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)