Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/9-4/10/2009

4/9/1995:
Ben Crenshaw shoots a five-under-par 67 and wins his second Masters by one stroke over Davis Love III. It was just a week ago that Crenshaw left Augusta to serve as a pallbearer at the funeral of his longtime coach and mentor, Harvey Penick, in Austin, Texas. Returning to Georgia to begin play on Thursday, he put Penick's teachings to good use, including the importance of controlling one's emotions during play, and his marvelous putting ability did the rest. He posts a 14-under-par 274, three shots better than his total in 1984 when heh won his first Green Jacket.

Birthdays:
Ebbie Goodfellow b. 1907
Paul Arizin b. 1928
Nate Colbert b. 1946
Seve Ballesteros b. 1957
Olaf Kolzig b. 1970

Packers Fact:
In addition to second-rounder Brandon Jackson, the Packers also selected running back DeShawn Wynn in the 2007 draft. He was a seventh-round selection.

4/10/1969:
Ralph Backstrom beats Gerry Cheevers with just 42 seconds gone in overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins in the opener of their Stanley Cup Eastern Conference final-round series. It's a crushing defeat for the Bruins, who led 2-0 with six and a half minutes left when John Ferguson scored for Montreal and then by 2-1 with a minute left before Jean Beliveau scored to tie the game and force OT at the Forum. Montreal will win this series in six games and sweep St. Louis in four straight to win their second straight Stanley Cup.

Birthdays:
John Madden b. 1936
Don Meredith b. 1938
Bob Watson b. 1946
Mel Blount b. 1948
Neil Smith b. 1966

Packers Fact:
Despite missing the playoffs with an 8-8 record in 2006, the Packers finished in the top half of the league rankings in both offense (they were ninth overall) and defense (12th) that year.

OUR WONDROUS WORLD

From the Area de Conservación Guanacaste, the authors, after 25 years of research, have selected 100 moths, butterflies, and their caterpillars from the 9,500 that grace the Costa Rican rain forest. The photographs in these two volumes are stunningly beautiful, and the text is wonderfully informative on the sometimes strange habits of these strange creatures.

	100 CATERPILLARS: PORTRAITS FROM THE TROPICAL FORESTS OF COSTA RICA
	100 MOTHS AND BUTTERFLIES: PORTRAITS FROM THE TROPICAL FORESTS OF COSTA RICA, by Jeffrey C. Miller, Daniel H. Janzen, and Winifred Hallwachs (Belknap Press, 2006)

Curl up with the newest in Colleen McCullough’s (The Thornbirds) Masters of Rome series. (Her last, she claims, but who knows?) Though long, its sweep and intimate detail almost make it seem too short. Many surprises about Cleopatra, Antony, Julius Caesar, and Octavian await those who know those figures only from Shakespeare. In the end, you will have absorbed a lot of history and loved every minute of it.

ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA, by Colleen McCullough (Simon & Schuster, 2008)

UNCLE JOHN’S ALMANAC

TODAY IS PASSOVER

The Passover celebration comes from the Old Testament story of the Exodus, when the Israelites were freed from slavery in Egypt. According to the story, Moses instructed the enslaved Jews to mark their door posts with lamb’s blood. That night, in the last of the “ten plagues,” God sent the Angel of Death to kill the firstborn of every family in the kingdom, but “passed over” the houses marked with the blood. The next day the Israelites escaped from Egypt, and their centuries of enslavement were over.

CANADIAN PERFORMER WITH THE MOST CELEBRITY IMPERSONATORS: SHANIA TWAIN.

On Slips, Freudian:

It's a pleasure to be in a country that isn't ruled by its people.

Prince Philip to Paraguayan dictator Alfredo Stroessner, 1962


On I Am The Lord and My Name Is Howard?:

Weakest Link host Anne Robinson: In the traditional version of the Lord's Prayer, what "H," meaning sanctified, goes before "be thy name"?
Contestant: Howard.

SISTINE CHAPEL

ROME, ITALY

When Michelangelo unveiled the spellbinding frescoes covering the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican in 1512, Pope Pius II fell to his knees. For those who tour the chapel now, the pope’s awe at this incredible masterwork remains easy to understand.

GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE

Q: Pierre L’Enfant, Washington’s city planner, chose the location for the Capitol building, which sits on which of these sites?

a) Foggy Bottom
b) Ebbit’s Farm
c) The Ellipse
d) Jenkins Hill