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)