Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 8/19/2009

8/19/1990:
Sixteen-year-old Monica Selas defeats nine-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova in three sets in the finals of the Virginia Slims-Los Angeles at Manhattan Beach. Seles squanders a 5-1 lead in the third set before regaining her composure to win the tiebreaker. After putting the women's tour on notice of her arrival by winning the French Open in June, the Croatian-born left-hander wins her seventh tourney of the year-a streak that sees her compile a 42-1 match record.

Birthdays:
Bill Shoemaker b. 1931
Anthony Munoz b. 1958
Ricky Pierce b. 1959
Morten Andersen b. 1960
Mary Jo Fernandez b. 1971

Packers Fact:
Lambeau Field originally was dedicated as City Stadium on September 29, 1957. The Packers beat the Bears that day, 27-17.

VINTAGE STORIES

It’s the true-life Falcon Crest. Cesare Mondavi brought his family to America in 1906 and several decades later took over the Charles Krug winery. His son Robert, cast out of the family over a silly quarrel in the 1960s, founded his own great American winery with great American virtues of character: humility, hard work, generosity, and vision. The house that Robert built came tumbling down in 2004 with a new generation of family differences. An incredible and beautifully told story.

THE HOUSE OF MONDAVI: THE RISE AND FALL OF AN AMERICAN WINE DYNASTY, by Julia Flynn Siler (Gotham Books, 2007)