolis
KC @ CAR - Carolina
TB @ DEN - Denver
BUF @ ARI - Buffalo
NE @ SF - New England
CIN @ DAL - Dallas
PIT @ JAC - Jacksonville

Mon, Oct. 06:
MIN @ NO - Minnesota

BYE: Browns, Jets, Raiders, Rams