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)