Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 1/11-1/13/2009

1/11/1985:
In a 4-1 whitewashing at Le Colisee, the Quebec Nordiques snap the Calgary Flames' NHL record streak of 264 consecutive regular-season games without being shut out. Nords goalie Richard Sevigny turns aside 19 Calgary shots, while brothers Anton and Peter Stastny combine for 3 goals and 2 assists to throttle the visiting Flames. The last time Calgary was blanked was November 10, 1981, by the St. Louis Blues.

Birthdays:
Schoolboy Rowe b. 1910
Ben Crenshaw b. 1952
Freddie Solomon b. 1953
Darryl Dawkins b. 1957
Tracy Caulkins b. 1963


1/12:
Resolute in his quest for perfection whileh coaching the UCLA Bruins men's basketball team to 10 national titles in a 12-year period (1964-75), John Wooden often asked his players in practice: "If you don't have time to do something right, when will you have time to do it over?"

Birthdays:
Mac Speedie b. 1920
Joe Frazier b. 1944
Tom Dempsey b. 1947
Dominique Wilkins b. 1960
Dontrelle Willis b. 1982

Packes Fact:
Of the 53 players on Green Bay's 2007 Kickoff Weekend roster, 21 had been drafted by Ted Thompson since he took over as general manager in 2005.

1/13/1991:
Led by Marcus Allen (21 carries for 140 yards), the Los Angeles Raiders beat Cincinnati, 20-10, in an AFC divisional playoff game at the Memorial coliseum, but Raiders running b ack Bo Jackson severely injures his left hip during the game, ending hish football playing days. The 1985 Heisman Trophy winner will undergo an arduous rehab regimen in an attempt to resume his major league baseball career, but by 1994 he'll be forced to retire.

Birthdays:
Tom Gola b. 1933
Bob Baffert b. 1953
Mark O'Meara b. 1957
Kelly Hrudey b. 1961
Kevin Mitchell b. 1962

Packers Fact:
Fifth-year linebacker, Tracy White recovered a fumble in the end zone for his first career touchdown to open the scoring in a 16-13 victory over Philadelphia on Kickoff Weekend in 2007.

FATHER AND SON AND THE REST

One night after an argument with his son, Jack Crystal went bowling and died of a heart attack. It was a devastating blow for the 15-year-old boy. But he grew up and became Billy Crystal. In this book (and in a Tony Award-winning Broadway show), he conveys the richness of the approximately 700 Sundays he enjoyed with his father and the rest of his not quite ordinary family. Crystal tells great stories of a Long Island childhood that included going to the movies with Billie Holiday, and Louis Armstrong showing up at the family seder. A book as sharp, warm, and funny as its author.

700 SUNDAYS, by Billy Crystal (Grand Central, 2006)

ANOTHER UNHAPPY FAMILY

Bruce Wagner brings his dark, jaundiced eye and startling verbal virtuosity to bear on a family of four Los Angeles souls adrift in modern angst as they try to paddle their way toward some sort of redemption. Wagner is known for his caustic takes on celebrity and the pop shallows of the American scene, and there’s plenty of that here. But a real sympathy ultimately informs these characters and their longings. Wagner isn’t for everyone, but if you like Joan Didion and Nathanael West, this might be a voice you’ve been waiting for.

MEMORIAL, by Bruce Wagner (Simon & Schuster, 2006)

1812

This engrossing account of the war that established America’s independence once and for all and further established its claims on the North American continent is rich with great personalities—both the famous (Jefferson, Jackson, Madison and his wife, Dolley) and the lesser-known (Zebulon Pike, Stephen Decatur, Oliver Perry, the Shawnee chief Tecumseh). Their lives are the stuff of legend, and A. J. Langguth has brought them together into a scholarly and absorbing read.

UNION 1812: THE AMERICANS WHO FOUGHT THE SECOND WAR OF INDEPENDENCE, by A. J. Langguth (Simon & Schuster, 2006)

On well, she was a rotten gill-friend anyway:

DUMPED FISH REMAINS UPSET

*newspaper headline

On one tired man and one tattered kilt:

Spokeswoman Susan Seenan said, "We know from talking to patients and clinics that there is only one active sperm donor covering the whole of Scotland at the moment."

*from the Glasgow Herald

On President Bush shares his georgraphical knowledge:

Wow! Brazil is big.

President George W. Bush, during a visit with Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, after da Silva showed Bush a map of Brazil.

Russia's big and so is China.

President George W. Bush, during a G8 luncheon.

SUNDAY FUNNIES

TWO BAD JOKES

• Two vultures boarded an airplane, and each carried two dead raccoons. The flight attendant looked at them and said, “I’m sorry, gentlemen, only one carrion allowed per passenger.”

• A motorcycle cop pulled alongside a speeding car on the highway. He was amazed to see that the woman behind the wheel was actually knitting. The cop yelled, “Pull over!” “Nope,” the woman yelled back, “scarf!”

A TWO-HOUR MOVIE USES ABOUT TWO MILES OF FILM.

OOPS!

“A married couple in Howard, Wisconsin, ducked behind a refrigerator when bullets began exploding in their oven. Police said the husband hid the ammunition and three handguns in the oven before the couple went on vacation, out of fear that they would be stolen if someone broke into the house. Upon returning, the wife turned on the oven.”

—USA Today

SEAN CONNERY HAS A TATTOO THAT READS “MUM AND DAD.”

WORDPLAY

BUMPER STICKERS

IT’S MY CAT’S WORLD. I’M JUST HERE TO OPEN CANS.

MY OTHER VEHICLE IS IN ORBIT.

Remember: It’s pillage first, then burn.

I’m Still Hot. It Just Comes in Flashes.

Just keep staring—I may do a trick.

Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.

Coffee makes it possible to get out of bed; chocolate makes it worth it.

If all else fails, stop using all else.

POPE JOHN PAUL II WAS AN HONORARY HARLEM GLOBETROTTER

Answer: A, Pierre du Pont. In addition to collecting trees and flowers, he was instrumental in building his family’s gunpowder factory into a giant in the chemical industry.

DIVING IN THE RED SEA

EGYPT AND ISRAEL

Described by Jacques Cousteau as “a corridor of marvels,” the Red Sea harbors diverse marine life in spectacularly clear water. This veritable Garden of Eden, including many species found nowhere else on earth, is dramatically juxtaposed with the stark beauty of the Sinai Desert above.

TRAVELER IN THE KNOW

You can party 24/7 at the casinos and glitzy shows of the Las Vegas strip. But for a cultural break, step into an art gallery. The big hotels have top-drawer collections: the Guggenheim/Heritage at the Venetian, the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art, and the Gallery at Wynn Las Vegas. And at the Las Vegas Art Museum, exhibitions feature contemporary art.