Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 8/28-8/29/2009

8/28/1941:
The world champion Chicago Bears roll to a 37-13 victory over the College All-Stars before more than 98,000 fans at Soldier Field. Bears quarterback Sid Luckman throws touchdown passes to Ken Kavanaugh and George McAfee, and Harry Clark rushes for two more Chicago touchdowns in a contest that sees the All-Stars hang close and trail by only 16-13 in the fourth quarter. One of the collegians' scores is a six-yard TD pass from Charlie O'Rourke of Boston College to Jackie Robinson of UCLA.

Birthdays:
Andy Bathgate b. 1932
Lou Piniella b. 1943
Ron Guidry b. 1950
Joel Youngblood b. 1951
Janet Evans b. 1971

Packers Fact:
The Packers got their name when the Indian Packing Company gave the team $500 for uniforms and equipment in 1919.

BONFIRE OF THE SANITIES

Tommy Quinn graduates from Duke with nothing much to show for it. (A degree in Interdisciplinary Studies—what was he thinking?) But he lands a job with a high-profile investment banking firm and a friendship with Roger Thorne, a genuine Princeton preppy. A smart, hip ride through money, lust, and greed in America.

MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS, by Dana Vachon (Riverhead Books, 2007)

8/29/2002:
Cubs first baseman Mark Bellhorn becomes the first player in National League history to homer from each side of the plate in the same inning, part of a 10-run explosion in the fourth frame that leads Chicago to a 13-10 win over Milwaukee at Miller Park. Batting right-handed, Bellhorn hits a two-run shot off lefty Andrew Lorraine. His next time up, as the Cubs bat around, he blasts a three-run homer batting left-handed against righty Jose Cabrera. Only Carlos Baerga, in 1993 for Cleveland against the Yankees, had accomplished this feat in the big leagues.

Birthdays:
Wyomia Tyus b. 1945
Bob Beamon b. 1946
Jerry Bailey b. 1957
Pierre Turgeon b. 1969
Roy Oswalt b. 1977

Packers Fact:
Arnie Herber passed for a pair of touchdowns in the Packers' 21-6 victory over the Redskins in the 1936 NFL Championship Game.



What do you get when you cross Jean-Paul Sartre with Chris Rock? Or Friedrich Nietzsche with Steve Martin? Who knows, but it might be something like this sparkling extended essay-cum-standup-routine on the nature of humor and of being human.

PLATO AND A PLATYPUS WALK INTO A BAR: UNDERSTANDING PHILOSOPHY THROUGH JOKES, by Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein (Abrams Image, 2007)