Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 1/5/2009

1/5/1991:
Kevin Bradshaw of United States International University breaks Pete Maravich's Division 1 single-game scoring record with 72 points, but his team loses to Loyola Marymount by 46 points! The Lions set a new NCAA team-scoring record with their 186-140 victory, bettering their own mark set two years ago when they blitzed this same USIU team, 181-150. Maravich had scored 69 points for LSU in a 1970 game against Alabama.

Birthdays:
Lou Carnesecca b. 1925
Chuck Noll b. 1932
Chuck McKinley b. 1941
Alex English b. 1954
Warrick Dunn b. 1975

Packers Fact:
The Packers closed the 2006 regular season with four consecutive victories. The 2006 squad, which engineered a four-game winning strea to win the NFC North was the last Green Bay team to do that.

WHAT WOULD XERXES THINK?

Iran, one of George Bush’s “axis of evil” countries, is governed by ayatollahs and religious fanatics and seems to Americans a place of anger and confusion. But Jason Elliot’s travels through what was once the Persian Empire have revealed to him a nation of diverse and fascinating people: tribal horsemen, remote villagers, and sophisticated urbanites in Tehran who, when out of sight of the mullahs, kick back and relax with a drink—the women enjoying life as freely as the men do. Elliot, one of our finest travel writers, presents this intriguing world with enthusiasm and style.

MIRRORS OF THE UNSEEN: JOURNEYS IN IRAN, by James Elliot (St. Martin’s Press, 2006)

On Questions to Ask th eCity Government:

What is Oprah Winfrey's phone number?

How many minutes do I have left on my cell phone?

Who won American Idol?

Is Ray Charles Stevie Wonder's uncle?

*questions asked of 311, New York City's nonemergency help line

REEL LIFE

MISSED-CAST

Daniel Day-Lewis as Aragorn (The Fellowship of the Ring, 2001) Director Peter Jackson envisioned Day-Lewis starring in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and offered him the part. But at the same time, Martin Scorsese handpicked the actor to play Bill, the villain in Gangs of New York (2002). Day-Lewis decided that Bill was a more interesting character, so he went with Gangs. The Aragorn role went to Stuart Townsend, who was fired soon after filming began because Jackson thought he was “too young.” At the last minute, Viggo Mortensen was brought in.

Q: WHAT IS A PALEOSCATOLOGIST?
A: AN ARCHAEOLOGIST WHO STUDIES ANCIENT POOP.

TOPKAPI PALACE

ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Over nearly four centuries, twenty-five sultans ruled the vast Ottoman Empire from the sprawling 175-acre Topkapi complex. Today the legends are so exotic and many of the rooms and exhibits are so dazzling that it is easy to be transported back to the time when the palace accommodated 40,000 people.