Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/30/2009

9/30/1992:
Former Mets teammates Frank Viola of the Red Sox and David Cone of the Blue Jays hook up at SkyDome and stage a classic as Viola prevails, 1-0, after taking a no-hitter into the ninth inning. Devon White breaks up the no-no with a single leading off the ninth, but after a sacrifice bunt Viola gets Joe Carter and Dave Winfield to complete his stylish one-hit shutout. Cone is almost as good, allowing only four hits over eight innings. John Valentin's fourth-inning homer for Boston is the only run of the game.

Birthdays:
Robin Roberts b. 1926
Johnny Podres b. 1932
Jamal Anderson b. 1972
Martina Hingis b . 1980
Dominique Moceanu b. 1981

Packers Fact:
Defensive end Reggie White's 198 career sacks does not include another 23.5 sacks that he accumulated while playing in the United States Football League in 1984 and 1985.

OFF WITH HER HEAD

Following the spectacular debut of Ahab’s Wife, Sena Jeter Naslund takes as her subject Marie Antoinette, a pretty girl who held the fate of nations in her hands. Though there is no groundbreaking research here, it is a fascinating story beautifully told through the eyes of the girl-queen herself. The intimate life of royalty is always fascinating, and it is seldom so thoroughly and erotically portrayed as it is here. Publishers Weekly starred review.

ABUNDANCE: A NOVEL OF MARIE ANTOINETTE, by Sena Jeter Naslund (Harper Perennial, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/28-9/29/2009

9/28/1939:
The Cincinnati Reds clinch their first pennant in 20 years with a 5-3 victory over second-place St. Louis at Crosley Field. 'Oom Paul Derringer scatters 14 hits for the victory, capping the best season of his career (25-7). The Reds grab an early lead off St. Louis starter Max Lanier and are never headed. The game's signature play occurs in the seventh inning when Reds right fielder Ival Goodman throws out Joe Medwick, who's trying to stretch a double into a triple, with a perfect strike to third baseman Billy Werber. Although the Reds will be swept in the World Series this year by the Yankees, they'll repeat as National League champions in 1940 and dfeat Detroit for their first world title since 1919.

Birthdays:
Alice Marble b. 1913
Tom Harmon b. 1919
Steve Largent b. 1954
Grant Fuhr b. 1962
Emeka Okafor b. 1982

Packers Fact:
Robert Brooks, who eventually became a record-setting receiver for the Packers, led the NFL when he averaged 26.6 yards per kickoff return in his second season with the club in 1993.

CRIME LOVER’S PICK

Seven years ago Danny was involved with his childhood friend Evan in a robbery that went horribly wrong and ended in murder. Evan is doing his time, and Danny is living quietly and holding down a good job with a construction company. When Evan gets out of prison, he comes looking for Danny and for trouble, and he finds both in the streets of Chicago. Publishers Weekly starred review.

THE BLADE ITSELF, by Marcus Sakey (St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2007)

9/29/1984:
With 30 members of its 1959 national championship team on hand for a reunion, Syracuse earns its biggest victory since that unbeaten campaign with a 17-9 upset of top-ranked Nebraska at the Carrier Dome. The Orangemen employ a stifling defense to hold Nebraska (averaging 41 ppg) to a single touchdown and maintain three long scoring drives to keep the vaunted Cornhusker offense off the field. Mike Siano (on a 40-yard reception) and Harold Gayden (on a one-yard run) each score a touchdown as Syracuse jumps back into the national spotlight under fourth-year head coach Dick MacPherson.

Birthdays:
Ellsworth Vines b. 1911
Bom Phillips b. 1923
Sebastian Coe b. 1956
Hersey Hawkins b. 1965
Kevin Durant b. 1988

Packers Fact:
After six years with the Packer, defensive end Reggie White retired at the end of the 1998 season. He returned to play one year in 2000 with the Carolina Panthers.

APOCALYPSE NOW

New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert uses prose in the low, persistent, clear rhythms of a tolling bell to catalog the changes being wrought in the oceans, on the land, and in the air. Her descriptions of ecosystems, many of them about to be lost forever, are so detailed, so wonderful in their integrated, interlocking parts and minute workings, that they will haunt you for a long time to come. Publishers Weekly starred review.

FIELD NOTES FROM A CATASTROPHE: MAN, NATURE, AND CLIMATE CHANGE, by Elizabeth Kolbert (Bloomsbury USA, 2006)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/27/2009

9/27/1964:
Despite three consecutive homers by Johnny Callison, the Phloundering Phillies lose their seventh straight game (of an eventual 10), 14-8, to Milwaukee at Connie Mack Stadium - part of a freefall that will cost them the 1964 pennant. Pitching on only two days rest at the behest of panicking Phillies manager Gene Mauch, Jim Bunning just doesn't have it, surrendering seven runs in only three innings. Led by Lee Maye's five hits, the Braves amass 22 base knocks in the rout as the Phillies' nightmare of blowing six and a half games in the standings with only 12 games left continue to unfold with no relief in sight.

Birthdays:
Johnny Pesky b. 1919
Kahty Whitworth b. 1939
Mike Schmidt b. 1949
Monte Towe b. 1953
Steve Kerr b. 1965

POSTCARDS FROM PARIS

The years 1851 to 1896 race by in these tidbits from the journals of Edmond and Jules de Goncourt, French writer-critics who defined the term “men of letters” for their time and place. The selections representing each year are short, so that the lives of the brothers, who had an unusually close bond—truly soul mates, even writing the journal “together” as “we”—seem to have been a constant boil of dinners with Flaubert and Théophile Gautier and George Sand, visits to prostitutes, and conversations about art and politics. Enjoy this close encounter of the French kind.

PAGES FROM THE GONCOURT JOURNALS, edited and translated by Robert Baldick (New York Review Books, 2007)

APCKRFAN's NFL picks 2009: Week 3

Week 3:
Sun, Sep 27:
KC @ PHI - Philadelphia (sorry John)
WAS @ DET - Washington
GB @ STL - Green Bay
SF @ MIN - Minnesota (though I hope Singletary's boys brings their record to 3-0)
TEN @ NYJ - NY Jets
ATL @ NE - Atlanta
JAC @ HOU - Houston
NYG @ TB - NY Giants
CLE @ BAL - Baltimore
CHI @ SEA - Chicago
NO @ BUF - New Orleans
MIA @ SD - San Diego
DEN @ OAK - Denver
PIT @ CIN - Pittsburgh
IND @ ARI - Arizona

Mon, Sep 28:
CAR @ DAL - Dallas

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/26/2009

9/26/1945:
Meeting for the fifth time in less than four years, Sugar Ray Robinson earns a split decision over Jake LaMotta in a 12-round middleweight bout at Comiskey Park in Chicago. In keeping with their usual pattern, Robinson's ring generalship carries more weight with the judges than LaMotta's bullish punching power. Robinson parries LaMotta's onrushing tactics for the entire bout and walks away with the verdict.

Birthdays:
Bobby Shantz b. 1925
Dave Casper b. 1951
Craig Heyward b. 1966
Craig Janney b. 1967
Serena Williams b. 1981

Packers Fact:
Defensive end Reggie White's nickname was "The Minister of Defense".

DARK SIDE OF GENIUS

Do you like your creative geniuses served with some juicy gossip? Try the tabloid bio of Frank Lloyd Wright by architect and architectural historian Harold Zellman and professor of religious studies and sociology Roger Friedland, as they gleefully lick their chops over the sexual indiscretions, carnivorous egos, and dark rituals of Taliesin, the colony Wright founded. Of course, plenty of great art and serious ideas originated there, as well. But what will amaze you is that anyone got anything done at all. Les liaisons dangereuses, American style.

THE FELLOWSHIP: THE UNTOLD STORY OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT AND THE TALIESIN FELLOWSHIP, by Roger Friedland and Harold Zellman (HarperCollins, 2006)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/24-9/25/2009

9/24/1921:
Seething with rage over ball-strike and baserunning calls he felt had gone against him unfairly, Detroit player-manager Ty Cobb challenges umpire Billy Evans to a fistfight and the two go at it for over a half an hour under the stands at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Players from both clubs, along with a few fans and stadium workers, watch a no-holds-barred, bare-knuckle brawl with no rules, no referee and little decorum observed by Cobb, who fights like a wild man. It's finally broken up when Cobb smashes Evans' head into the cement floor, threatening to kill him. Evans never files a report, but American League president Ban Johnson suspends Cobb as a player for the balance of the year.

Birthdays:
Jim McKay b. 1921
John Mackey b. 1941
Mean Joe Greene b. 1946
Rafael Palmeiro b. 1964
Eddie George b. 1973

Packers Fact:
Former Packers' star Reggie White (1993-98) ranks second on the NFL's all-time list with 198 career sacks. Bruce Smith, who had 200 sacks in a career with the Bills and Redskins from 1985 to 2003 is the only player with more.

A RACE FOR TRUTH

Two veteran reporters with roots in the deep, small-town South cover the trajectory of civil rights awareness and the journalism that flowered in its wake. Beginning with Gunnar Myrdal’s 1944 classic work on race, An American Dilemma, and moving on to the work of journalists, the authors show how one by one, and then in an avalanche, reporters formed an unbreakable chain of voices to report the titanic changes that were occurring in America.

THE RACE BEAT: THE PRESS, THE CIVIL RIGHTS STRUGGLE, AND THE AWAKENING OF A NATION, by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff (Knopf, 2006)

9/25/1935:
Lon Warneke spins a two-hit shutout against the St. Louis Cardinals for his 20th win of the year, 19-year-old Phil Cavarretta hits a solo homer, and the Chicago Cubs win their 19th straight game, 1-0, clinching a tie for the pennant. It's the third (and last) time Warneke will win 20 games in a season. The Cubs will extend their winning streak to 21 and clinch the pennant by taking a doubleheader from the Cards two days from now. Their 21 straight wins equal a club mark set in 1880, and those two streaks remain the longest in major league history of win skeins not interrupted by a tie game (namely, the New York Giants' 26-game winning streak of 1916).

Birthdays:
Phil Rizzuto b. 1918
Hubie Brown b. 1933
Bob McAdoo b. 1951
Scottie Pippen b. 1965
Chaunchey Billups b. 1976

Packers Fact:
Double coverage was an innovation that opposing defenses came up with in an effort to stop Packers end Don Hutson in the 1930s and 1940s.

SCI-FI SPLENDOR

These stories, the crème de la crème of science fiction from 1929 to 1964, still have the power to rouse nightmares and visions. Feast your imagination on the best of Isaac Asimov, Jerome Bixby, Ray Bradbury, John W. Campbell, Arthur C. Clarke, Tom Godwin, Robert A. Heinlein, Fritz Leiber, Theodore Sturgeon, Roger Zelazny, and many others.

THE SCIENCE FICTION HALL OF FAME, VOLUME ONE, 1929-1964: THE GREATEST SCIENCE FICTION STORIES OF ALL TIME CHOSEN BY THE MEMBERS OF THE SCIENCE FICTION WRITERS OF AMERICA, introduction by Robert Silverberg (1970; Orb, 2005)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/21-9/23/2009

9/21/1986:
Jets wide receiver Wesley Walker catches four touchdown passes from quarterback Ken O'Brien, including a 21-yard reception on the final play of regulation and a 43-yarder in overtime to give New York a 51-45 victory over Miami at the Meadowlands. O'Brien (29-43, 479) and Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino (30-50, 448 and 6 TDs) are unstoppable as they combine for an NFL record 884 net passing yards (minus sack yardage from their raw totals). Walker amasses 194 yards on six catches for the Jets, while "the Marks Brothers" Clayton (8 catches for 174 yards) and Duper (7-154) excel for Miami. After failing to run out the clock with a minute left, Miami never gets the ball back as the Jets rally to win it.

Birthdays:
Sam McDowell b. 1942
Artis Gilmore b. 1949
Eddie Delahoussaye b. 1951
Sidney Moncrief b. 1957
Cecil Fielder b. 1963

Packers Fact:
Only four years after his final season with the club, former quarterback Bart Starr took over as the Packers' head coach. In nine seasons at the helm, though, his teams went just 53-77-3.


9/22/1933:
Heavyweight boxer Young Stribling, who fought 289 times in his career, scores a 10-round decision over Slapsie Maxie Rosenbloom at the Same Houston Coliseum in Houston, Texas. Nicknamed "King of the Canebrakes" because he often barnstormed throughout rural America taking on all camera, Stribling will never fight again. Eleven days from now, at age 28, he'll be killed when his motorcycle is struck by an automobile in Macon, Georgia.

Birthdays:
Tommy Lasorda b. 1927
Ingemar Johansson b. 1932
Vince Coleman b. 1961
Dot Richardson b. 1961
Mike Richter b. 1966

Robert Brooks holds the Packers' record for receiving yards in a season. He had 1,497 yards in 1995.

9/23/1952:
Little left-hander Bobby Shantz of the Philadelphia Athletics has his best season in the big leagues abruptly end when he's hit by a pitched ball thrown by Walt Masterson of the Senators at Shibe Park. Shantz went 24-7 for the A's before having a bone in his left wrist smashed. He'll be named MVP of the American League this season, but next spring he'll develop arm trouble while favoring his tender wrist. Eventually he'll need dozens of cortisone shots over the balance of his career to stanch the pain in his wrist, which is especially sensitive to throwing curve balls. Later he'll become a relief specialist and win eight Gold Glove awards for fielding excellence.

Birthdays:
Marty Schottenheimer b. 1943
Larry Mize b. 1958
Pete Harnisch b. 1966
Jeff Cirillo b. 1969
Eric Montross b. 1971

Packers Fact:
Don Hutson (1935-1945) is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his prowess as a pass catcher. But he was a 60-minute player who also played safety on defense and handled the kicking chores.

PARADISE LOST

In this beautiful novel, the bond of sisters endures through severe tests and doubts. Jemma, the younger sister, grows up in the shadow of the dazzling Rozzie, quietly working out her fears and feelings while Rozzie becomes a brighter and brighter star in Hollywood. But Rozzie is far from invulnerable, emotionally or physically. Her eyesight failing (and eventually struck blind), she must turn to Jemma for strength and a sense of vision.

THE ART OF SEEING, by Cammie McGovern (Scribner, 2007)

AND THE VERDICT IS . . .

Read all about it: the Dred Scott decision, Miranda v. Arizona, Brown v. Board of Education, Roe v. Wade, Bush v. Gore. Right to privacy, civil rights, your body, your speech, your property. Here are 34 Supreme Court cases that still affect our lives today. They make great stories, too, with all the lively, quotable, epic moments you might expect when good minds grapple to shape history.

THE SUPREMES’ GREATEST HITS: THE 34 SUPREME COURT CASES THAT MOST DIRECTLY AFFECT YOUR LIFE, by Michael G. Trachtman (Sterling Publishing, 2006)

It’s Victor Hugo. No, it’s Charles Dickens. No, it’s a newcomer, Michael Cox, with a postmodern-Victorian sensibility as finely tuned as a moth’s antennae to nuances of morality (murder considered as an exercise of will), the kaleidoscopic shifts of fate (an inheritance, false identities, unreliable narrator), and the exigencies of a ripping good story (starring a rogues’ gallery of 19th-century London wackos and weirdos). Publishers Weekly starred review.

THE MEANING OF NIGHT: A CONFESSION, by Michael Cox (W. W. Norton, 2007)

APCKRFAN's NFL picks 2009: Week 2

Week 2:
Sun, Sep 20:
HOU @ TEN - Tennessee
CAR @ ATL - Atlanta
MIN @ DET - Minnesota
ARI @ JAC - Arizona
OAK @ KC - Oakland (sorry John)
NO @ PHI - New Orleans
CIN @ GB - Green Bay
STL @ WAS - Washington
NE @ NYJ - New England
TB @ BUF - Buffalo
SEA @ SF - San Francisco (Go Singletary, Go!)
BAL @ SD - Baltimore
PIT @ CHI - Pittsburgh
CLE @ DEN - Denver
NYG @ Dallas - Dallas

Mon, Sep 21:
IND @ MIA - Indianapolis

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/19-9/20/2009

9/19/1998:
Five-year-old Skip Away outclasses a strong field of contenders and captures the Woodward Stakes at Belmont by almost two lengths over Gentlemen. Touted contenders Free House and Coronado's Quest finish 17 lengths behind. It's Skip Away's seventh straight victory of the year in high-caliber stakes races, and even though he fails to win either of his last two starts this season, he's a clear choice for Horse of the Year honors.

Birthdays:

Willie Pep b. 1922
Andre Boudrias b. 1943
Joe Morgan b. 1943
Sidney Wicks b. 1949
Randy Myers b. 1962

Packers Fact:
End Don Hutson caught an 83-yard touchdown pass on his first play as a member of the starting lineup. It was against the Bears in 1935.

In the Louis Kincaid mysteries, Joe Frye is the only woman on the Miami-Dade police force, and she’s Kincaid’s lover. Here she takes center stage in the narrative of her own past, in particular the harrowing serial murder case that brought her together with Kincaid. The authors, a team of sisters known collectively as P. J. Parrish, consistently deliver some of the best police procedurals today. After this you’ll want to catch the earlier Thicker Than Water, Dead of Winter, and A Killing Rain.

A THOUSAND BONES, by P. J. Parrish (Pocket Books, 2007)

9/20/1999:
Milton Bradley hits a walk-off grand-slam homer in the last of the ninth inning to give the Harrisburg Senators (Expos) a 12-11 victory over the Norwich Navigators (Yankees) in the fifth and deciding game of their Eastern League (AA) championship series. Bradley's jackpot wallop at Riverside Park in Harrisburg clinches the Senators' fourth straight Eastern League crown in a series that not only was interrupted for two days by Hurricane Floyd but produced five straight one-run ball games.

Birthdays:
Red Auerbach b. 1917
Tommy Nobis b. 1943
Dave Twardzik b. 1950
Guy Lafleur b. 1951
Bonzi Wells b. 1976

THEY DON’T MAKE THEM LIKE THAT ANYMORE

It almost feels as if you are there, with Teddy Roosevelt in 1912, sailing down the River of Doubt in the South American heart of darkness. A despondent T. R.—he’s upset about having lost his bid for a third term as president and other travails—and his party (which includes his third son, Kermit) undertake a difficult, ill-equipped, and life-threatening expedition. Teeming with flora and fauna, personality, and incident.

THE RIVER OF DOUBT: THEODORE ROOSEVELT’S DARKEST JOURNEY, by Candice Millard (Broadway Books, 2006)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/16-9/18/2009

Espousing the long-standing team philosophy of the Oakland Raiders to encourage individualistic expression of their players, their former coach and now popular TV commentator John Madden explained: "These are the greatest athletes in the world. They're like artists. If you take their creativity away from them by making them robotic, then they're going to play like robots."

Birthdays:
Elgin Baylor b. 1934
Dennis Conner b. 1942
Robin Yount b. 1955
Orel Hershiser b. 1958
Mickey Tettleton b. 1960

Packers Fact:
In nine seasons with the Packers (1957-1962, 1964-66), versatile Paul Hornung ran for 3,711 yards, caught 130 passes for 1,480 yards, scored 760 poinds, and even passed for five touchdowns.

SWORDPLAY

In the second of Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s Captain Alatriste series, the captain helps a father and his two sons rescue his daughter from a convent where she is being held captive by an evil priest. Unhappily, all does not go smoothly and, this being 17th-century Spain, the Inquisition will get involved. Swords flash and perfidy skulks. The good captain is undoubtedly one of the finest swashbucklers to gallop down the pike in years.

PURITY OF BLOOD, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte; translated from the Spanish by Margaret Sayers Reden (Plume, 2006)

9/17/1912:
Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel, later to become a zany and eccentric icon of baseball, enjoys a remarkable major league debut at Washington Park in Brooklyn. Playing center field for the Dodgers, Stengel goes four for four (four singles) with a walk, drives in two runs and steals three bases as Brooklyn tops Pittsburgh, 7-3, snapping a 12-game Pirates winning streak. He'll go on to compile a .284 batting average in 14 big-league seasons and then embark on a legendary career as a manager with the Yankees and several other clubs, earning Hall of Fame enshrinement in 1966.

Birthdays:
George Blanda b. 1927
Maureen Connolly b. 1934
Junior Bridgeman b. 1953
John Franco b. 1960
Rasheed Wallace b. 1974

Packers Fact:
Linebacker John Anderson (1978-1989) and safety Johnnie Gray (1975-1983) are the two players who have been credited with more than 1,000 tackles in a Green Bay uniform.

EYE CANDY

Curl up with the most beautiful, significant, haunting, and eye-popping optical illusions, put together by the masters of the form. In addition to the illusions themselves, Masters of Deception includes explanations of how they work and analyses of the masters. Hours and hours of fascination await you.

THE ULTIMATE BOOK OF OPTICAL ILLUSIONS AND MASTERS OF DECEPTION: ESCHER, DALÍ, AND THE ARTISTS OF OPTICAL ILLUSION, by Al Seckel (Sterling Publishing, 2007)

9/18/1965:
Trailing 17-10 with two minutes left and deep in their own territory, Georgia pulls off a minor miracle, a disputed 73-yard pass and lateral play, to upset defending national champion Alabama, 18-17. Bulldogs quarterback Kirby Moore connects with Pat Hodgson, who laterals to half back Bob Taylor, who scores a touchdown to complete the game-breaking play. While the Crimson Tide is still stunned, Moore hits Hodgson for a two-point conversion. Alabama players, coaches and fans scream that Hodgson's knee was clearly on the ground before hepitched the ball to Taylor (game films support their argument), but the call stands and the Dawgs win.

Birthdays:
Darryl Sittler b. 1950
Rick Pitino b. 1952
Peter Stastny b. 1956
Toni Kukoc b. 1968
Lance Armstrong b. 1971

Packers Fact:

In the eight-year span from 1960 to 1967, Bart STarr led the Packers to five NFL championships and had a record of 73-22-4 as the starting quarterback.

BOSWELL’S SAMUEL JOHNSON

Boswell’s great achievement was not only to teach the world how to write biography, but, with the assistance of famed writer and scholar Samuel Johnson, to create a character who, to this very day, springs from the pages in all his intelligence, perspicacity, pettiness, and grandeur. Lose yourself in this masterwork. Today is Johnson’s 300th birthday. Here’s to you, Samuel Johnson, and your inimitable Boswell!

LIFE OF JOHNSON, by James Boswell; edited by R. W. Chapman and J. D. Fleeman, introduction by Pat Rogers (1791; Oxford World’s Classics, 1998)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/15/2009

9/15/2002:
Bills quarterback Drew Bledsoe ends a wild game at the Metrodome with a 48-yard touchdown pass to Peerless Price in overtime, giving Buffalo a 45-39 victory over the Vikings. Both Bledsoe and Price establish new one-game career statistical bests. There are four lead changes in the fourth quarter, capped by a 54-yard field goal by the Bills' Mike Hollis that bounces on the crossbar before finally going through on the last play of regulation, tying the game at 39-39.

Birthdays:
Gaylord Perry b. 1938
Pete Carroll b. 1951
Joel Quennneville b. 1958
Joe Morris b. 1960
Dan Marino b. 1961

Packers Fact:
Irv Comp once intercepted a pass in five consecutive games (in 1943).

WHAT’S UP, DOC?

Nobody’s perfect, not even your doctor. But most doctors get most diagnoses right most of the time. Jerome Groopman, Harvard Professor of Medicine and essayist for The New Yorker, examines those times when things go wrong. The questions Groopman asks are crucial: What assumptions do doctors make about patients that lead to misdiagnoses? And what can you, the patient, do to help your doctor think clearly and avoid fatal jumps to conclusions? This is one book that can definitely improve your health.

HOW DOCTORS THINK, by Jerome Groopman (Houghton Mifflin, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/14/2009

9/14/1958:
More than 55,000 fans at a soccer stadium in Goteborg, Sweden, watch heavyweight contender Ingemar Johansson make short work of American Eddie Machen with a first-round knockout. Using his dominant right-handed lead, Johansson (21-0) scores three knockdowns and Machen (24-1-1) suffers his first pro defeat after only 2:16 of the first round. The win sets Johansson up for a title fight with Floyd Patterson next June at Yankee STadium, and the powerfully built Swede with "Fists of Toonder" will not disappoint. He'll repeatedly knock Patterson to the canvas and score a third-round TKO to become heavyweight champion.

Birthdays:
Harry Sinden b. 1932
Larry Brown b. 1940
Orest Kindrachuk b. 1950
Tim Wallach b. 1957
Hicham el Guerrouj b. 1974

Packers Fact:
Linebacker Ray Nitschke (158-1972) earned three all-pro selections during the 1960s. In 1978, he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

MODERN GOTHIC

Three sisters, their mother, the artist, the two male friends, the medieval abbey where they live, family secrets, the dead father, the beautiful Suffolk summer of 1967 that ended in tragedy—Sally Beauman slowly, craftily reveals the terrible mystery of it all in this outstanding gothic novel.

THE SISTERS MORTLAND, by Sally Beauman (Warner Books, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/12-9/13/2009

9/12/1969:
The Miracle Mets sweep a double header from the Pittsburgh Pirates, 1-0 and 1-0, with their two starting pitchers driving in the only two runs they'll score all night. Jerry Koosman spins a three-hitter in the opener and gets only his fourth hit (and first TBI) of the season to plate the Mets' only run in the fifth inning. In the second game, Don Cardwell pitches four-hit hball over eight innings and drives in the only run he'll need with a second-inning single. The Mets will astound the baseball world by going from ninth place last season to a World Series championship this year.

Birthdays:
Jesse Owens b. 1913
Albie iPearson b. 1934
Vernon Maxwell b. 1965
Ki-Jana Carter b. 1973
Yao Ming b. 1980

Packers Fact:
Gerry Ellis averaged more yards per carry in his career with the Packers than any other player in club history (minimum 750 attempts). He averaged 4.58 yards for the 836 times that he ran the ball from 1980 to 1986.


MYSTERIOUS DOINGS
In Harley Jane Kozak’s second mystery novel, greeting-card artist Wollie (short for Wollstonecraft) Shelly returns to become involved as a contestant on a reality-TV show about dating and potential parenting. In the meantime, her friend and math tutor, Annika, disappears, and the LAPD doesn’t seem all that interested in finding her. Charming, clever, and not a little bit tricky, Dating Is Murder is a book to curl up with if you enjoy the likes of Janet Evanovich and Sue Grafton.

DATING IS MURDER, by Harley Jane Kozak (Broadway Books, 2006)

9/13/1941:
War Relic (carrying 107 pounds) upsets Triple Crown winner Whirlaway (118) in the Narragansett Special handicap at Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Ridden by Ted Atkinson, War Relic withstands Whirlaway's late charge to win by four and a half lengths. Equifox runs third and Haltal gets fourth. War Relic leads all the way and holds his advantage, even as the crowd of 43,000 urges Whirlaway on in the closing stages.

Birthdays:
Emilie Francis b. 1926
Rick Wise b. 1945
Bernie Williams b. 1968
Goran Ivanisovic b. 1971
Daisuke Matsuzaka b. 1980

GEEK’S REVENGE

The ultimate baseball fantasy is a world in which you understand the deepest inner and outer workings of the game and can see its trajectories, its ups and downs, strategies, and chances. In this month of feverish play-offs, let “professional fan” and deeply serious geek Zack Hample (How to Snag Major League Baseballs) be your coach. You’re sure to find something of interest here, whether you are a committed fan, the wife or girlfriend of a fan, a wannabe fan, a lover of trivia, or someone who just likes to read. Filled with trivia, valuable definitions, and interesting discussions.

WATCHING BASEBALL SMARTER: A PROFESSIONAL FAN’S GUIDE FOR BEGINNERS, SEMI-EXPERTS, AND DEEPLY SERIOUS GEEKS, by Zack Hample (Vintage Books, 2007)

APCKRFAN's NFL picks 2009: Week 1

Thu, Sep. 10:
TEN @ PIT - Pittsburgh (PIT 10-13)

Sun, Sep. 13:
JAC @ IND - Indianapolis
DET @ NO - New Orleans (I would like to see Detroit win, though, just to get that monkey off Stafford's back)
PHI @ CAR - Carolina
DAL @ TB - Dallas
NYJ @ HOU - NY Jets
KC @ BAL - Baltimore (sorry John)
DEN @ CIN - Denver
MIN @ CLE - Minnesota
MIA @ ATL - Atlanta
WAS @ NYG - NY Giants
SF @ ARI - San Francisco (I smell a Singletary upset!)
STL @ SEA - Seattle
CHI @ GB - Green Bay (I think this, the 177th meeting between the teams, will be the best game of the week)

Mon, Sep. 14:
BUF @ NE - New England
SD @ OAK - San Diego

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/9-9/11/2009

9/9/1956:
Few countrymen in sport enjoy a greater camaraderie than Australian tennis players, but that fellowship is shelved for a few hours today at Forest Hills when Ken Rosewall beats his Davis Cup doubles partner, Lew Hoad, in four sets to win the U.S. Nationals and deny Hoad's bid for a Grand Slam. Rosewall's ground strkes and court coverage neutralize Had's powerful serve-and-volley game. After dropping the opening set, Rosewall assumes control and wins rather easily. Rosewall will enjoy a remarkably durable career and will win here again in 1970.

Birthdays:

Bobby Baun b. 1936
Joe Theismann b. 1949
"Thunder Dan" Majerie b. 1965
Mike Hampton b. 1972
Shane Battier b. 1978

Packers Fact:
The Packers' victory over the Boston Redskins in the 1936 NFL Championship Game was played in New York because Redskins owner George Preston Marshall was unhappy over the support his team received in Boston. The next year, Marshall moved the Redskins to Washington, D.C.

THE LIFE OF ELIA KAZAN

Time magazine movie critic Richard Schickel has made an engrossing, readable, and thoroughly researched study of one of America’s great dramatic artists. Kazan, who directed Death of a Salesman and On the Waterfront, lived a full and controversial life. Schickel is at his best discussing Kazan’s testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee and the much-debated honorary Oscar he received in 1999. A biography worthy of its extraordinary subject.

ELIA KAZAN: A BIOGRAPHY, by Richard Schickel (Harper Perennial, 2006)

9/10/1993:
Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker (32-1-1) and Mexican idol Julio Cesar Chavez (87-0-1) battle 12 rounds to a majority draw in a WBC welterweight title fight before more than 65,000 fans at the Alamodome in San Antonio, allowing Whitaker to retain his title. It was clearly a pro-Chavez crowd, which may have affected the scoring since most ringside observers thought Whitaker won the fight. Whitaker landed more punches and largely quieted the predominantly Mexican-American crowd that filled the stadium. In Round 12, with the outcome still very much in doubt, one judge gave it to Whitaker, one gave it to Chavez, and one called it even. It's the first time in 88 fights as a professional that Chavez does not prevail.

Birthdays:
Arnold Palmer b. 1929
Roger Maris b. 1934
Bob Lanier b. 1948
Randy Johnson b. 1963
Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten b. 1976

Packers Fact:
John Brockington had three consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons for the Packers in the 1970s (1971-73).

ON TERRORISM

This is possibly the one book to read about extreme Islamic terrorism. Lawrence Wright’s research is exhaustive, and he has written a gripping, character-driven narrative that completely absorbs the reader. The book has won critical raves from every quarter. Dexter Filkins wrote in The New York Times Book Review that “the portrait of John O’Neill, the driven, demon-ridden F.B.I. agent who worked so frantically to stop Osama bin Laden, only to perish in the attack on the World Trade Center, is worth the price of the book alone. ‘The Looming Tower’ is a thriller. And it’s a tragedy, too.”

THE LOOMING TOWER: AL-QAEDA AND THE ROAD TO 9/11, by Lawrence Wright (Knopf, 2006)

9/11/1983:
After forcing the Baltimore Colts to trade him to Denver this summer, No. 1 overall draft choice John Elway faces the music today, returning to Baltimore as the Broncos visit the Colts. Elway is met by an unrelenting chorus of noise and verbal abuse the entire day from the warm-ups until game's end. It gets so bad that Elway can hardly call plays at the line of scrimmage and is removed from the game with Denver trailing, 10-3. Substitute quarterback Steve DeBerg leads the Broncos to a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns and Denver wins, 17-10.

Birthdays:
Paul "Bear" Bryant b. 1913
Tom Landry b. 1924
Franz Beckenbauer b. 1945
Marty Liquori b. 1949
Ellis Burks b. 1964

Packers Fact:
The Packers' first three NFL championships (1929 to 1931) came in the days before the league title game was born. From 1920 to 1932, the championship was awarded to the team with the best record during the season.

CHILD OF WHITMAN

In his latest book of poems, the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Galway Kinnell writes about love and death and children and fathers in long, musical, soulful lines reminiscent of Walt Whitman. It is Whitman’s lines “Strong is your hold O mortal flesh, / Strong is your hold O love” that give this collection its title. The selections include Kinnell’s extraordinary “When the Towers Fell,” a powerful meditation on the events of September 11, 2001. A CD of Kinnell reading the poems, some with prefatory comments, comes with the book.

STRONG IS YOUR HOLD, by Galway Kinnell (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)

APCKRFAN's NFL picks 2009: Week 1

I've got a pretty sick kid, so I'm only doing tonight's game for now:

Thu, Sep. 10:
TEN @ PIT - Pittsburg

Sun, Sep. 13:
JAC @ IND
DET @ NO
PHI @ CAR
DAL @ TB
NYJ @ HOU
KC @ BAL
DEN @ CIN
MIN @ CLE
MIA @ ATL
WAS @ NYG
SF @ ARI
STL @ SEA
CHI @ GB

Mon, Sep. 14:
BUF @ NE
SD @ OAK

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/7-9/8/2009

9/7/2005:

Andre Agassi, 35, battles back from two sets down and a third-set service break to defeat James Blake in a five-set U.S. Open quarterfinal match that doesn't end until after 1:00 A.M. The two Americans, both survivors of much adversity in their careers, enthrall the packed stadium with brilliant shotmaking and a fifth-set tiebreaker to close out the nearly three-hour match. Playing in his last U.S. Open, Agassi will advance to the finals of this event before bowing to Roger Federer.

Birthdays:

Al McGuire b. 1928

Clyde Lovellette b. 1929

Orland Kurtenbach b. 1936

Jason Isringhausen b. 1972

Antonio McDyess b. 1974

Packers Fact:

After his team lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1960 NFL title game, Vince Lombardi never lost another postseason game. That was a string of nine consecutive victories through his final season in Green Bay in 1967.

WHAT’S OUR FUTURE?

In the 1990s Katherine Newman began interviewing and studying black and Latino workers in New York’s service sector. She followed her subjects over a number of years and then wrote this illuminating report on their successes and failures in moving on to better jobs and better lives. A very well-written and thought-provoking assessment.

CHUTES AND LADDERS: NAVIGATING THE LOW-WAGE LABOR MARKET, by Katherine S. Newman (Harvard University Press, 2006)

9/8/1965:

In a promotional stunt cooked up by owner Charles O. Finley, rookie shortstop Bert Campaneris of the Kansas City A's becomes the first major leaguer to play all nine positions in one game. His travels around the diamond are not without adventure. He misplays a fly ball in right field in the sixth inning, allowing a run to score. He also allows a run while pitching in the eighth inning and must leave the game while catching in the ninth after being injured in a jarring home plate collision with Ed Kirkpatrick. He goes hitless at the plate but manages to steal a base and score a run. The Los Angeles Angels, not crazy about being foils for this charade at Municipal Stadium, eventually win the game, 5-3, in 13 innings.

Birthdays:

Lem Barney b. 1945

Rogie Vachon b. 1945

Maurice Cheeks b. 1956

Latrell Sprewell b. 1970

Amani Toomer b. 1974

Packers Fact:

Jim Taylor rushed for more yards than Ahman Green in a Packers' uniform. He is first on the club's all-time list with 8,207 yards. Green is second with 8,162 yards.

MYSTERIES OF PERCEPTION

An accident leaves a Nebraska trucker in a coma. After he regains consciousness, he suffers from a syndrome that, among other things, makes him believe his sister isn’t really his sister. A renowned neurologist is brought in to help and ends up wondering about his own capabilities. And then there’s the anonymous note left on the nightstand . . . and the nurse’s aide who seems to be something else. Richard Powers, a MacArthur Fellow and winner of numerous literary awards, has crafted a beautiful and intriguing novel.

THE ECHO MAKER, by Richard Powers (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/5-9/6/2009

9/5/1971:
Houston Astros pitcher James Rodney Richard, 6'8", fans 15 batters in his first major league game, 1 5-3 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park, completing a doubleheader sweep. Houston also won the opener, 1-0, behind Jack Billingham, who struck out 11. The 26 combined strikeouts by Houston pitching in the twin bill ties an MLB record set last year by the Mets against the Phillis, and Richard's 15 K's in his debut equals Karl Spooner's mark set with Brooklyn in 1954.

Birthdays:
Gene Bearden b. 1920
Bill Mazeroski b. 1936
John Ferguson b. 1938
Willie Gault b. 1960
Dennis Scott b. 1968


Packers Fact:
Ahman Green, is the Packers' all-time leader with six career 1,000-yard rushing seasons. He reached that plateau each year from 2000 to 2004, then again in 2006.

BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS

Claire Messud writes vividly and wittily about a group of young and sophisticated New Yorkers who are starting out in life with a strong sense of entitlement and not a whole lot more. Messud is a canny observer, and her characters in this contemporary comedy of manners become fascinating creatures as they are revealed to themselves and to us.

THE EMPEROR’S CHILDREN, by Claire Messud (Picador, 2007)

9/6/1998:
A pair of speedsters out of the Southeastern Conference steal the spotlight from headliners Brett Favre of Green Bay and Barry Sanders of Detroit as the Packers beat the Lions, 38-19, on Opening Day at Lambeau Field. On the last play of the third quarter, Lions rookie Terry Fair (out of Tennessee) runs a kickoff back 101 yards for a touchdown. After the hteams change ends, third-year man Roell Preston (out of Ole Miss) replies in kind, running the ensuing kickoff back 100 yards for a Green Bay touchdown, restoring the Packers' 12-point lead. Favre (23-31, 193) outshines Sanders (17 rushes for 70 yards) as the Pack leads from start to finish.

Birthdays:
Hal Jeffcoat b. 1924
Dow Finsterwald b. 1929
Ron Boone b. 1946
Kevin Willis b. 1962
Tim Henman b. 1974

Packers Fact:
After his team lost to the Philadelphia Eagles in the 1960 NFL title game, Vince Lombardi never lost another postseason game. That was a string of nine consecutive victories through his final season in Green Bay in 1967.

FIRST YOU SHARPEN YOUR PENCIL . . .

The husband-and-wife team of Arielle Eckstut (agent and author) and David Henry Sterry (author, book doctor, media coach, and other things) are here to show you how to get that great idea of yours for the next Da Vinci Code onto the page and into the bookstores. Putting Your Passion into Print grew out of a hugely popular seminar the two developed at Stanford University. A stuffed compendium of practical knowledge from insiders in the business, it’s just the thing for book lovers who want to make the leap to book writers.

PUTTING YOUR PASSION INTO PRINT: GET YOUR BOOK PUBLISHED SUCCESSFULLY!, by Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry (Workman, 2005)

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

9/4/1972:
Valery Borzov of Russia wins the gold medal in the 200-meter sprint in a time of 20 seconds flat, narrowly defeating American Larry Black in the Olympic Games at Munich. Added to the gold medal he picked up in the 100 meters two days ago, Borzov becomes the first dual winner of these two track-and-field events since Bobby Morrow of the United States in 1956 in Australia.

Birthdays:
Dawn Fraser b. 1937
Ray Floyd b. 1942
Tom Watson b. 1949
John Vanbiesbrouck b. 1963
Mike Piazza b. 1968

Packers Fact:
Hagemeister Park, the Packers' home from 1919 to 1922, didn't have locker rooms. Players either dressed at home before leaving for the park, or changed in a local National Guard armory (until it burned down).


Nigerian American author Uzodinma Iweala has produced a moving first novel about a boy soldier caught up in one of Africa’s endless and brutal wars. Much of the power of this heart-wrenching tale comes from its narration, which is from the point of view of the boy and in his uniquely expressive West African idiom. The book has garnered wide critical acclaim and won the Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

BEASTS OF NO NATION, by Uzodinma Iweala (Harper Perennial, 2006)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/2-9/3/2009

Candidly assessing the stream of criticism from print media outlets in Philadelphia, Hall of Fame Phillies third baseman Mike Schmidt commented: "Philadelphia is the only city where you can experience the thrill of victory and the agony of reading about it the next day."

Packers Fact:
The Packers' franchise was forfeited back to the league in 1921 for rules violations involving college players; in 1922, Curly Lambeau bought it back.


With autumn in sight, a good spy novel is what you need, and one of the best has been given a new life. Charles McCarry’s intelligent, mesmerizing novel about the JFK assassination was something of a cult classic, and it has lost none of its originality or appeal. Paul Christopher reappears in The Secret Lovers (2006) and Christopher’s Ghosts (2007), but this was the very first one. P. J. O’Rourke has called McCarry the “absolute best thriller writer alive.”

TEARS OF AUTUMN: A PAUL CHRISTOPHER NOVEL, by Charles McCarry (1975; Overlook Press, 2007)

9/3/1976:
Tennis iconoclast Ilie Nastase of Romania unleashes his latest exhibition of unsportsmanlike conduct during a 7-6, 4-6, 7-6 win over Hans-Jurgen Pohmann of Germany in the second round of the U.S. Open at Forest Hills. After rudely confronting the umpire, linesmen, fans, and even a courtside photographer during the match, Nastase goes ballistic late in the third set, accusing Pohmann of stalling after he suffers leg cramps. When the match ends, neither Pohmann nor George Armstrong, the umpire, will shake Nastase's hand.

Birthdays:
Eddie Stanky b. 1916
Bennie Blades b. 1966
Luis Gonzalez b. 1967
Damon Stoudamire b. 1973
Jevon Kearse b. 1976

Packers Fact:
Fullback Jim Taylor is the only Packers' player to lead the league in rushing. He gained an NFL-best 1,474 yards in 1962.

NOT JUST A PRETTY FACE

An unusual portrait of Ziegfeld Girl Doris Travis, whose zest for life and multifaceted talents have been celebrated through numerous TV appearances and other books, including Travis’s autobiography. This unique approach—each page a collage of feathers and pictures and newspaper headlines, stockings and sequins and playbills, hats and cars and corsets—is a visual treat as colorful and over-the-top as any Ziegfeld show. Publishers Weekly starred review.

CENTURY GIRL: 100 YEARS IN THE LIFE OF DORIS EATON TRAVIS, LAST LIVING STAR OF THE ZIEGFELD FOLLIES, by Lauren Redniss (Harper Design, 2006)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 8/31-9/1/2009

8/31/1972:
In what will prove to be a Super Bowl preview, the Washington Redskins edge the Miami Dolphins, 27-24, in a preseason game at RFK STadium. Curt Knight's 24-yard field goal with 36 seconds remaining provides the winning margin after he also connected from 51 yards out earlier in the final period. Veteran quarterback Sonny Jurgensen connects on all seven of his passes for the Skins and rookie free agent running back Herb Mul-Key makes a strong showing in a bid for a roster spot. Miami is destined to peel off the only perfect season in NFL history (17-0), and they'll cap it off in January by beating Washington, 14-7, in Super Bowl VII.

Birthdays:
Jim Finks b. 1927
Jean Beliveau b. 1931
Frank Robinson b. 1935
Edwin Moses b. 1955
Hideo Nomo b. 1968

Packers Fact:
The Packers were founded in 1919, but they weren't Green Bay's first football team. The city had a "town team" that generally is regarded as semi-professional as far back as 1896.

THE REGENCY LIVES

Take one smart, somewhat impertinent young woman; a proud, rather jaded, terribly handsome squire; dialogue that snaps like a fine riding crop; and what do you have? If Jessica Benson wrote it, you have one of the best Regency romances around today. She’s been compared to master (or mistress) of the genre Georgette Heyer, and this is an homage to Heyer’s Nonesuch. After this, try The Accidental Duchess (Pocket Books, 2003).

LORD STANHOPE’S PROPOSAL, by Jessica Benson (Kensington, 2005)

9/1/2001:
Playing under the pressure of an overt campaign by the Oregon athletic department and alumni to boost his Heisman Trophy candidacy, quarterback Joey Harrington rallies the Ducks to a 31-28 victory over Wisconsin. Harrington completes 22 of 47 passes for 231 yards and rushes for the winning touchdown with four minutes left. Oregon will end the season with an 11-1 record and a No. 2 ranking in the polls behind unbeaten Miami (Florida). After riding the Heisman publicity machine all year long, Harrington will finish fourth in the balloting behind the winner, Eric Crouch of Nebraska.

Birthdays:
Rocky Marciano b. 1923
Guy Rodgers b. 1935
Tim Hardaway b. 1966
Cuttino Mobley b. 1974
Clinton Portis b. 1981

Packers Fact:
Halfback and kicker Paul Hornung scored a league-record 176 points for the Packers in 1960. San Diego running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who scored 186 points in 2006 is the only NFL player since to surpass the mark.





Is it dedication or misguided nostalgia that makes Kate, a development consultant, and Jake, a rock star, still carry a torch for each other? The authors of The Nanny Diaries and Citizen Girl flex their muscles here in a romance that satisfies on so many levels: you get hot young love, worried later love, a twist at the end, wonderful characters, a heaping plate of 1980s culture, and wonderful writing.

DEDICATION, by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (Atria, 2007)