Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/29-30/2009

10/29/1948:
Sandy Saddler (85-6-2) wastes no time dethroning featherweight champion Willie Pep at Madison Square Garden. Saddler scores two knockdowns in the third round and knocks Pep out at 2:38 of the fourth. Pep held the featherweight belt for six years, entered this bout at 134-1-1 and was a prohibitive betting favorite, but he was never in this fight. Embarrassed by his poor showing, he'll turn things around four months from now by changing his boxing style to go more on the attack and regain his title from Saddler with a 15-round unanimous decision, also at the Garden.

Birthdays:
Frank Sedgman b. 1927
Pete Richert b. 1939
Denis Potvin b. 1953
Jesse Barfield b. 1959
Mike Gartner b. 1959

Packers Fact:
Don Chandler kicked the disputed tying field goal late in the regulation and the winning field goal in overtime of the Packers' 13-10 victory over the Colts in a Western Conference Playoff Game in 1965.

THE TRIANGLE SHIRTWAIST FACTORY GIRL

The clever intermingling of themes works beautifully in this story of the last survivor of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, Esther Gottesfeld; her granddaughter, Rebecca; and the granddaughter’s partner, George, a composer. A mystery behind Esther’s memories of the fire unfolds as the novel progresses. Cynthia Ozick called it “a marvel of ingenuity, bridging history and imagination, astonishing musical inventiveness and genuine social tragedy.”

TRIANGLE, by Katharine Weber (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2006)

10/30/1983:
In a game against Hartford at Chicago Stadium, normally mild-mannered center Tom Lysiak of the Chicago Black Hawks deliberately trips linesman Ron Foyt after being tossed several times by Foyt for "jumping the draw on face-offs." Lysiak is immediately ejected by referee Dave Newell and receives a 20-game suspension by the NHL for physical abuse of an official. The hefty sentence will be upheld on appeal, and Lysiak will forfeit more than $500,000 in lost salary for his impetuous prank. The Blackhawks win the hockey game, 6-1, over the Whalers.

Birthdays:
Bill Terry b. 1896
Joe Adcock b. 1927
Dick Vermeil b. 1936
Jim Ray Hart b. 1941
Diego Maradona b. 1960

Packers Fact:
The defenses from the Packers' championship teams of the 1960s featured five future Pro Football Hall of Fame members: cornerback Herb Adderley, defensive end Willie Davis, defensive tackle Henry Jordan, linebacker Ray Nitschke, and safety Willie Wood.

HOW TO MARRY A GOLDEN GIRL

“People always ask me if I’m like Blanche. And I say, ‘Well, Blanche was an oversexed, self-involved, man-crazy, vain Southern Belle from Atlanta—and I’m not from Atlanta!’ ” says Golden Girl Rue McClanahan. Her book elaborates on that sly little confession and also tells of her show-business career, her years on the long-running Golden Girls, her battle with breast cancer, and her happy marriage with her sixth husband.

MY FIRST FIVE HUSBANDS . . . AND THE ONES WHO GOT AWAY, by Rue McClanahan (Broadway Books, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/27-28/2009

10/27/1979:
Michigan quarterback John Wangler hits freshman wide receiver Anthony Carter with a 45-yard touchdown pass at the final gun, lifting the Wolverines to a 27-21 victory over Indiana at the Big House in Ann Arbor. The Hoosiers had just tied the score with a minute left on a TD pass from Tim Clifford to Dave Harangody, but Michigan counters with a five-play, 78-yard drive capped by Carter's catch and run for the winning score.

Birthdays:
Ralph Kiner b. 1922
Patty Sheehan b. 1956
John Kasey b. 1969
Brad Radke b. 1972
Peerlee Price b. 1976

Packers Fact:
The San Francisco 49ers battled the Packers to a 24-24 tie on the final day of the regular season to set up a playoff with the Colts for the Western Conference championship in 1965. The game was played at Kezar Stadium

LOVE IN THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE

This wonderfully over-the-top love story is based on actual historical events. In the waning days of the Hapsburgs, a princess falls in love with a scapegrace lieutenant who defeats her husband in a duel. The powers that be incarcerate the lieutenant and send the princess to an asylum. Then along comes a married lower-class nobody who is also in love with the lieutenant and wants to spring her would-be lover from jail. Melodramatic and funny at the same time, All for Love is not your usual romance.

ALL FOR LOVE, by Dan Jacobson (Metropolitan Books, 2006)

10/28/1939:
Cornell rallies from a 14-point deficit to defeat Ohio State, 23-14, at the Buckeyes' horseshoe-shaped stadium in Columbus. After OSU dominates the first quarter, the Big Red of Cornell scores twice in quick succession on a 79-yard run by Walt Scholl and a 63-yard pass play from Scholl to Jack Bohrman. The smaller but quicker Cornell eleven, coached by Carl Snavely, continues to confound Ohio State in the second half. They intercept three passes to halt Buckeye drives and score twice more on a two-yard run by Hal McCullough and a field goal by Nick Drahos to finalize their unexpected road victory. Cornell will finish the season 8-0, one of only two unbeaten and untied teams in Amerca along with Texas A&M.

Birthdays:
Jim Beatty b. 1934
Lenny Wilkens b. 1937
Jude Drouin b. 1948
Bruce Jenner b. 1949
Terrell Davis b. 1972

Packers Fact:
Two years after helping the Giants win the NFL championship in 1927, tackle Cal Hubbard joined the Packers. The future Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee then starred for Green Bay's title-winning teams in 1929, 1930, and 1931.

MAN OF STEEL

Andrew Carnegie’s is a classic rags-to-riches saga: the poor immigrant Scotsman becomes one of the richest men of all time. An enigmatic man of astounding contradictions, he was a ruthless employer yet one of the greatest philanthropists in American history. David Nasaw found new material to show us in detail the complications involved in being Andrew Carnegie. Nasaw captures especially well the personal side of the tycoon’s life.

ANDREW CARNEGIE, by David Nasaw (Penguin Press, 2006)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/26/2009

When asked how he managed to remain so calm while leading the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl championships in a six-year span, head coach Chuck Noll remarked: "Pressure is something you feel only when you don't know what you're doing."

Birthdays:
Primo Carnera b. 1906
Sid Gillman b. 1911
Jumpin' Joe Fulks b. 1921
Mike Hargrove b. 1949
Jessie Armstead b. 1970

Packers Fact:
Arnie Herber was working as a handyman in the Packers' clubhouse when he got a tryout with the club. He made the team, then starred at quarterback for 11 seasons (1930-1940).

FOCUS ON JAMES DOBSON

U.S. News and World Report journalist Dan Gilgoff traces the history of Christian Right politics from the Moral Majority to the present. He concludes that the real power in the movement hasn’t been Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson, but rather James Dobson, whose Focus on the Family organization has earned the trust of evangelicals more completely than has any other player in the Christian conservative movement. Gilgoff delivers a fascinating piece of in-depth reporting.

THE JESUS MACHINE: HOW JAMES DOBSON, FOCUS ON THE FAMILY, AND EVANGELICAL AMERICA ARE WINNING THE CULTURE WAR, by Dan Gilgoff (St. Martin’s Press, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/24-25/2009

10/24/1965:
George Blanda throws five touchdown passes for the Houston Oilers, but it takes a last-minute field goal by Jack Spikes to clinch a 38-36 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Trailing 17-0 at the half, the Oilers explode for three touchdowns in the first five minutes of the second half as Blanda hits Charlie Frazier for 64 yards, Ode Burrell for 49 yards and Willie Frazier (no relation) for 17 yards to silence the boobirds, who had serenaded them upon leaving the field at the break. After Houston goes ahead 35-20, Chiefs quarterback Len Dawson leads two scoring drives and converts a pair of two-point PATs for a brief 36-35 lead. Blanda will not be denied, completing four passes during Houston's final drive to set up the game-winning placement by Spikes.

Birthdays:
Y.A. Tittle b. 1926
Jim Brosnan b. 1929
Ron Gardenhire b. 1957
Arthur Rhodes b. 1969
Corey Dillon b. 1974

Packers Fact:
Halfback Paul Hornung scored a club-record 5 touchdowns in a game in 1965 against the Baltimore Colts. Hornung ran for 3 scores and caught 2 touchdown passes in a 42-27 victory.

MANIFEST DESTINY AND ALL THAT Kit Carson, Manifest Destiny, and the destruction of the Navajo nation is the topic of this lyrical, gripping narrative of the history of the Southwest. “With Blood and Thunder, Hampton Sides has taken an implausibly broad canvas of time, people and events and created a brilliantly realized portrait on an epic scale,” wrote Jeffery Lent in The Washington Post. BLOOD AND THUNDER: AN EPIC OF THE AMERICAN WEST, by Hampton Sides (Doubleday, 2006)

10/25/1973:
Despite hitting .351 in a brief trial at the end of the season, Bill Madlock is traded away by the Texas Rangers to the Chicago Cubs for proven starter Ferguson Jenkins. While Jenkins will win 42 games for the Rangers over the next two years (and 51 more in a second stint with the team), Madlock will become a veritable hitting machine in his 15-year major league career. He'll compile a .305 lifetime batting average, get over 2,000 hits and win four batting titles, two with the Cubs and two with the Pirates.

Birthdays:
Bobby Thomson b. 1923
Zelmo Beaty b. 1939
Bobby Knight b. 1940
Dave Cowens b. 1948
Dan Issel b. 1948

TANTO AMORE SEGRETO

André Aciman, author of a memoir, Out of Egypt, and a book of essays, False Papers, here pays homage to other poets of forbidden love and momentous yearning—Proust, Mann, Nabokov, Colette—and his writing is as good as theirs, too. In this coming-of-age love story set in a Mediterranean villa, the fairly simple narrative achieves its power through the beautifully rendered characters, the 17-year-old Elio and the 24-year-old grad student, Oliver, and through the power of the novelist to evoke the terrible joys and pains of youth and love.

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME, by André Aciman (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007)

APCKRFAN's NFL picks 2009: Week 7

Week 7:

Sun, Oct 25:
Indianapolis @ St. Louis - Indianapolis
Minnesota @ Pittsburgh - Minnesota (going out on a limb and going to give credit to the Vikes D that they'll get to Big Ben)
New England @ Tampa Bay - New England
Chicago @ Cincinnati - Cincinnati
San Diego @ Kansas City - San Diego
Green Bay @ Cleveland - Green Bay
San Francisco @ Houston - San Francisco
Buffalo @ Carolina - Buffalo
NY Jets @ Oakland - NY Jets
Atlanta @ Dallas - Atlanta
New Orleans @ Miami - New Orleans
Arizona @ NY Giants - NY Giants

Mon, Oct 26:
Philadelphia @ Washington - Philadelphia

Byes: Ravens, Broncos, Lions, Jaguars, Seahawks, Titans

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/22-23/2009

10/22/1991:
Mark Lemke's RBI single in the 12th inning gives Atlanta a 5-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins in Game 3 of the World Series, the Braves' first win after two losses. Lemke will have a key ninth-inning triple tomorrow night, leading to the winning run as the Braves tie the Series. Only a .246 hitter lifetime, the Lemmer will lead all batters in this Series with a .417 average. This riveting Fall Classic will produce three extra-inning games and will be climaxed by an epic seventh game, a 10-inning shutout by Jack Morris to clinch the championship for Minnesota.

Birthdays:
Jimmie Foxx b. 1907
Pete Pihos b. 1923
Slater Martin b. 1925
Butch Goring b. 1949
Ichiro b. 1973

Packers Fact:
Lamar McHan is the quarterback who started ahead of Bart Starr in Vince Lombardi's first game as the Packers' coach in 1959.

THE REAL TINSEL: THE SEQUEL

The author of Glengarry Glen Ross and Wag the Dog gives us his mordant, embittered take on Hollywood—a place where writers are victimized by greedy producers and tantrum-throwing actors. You may have heard it all before, but he’s got lots of entertaining anecdotes to back it all up. Along the way, he provides sharp insight into what makes a good movie. For those who are interested in the insides of show business, Bambi vs. Godzilla provides a pretty good scalpel.

BAMBI VS. GODZILLA: ON THE NATURE, PURPOSE, AND PRACTICE OF THE MOVIE BUSINESS, by David Mamet (Pantheon, 2007)

10/23/1954:
Deep in thei rown territory in the final minutes of a scoreless tie with Ole Miss, the Arkansas Razorbacks uncork a 66-yard touchdown pass play from Buddy Benson to Preston Carpenter to delight over 37,000 fans in Little Rock, Arkansas wins, 6-0. Designed by coach Bowden Wyatt, the game-winning aerial quickly becomes known as "the Powder River" play, a nod to Wyatt's previous coaching stint at Wyoming. Arkansas will win the Southwest Conference title this season, and Ole Miss will win the Southeastern Conference crown.

Birthdays:
Bruiser Kinard b. 1914
Chi Chi Rodriguez b. 1935
Pele b. 1940
Doug Flutie b. 1962
Keith Van Horn b. 1975

Packers Fact:
Ted Fritsch was a versatile athlete who played fullback, linebacker, and kicker for the Packers from 1942 to 1950. He also played baseball andn basketball professionally.

BEYOND THE MURDER IN THE RUE MORGUE

The seventh in this series featuring computer-security investigator Aimee LeDuc involves her with a baby left on her doorstep, a murdered woman (the baby’s mother?), environmental activists, and an oil company. It’s a nicely plotted and page-turning read, but the real pleasure is in Cara Black’s evocation of chic Île Saint-Louis as well as the seamier side of the City of Light.

MURDER ON THE ÎLE SAINT-LOUIS, by Cara Black (Soho Crime, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/21/2009

(I remember this game well!)

10/21/1979:
Vikings quarterback Tommy Kramer throws four touchdown passes, including the game winner to Rickey Young with 13 seconds left, leading Minnesota to a 30-27 victory over the Chicago Bears. Kramer's heroics overshadow a big day by the Bears' great running back, Walter Payton. Sweetness rushes for one TD, catches a pass for another and throws a 54-yard option pass to Brian Baschnagel for a third. The Vikings pick off three INTs and roll up over 300 yards in punk and kickoff returns to swing the outcome in their favor.

Birthdays:
Red Klotz b. 1921
Whitey Ford b. 1928
Vern Mikkelsen b. 1928
Ted Uhlaender b. 1940
Joey Harrington b. 1978

Packers Fact:
Center Jug Earp's (1922-1932) given first name was Francis. "Jug" was short for "Jugger," which was short for "Juggernaut."

OFFICE HUMOR

Australian Max Barry’s third novel is a biting and hilarious satire of modern corporate culture: outsourcing, stolen doughnuts, downsizing, “human resources,” office politics, and all the rest. It has a nice, twisty plot that revels in the absurd and the sinister. If your days are spent in the confines of an office cubicle, Company might be just the thing to maximize the potential of your water cooler-chat effectiveness.

COMPANY, by Max Barry (Vintage Books, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/19-20/2009

10/19/2006:
Light-hitting catcher Yadier Molilna hits a ninth inning two-run homer to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-1 victory over the New York Mets, clinching the NLCS before a stunned audience at Shea Stadium. NLCS MVP Jeff Suppan keeps the Cardinals close with seven strong innings of work, and rookie closer Adam Wainwright wriggles out of a bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning by freezing Carlos Beltran on a two-strike curveball for the final out. A homer-saving circus catch by Mets left fielder Endy Chavez off Scott Rolen in the sixth inning will not be soon forgotten, but even he can't corral Molina's pennant-winning blast.

Birthdays:
Lionel Hollins b. 1953
Tim Belcher b. 1961
Evander Holyfield b. 1962
Brad Daugherty b. 1965
Keith Foulke b. 1972

Packers Fact:
In 12 seasons with the Browns (1958-59) and the Packers (1960-69), Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis never missed a game.

CAUGHT IN THE HEADLIGHTS

Journalist Susan Seligson, “a person who happens to be stacked,” has a mission: to figure out and document every possible attitude toward breasts and people who have them (not all women, as she points out by evenhandedly interviewing cross-dressers). The history of the brassiere, implant mania, the search for Maxi Mounds, analysis of past and current slang terms . . . It’s all here, in bright, witty, intelligent social commentary, which the author has made both intimate and universal. Publishers Weekly starred review.

STACKED: A 32DDD REPORTS FROM THE FRONT, by Susan Seligson (Bloomsbury USA, 2007)

10/20/1928:
Coached by Bob Neyland in his third of an eventual 21 stellar seasons at Knoxville, the Tennessee Volunteers join the pantheon of big-time college football by upsetting Alabama, 15-13, at Tuscaloosa. Sophomore Gene McEVer runs the opening kickoff back 98 yards for a Tennessee touchdown and the Vols use that impetus to spring a huge surprise on Wallace Wade's highly regarded Crimson Tide, which had already won two national titles in the last four years (1925, '26).

Birthdays:
Mickey Mantle b. 1931
Juan Marichal b. 1937
Keith Hernandez b. 1953
Lee Roy Selmon b. 1954
Aaron Pryor b. 1955

Packers Fact:
The Packers upset the Bears in Vince Lombardi's first game as head coach in 1959. Green Bay won 9-6.

A CRITIC

“What allows genius to flower is not neurosis but its opposite . . . ordinary Sunday-school virtues such as tenacity and above all the ability to survive disappointment,” Joan Acocella wrote in this exemplary book of criticism. We hope the quote may begin to show you the directness and quality of mind of a woman who has become one of our essential cultural critics. Especially when it comes to writing and dance, Ms. Acocella is the first person we turn to. Most of these essays previously appeared in The New Yorker.

TWENTY-EIGHT ARTISTS AND TWO SAINTS: ESSAYS, by Joan Acocella (Pantheon, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/18/2009

10/18/1966:
A cornerstone of the New York Knicks franchise that will achieve two world titles (1970, '73) is laid tonight at Madison Square Garden when Willis Reed gets into a fight with Rudy LaRusso of the Lakers. Going berserk in his pursuit of LaRusso, Reed gives Lakers center Darrall Imhoff a black eye and John Block a broken nose when they get in his way. The NYPD steps in to restore order, Reed and LaRusso are ejected and the Knicks win their season opener with Los Angeles, 122-119. With the imposing and indomittable Reed anchoring the Knicks' frontline from here on out, the long-downtrodden Knicks will be nobody's pushovers anymore.

Birthdays:
Forrest Gregg b. 1933
Mike Ditka b. 1939
Frank Beamer b. 1946
Martina Navratilova b. 1956
Thomas Hearns b. 1958

BOOMER BLOOMER

“I like to consider myself a late bloomer, meaning someone who will eventually, however late, come into bloom. Although when and if I will bloom remains a mystery.” So begins this delightful memoir, a sort of Running with Manicure Scissors. Former writer and producer for Caroline in the City and Spin City, and a “dating” columnist for The New York Observer, Amy Cohen lets us see her in her humble glory—her own sweet, smart, sassy, lovable, bumbling self.

THE LATE BLOOMER’S REVOLUTION, by Amy Cohen (Hyperion, 2007)

APCKRFAN's NFL picks 2009: Week 6

Week 6:
Sun, Oct. 18:
St. Louis @ Jacksonville - Jacksonville
Kansas City @ Washington - Washington
Houston @ Cincinnati - Cincinnati
Baltimore @ Minnesota - Minnesota
Detroit @ Green Bay - Green Bay
Cleveland @ Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh
Carolina @ Tampa Bay - Carolina
NY Giants @ New Orleans - New Orleans
Arizona @ Seattle - Arizona
Philadelphia @ Oakland - Philadelphia
Buffalo @ NY Jets - NY Jets
Tennessee @ New England - New England
Chicago @ Atlanta - Chicago

Mon, Oct. 19:
Denver @ San Diego - Denver

Byes: Cowboys, Colts, Dolphins, 49ers

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/16-10/17/2009

10/16/1964:
Wyomia Tyus of Griffin, Georgia, wins a gold medal in the 100-meter dash at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. A 19-year-old collegian at Tennessee State University, Tyus equaled Wilma Rudolph's world record of 11.2 in the preliminary heats and runs an 11.4 in today's final to beat TSU teammate Edith McGuire by two yards. In 1968 at Mexico City, Tyus will repeat her gold medal performance in this event with a new world record time of 11.08.

Birthdays:
Dave DeBusschere b. 1940
Tim McCarver b. 1941
Juan Gonzalez b. 1969
Kordell Stewart b. 1972
Paul Kariya b. 1974

Packers Fact: Defensive end Willie Davis was an all-pro five times in his 10 seasons with the Packers from 1960-69.

WHERE EVERYBODY KNOWS YOUR NAME

Home is where you find it or where you make it. Wall Street Journal writer Gwendolyn (Wendy) Bounds was suddenly without a viable home or workplace after 9/11. Reaching out to friends and family to get back on her feet, she found herself at Guinan’s, an Irish pub in Garrison, New York, and she and the Guinans—and the pub and the town—turn out to be soul mates.

LITTLE CHAPEL ON THE RIVER: A PUB, A TOWN AND THE SEARCH FOR WHAT MATTERS MOST, by Gwendolyn Bounds (HarperCollins, 2006)

In his eulogy for Jackie Robinson in 1972, Jesse Jackson eloquently praised the trailblazing Hall of Famer as a divine instrument of societal change: "Jackie as a figure in history was a rock on the water, creating concentric circles and ripples of new possibility. He was medicine. He was immunized by God from catching the diseases that he fought. The Lord's arms of protection enabled him to go through dangers seen and unseen, and he had the capacity to wear glory with grace."

Birthdays:
Jim Gilliam b. 1928
Evel Knievel b. 1938
Bob Seagren b. 1946
Ernie Els b. 1969
John Rocker b. 1974

Packers Fact:
The Packers set an NFL record (since tied) against the Detroit Lions by scoring 41 points in one period (the second quarter) in a game in 1945. Green Bay won the game, 57-21.

STEAMY STUFF

We’re in Destiny, Louisiana. It’s hot on the floor of the foundry Sayre Lynch’s daddy built, and it’s hot work defying him and the union workers and her brother. But Sayre is woman enough to take it on, and to handle handsome Beck Merchant, too. Another blockbuster romance from the bestselling author of Breath of Scandal, Where There’s Smoke, and Witness.

WHITE HOT, by Sandra Brown (Pocket Books, 2005)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/14-10/15/2009

After leaving a putt well short of its mark during a celebrity golf tournament, Yogi Berra offered some irrefutable commentary: "If I had hit it harder, I would have missed it shorter."

Birthdays:
John Wooden b. 1910
Harry Brecheen b. 1914
Charlie Joyner b. 1947
Beth Daniel b. 1956
Joe Girardi b. 1964

Packers Fact:Charley Brock was a standout center and linebacker for the Packers from 1939 to 1947. He captained Green Bay's NFL champs in 1944.

PARTY TIME

Hard to classify but easy to love, I Like You is part cookbook, part entertaining guide, and 100 percent hilarious. This lavishly illustrated volume from quirky actress and comic Amy Sedaris offers tips on dealing with vomit stains, nosy guests, makeup, RSVPs, panty hose, and much more.

I LIKE YOU: HOSPITALITY UNDER THE INFLUENCE, by Amy Sedaris (Grand Central Publishing, 2006)

10/15/1912:
Led by saloonkeeper 'Nuf Ced McGreevy, ardent Red Sox fans known as "the Royal rooters" precipitate a chaotic hour-long delay before today's World Series game at Fenway Park. Finding that their normal seats had been sold to other fans, they mill about on the playing field until mounted policemen shunt them to the overflow area behind the outfield ropes. After this madcap prelude, it becomes a bad day altogether for Boston as the New York Giants bomb Smokey Joe Wood for six runs in the first inning and roll to an 11-4 victory, evening the Series at three wins apiece. "The Royal Rooters" will boycott tomorrow's decisive game, but the BoSox will manage to pull out a dramatic 10-inning, 3-2 victory against the peerless Christy Mathewson to clinch the championship.

Birthdays:
John L. Sullivan b. 19858
Mel Harder b. 1909
Bobby Morrow b. 1935
Jim Palmer b. 1945
Joe Klecko b. 1953

Packers Fact:
Quarterback Cecil Isbell (1938 to 1942) was at the peak of his career when he left the Packers to become an assistant coach at his college alma mater, Purdue. He became the head coach in 1944.


Think of Barker and Llewelyn as the investigators to go to when Holmes and Watson are busy. When a girl goes missing in the East End of London, an early diagnosis that white slavers abducted her gives way to darker possibilities involving a secret society called the Hellfire Conspiracy. This is the fourth in what is “fast becoming one of the genre’s best historical-mystery series.” (Booklist)

THE HELLFIRE CONSPIRACY, by Will Thomas (Touchstone, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/12-10/13/2009

10/12/2006:
New Jersey right wing Brian Gionta scores a natural hat trick in the third period to rally the Devils from 6-3 down to a 6-6 tie with Toronto, then scores again in the shootout as the Devils prevail, 7-6. Gionta scored a franchise record 48 goals last season, but tonight's three-goal hat trick is the first of his career. He ties the game with only 37 seconds left in regulation against Toronto goalie Jean-Sebastien Aubin.

Birthdays:
Joe Cronin b. 1906
Jaroslav Drobny b. 1921
Tony Kubek b. 1936
Jack Marin b. 1944
Charlie Ward b. 1971

Packers Fact:
Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Herb Adderley played in four of the first six Super Bowls while with the Packers (games I and II) and the Cowboys (V and VI).


Martin Dugard’s take on Columbus is that he was a man before he was a symbol of everything that went wrong with the European colonization of the Americas. And as a man, he easily becomes the hero of a rippingly readable story teeming with adventures at sea—the sorts of things you expect to see in pirate movies. Though not for serious scholars, The Last Voyage of Columbus does make captivating reading for the rest of us.

THE LAST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS: BEING THE EPIC TALE OF THE GREAT CAPTAIN’S FOURTH EXPEDITION, INCLUDING ACCOUNTS OF MUTINY, SHIPWRECK, AND DISCOVERY, by Martin Dugard (Back Bay Books, 2006)

10/13/1963:
Bears tight end Mike Ditka scores four touchdowns to lead Chicago to a 52-14 romp over the Los Angeles Rams at the Memorial Coliseum. Bill Wade accounts for three of the TD tosses, and Rudy Bukich throws the fourth. The Rams cough up eight turnovers, including six interceptions. Utilizing a dominant defense and a mistake-free offense, the Bears will roll to an 11-2 record and defeat the New York Giants to win their first NFL title since 1946.

Birthdays:
Eddie Mathews b. 1931
Doc Rivers b. 1961
Jerry Rice b. 1962
Paul Pierce b. 1977
Jermaine O'Neal b. 1978

Packers Fact:
Packers quarterback Cecil Isbell led the NFL in completions, passing yards, and passing touchdowns each of his final two seasons in the league (1941 and 1942).

SETTING THE RIGHT TON

Get out the bonbons and settle in under the covers—guilty pleasures come in boxes. This boxed set has five books’ worth of naughty nobles, bawdy badinage, doe-eyed damsels, and studly squires from Jillian Hunter, who practically defines the genre of historical romance. Also look for The Devilish Pleasures of a Duke, which came out in 2007, also from Ballantine.

THE BOSCASTLE FAMILY SERIES: THE SEDUCTION OF AN ENGLISH SCOUNDREL, THE LOVE AFFAIR OF AN ENGLISH LORD, THE WEDDING NIGHT OF AN ENGLISH ROGUE, THE WICKED GAMES OF A GENTLEMAN, THE SINFUL NIGHTS OF A NOBLEMAN, by Jillian Hunter (Ballantine, 2006)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/11/2009

10/11/1959:
Bert Bell, commissioner of the National Football League, suffers a fatal heart attack at Franklin Field in Philadelphia while watching the Eagles play the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was 65 years old and had served as commissioner since 1946. Ironically, in Bell's early days moving up the ladder in pro football, he had owned both the Eagles and the Steelers at various times. During his tenure, he arranged a merger with the AAFC and presided over the league during the early days when television began to make a huge impact by establishing Sundays as the "pro football" day of the week, resulting in a dramatic surge in attendance for the NFL, which had labored for decades in the shadows of the college game.

Birthdays:
Maria Bueno b. 1939
Steve Young b. 1961
Dmitri Young b. 1973
Jason Arnott b. 1974
Michelle Wie b. 1989

GOING DOWN UNDER

The contradictions that are Australia—land and sea, Aborigine and European, criminals and missionaries, ancient and modern—are brought vividly to life through the story of William Thornhill, a petty criminal exiled from London to New South Wales in 1806 with his wife, Sal. Through their struggles, hard-won successes, fears, and brushes with death, this stunning novel “conveys the enormous tragedy of Australia’s founding through the moral compromises of a single ordinary man,” wrote Ron Charles in The Washington Post. The Secret River won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, the Publishing Industry Book of the Year Award, and many other accolades.

THE SECRET RIVER, by Kate Grenville (Canongate, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/10/2009

10/10/1925:
Washington Senators outfielder Sam Rice will play 20 years in the majors (19 with the Sens), amass 2,987 base hits (over 200 in a season six times) and complete a .322 lifetime average, but he'll be largely remembered for a catch he makes in today's third game of the 1925 World Series against the Pirates. With Washington leading 4-3 and two outs in the eighth inning, Rice makes a leaping catch of Earl Smith's deep drive and tumbles into some temporary bleachers. The Pirates insist he doesn't cleanly catch the ball but instead gets it back from a friendly fan, but umpire Cy Rigler calls Smith out and the Senators win the game, 4-3. Even when Pittsburgh eventually wins the Series in seven games, the controversy won't die down. Rice will leave a letter, to be opened upon his death in 1974, attesting it was a clean catch.

Birthdays:
Gus Williams b. 1953
Norm Nixon b. 1955
Brett Favre b. 1969
Pat Burrell b. 1976
Troy Tulowitzki b. 1984

Packers Fact:
Curly Lambeau made the decisive extra point late in the fourth quarter of a 7-6 victory over the Minneapolis Marines in the Packers' first official NFL game in 1921. He was the club's founder, coach, tailback - and kicker!

A PAKISTANI POINT OF VIEW

Changez, a young Pakistani graduate of Princeton, tells his story to an American stranger across a café table in Lahore. Working for an important financial company, romantically involved with a beautiful girl, and with the world seemingly at his feet, 9/11 happens and his attitude toward America starts to shift; the personal and political mingle in problematic ways. A compelling if disquieting novel.

THE RELUCTANT FUNDAMENTALIST, by Mohsin Hamid (Harcourt Trade, 2007)

APCKRFAN's NFL picks 2009: Week 5

Week 5:

Sun, Oct 11:
Cincinnati @ Baltimore - Baltimore
Tampa Bay @ Philadelphia - Philadelphia
Cleveland @ Buffalo - Buffalo
Pittsburgh @ Detroit - Pittsburgh
Washington @ Carolina - Washington
Dallas @ Kansas City - Dallas
Oakland @ NY Giants - NY Giants
Minnesota @ St. Louis - Minnesota
Atlanta @ San Francisco - San Francisco
Houston @ Arizona - Houston
New England @ Denver - Denver
Jacksonville @ Seattle - Jacksonville
Indianapolis @ Tennessee - Indianapolis

Mon, Oct 12:
NY Jets @ Miami - NY Jets

Byes: Bears, Packers, Saints, Chargers

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/9/2009

10/9/2005:
Chris Burke homers in the last of the 18th inning at Minute Maid Park, giving the Houston Astros a 7-6 victory over the Atlanta Braves to clinch their NLDS, three games to one. It's the longest postseason game in major league history by measure of innings (18) and elapsed time (5:50), and it takes a near-miracle for Houston to extend the game after trailing 6-1 in the eighth inning. Lance Berkman then hits a grand-slam homer to make it 6-5, and with two outs in the ninth Brad Ausmus hits a home run just barely over the yellow line of demarcation in center field to tie the score. Roger Clemens pitches three innings of scoreless relief for the victory.

Birthdays:
Mike Hershberger b. 1939
Joe Pepitone b. 1940
Mike Singletary b. 1958
Kenny Anderson b. 1970
Annika Sorenstam b. 1970

Packers Fact:
In 1976, the new building that houses the Packers Hall of Fame was dedicated by U.S. President Gerald R. Ford (whom Green Bay's Curly Lambeau once tried to sign to play for Green Bay).

EPITAPH FOR A BUILDING

Pennsylvania Station is the ultimate urban legend: a great, great building that is no more, yet everyone remembers or wants to remember it. Read about its epic construction plans, the men of big vision and big money who brought it into existence, and its indelible place in the city it symbolized for a time.

CONQUERING GOTHAM: A GILDED AGE EPIC: THE CONSTRUCTION OF PENN STATION AND ITS TUNNELS, by Jill Jonnes (Viking, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/8/2009

Echoing a harrowing axiom of big-time college football, head coach Steve Kragthorpe admitted: "People don't care if you're graduating 90% of your players if you're not winning 90% of your games."

Birthdays:
Billy Conn b. 1917
Fred Stolle b. 1938
Paul Splittorff b. 1946
Rashaan Salaam b. 1974
Amos Zereoue b. 1976

Packers Fact:
Vince Lombardi (in 1959 and 1961) and Lindy Infante (1989) are the two Packerse to earn NFL coach of the year honors.

AN ENCHANTED CARPET RIDE

In this gorgeous tale set in 17th-century Persia, the unnamed narrator, a girl of 14, is sent with her newly widowed mother to live with an uncle who is a rugmaker to the shah. Grudgingly at first, he teaches the young girl his craft, and she becomes a skilled artisan. But can she buy her way out of a poor marriage and the lackluster poverty that seems to be her fate?

THE BLOOD OF FLOWERS: A NOVEL, by Anita Amirrezvani (Little, Brown, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/7/2009

10/7/1983:
Patrik Sundstrom scores his second goal of the game with five minutes left to give the Vancouver Canucks a wild 10-9 victory over the Minnesota North Stars at Pacific Coliseum. Goaltenders John Garrett of Vancouver and Don Beaupre of Minnesota each play the entire game, but neither can forestall the offensive firepower of both clubs on this night. Tony Tanti also scores twice for Vancouver, while Brian Bellows has a pair for Minnesota.

Birthdays:
Willie Naulls b. 1934
Dick Jauron b. 1950
Johnnie Morton b. 1971
Priest Holmes b. 1973
Charles Woodson b. 1976

Packers Fact:
The Packers were a woeful 1-10-1 in 1958, the year before Vince Lombardi arrived as head coach. In Lombardi's first season, Green Bay improved dramatically to 7-5; by 1961, the Packers were NFL champs.

CRACKS IN THE GLASS CEILING

First, what are the career choices for young mothers? Now, what are the good choices and bad choices? This book argues that it’s probably not the best idea for women to be unprepared to be independent, nor for them to be dependent on men and their incomes. Possibly sobering to some, bracing to others, this study gives a great basic look at the economic implications of total mommyhood. Publishers Weekly starred review.

THE FEMINIST MISTAKE: ARE WE GIVING UP TOO MUCH? by Leslie Bennetts (Voice/Hyperion, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/6/2009

10/6/1969:
Defensive standout center fielder Paul Blair becomes the first player in major league history to get five hits in one postseason game, leading the Baltimore Orioles to an 11-2 rout of the Minnesota Twins to clinch the very first ALCS in three straight games. Blair has a homer, two doubles and two singles, accounting for five RBIs as Baltimore collects 18 hits in the one-sided contest. He was also instrumental in Baltimore's victory in Game 1 of this series with a bunt single to drive in the winning run in the 12th inning.

Birthdays:
Tony Dungy b. 1955
Dennis "Oil Can" Boyd b. 1959
Ruben Sierra b. 1965
J.J. Stokes b. 1972
Rebecca Lobo b. 1973

Packers Fact:
Packers' defensive back Willie Buchanon was named the Associated Press' NFL defensive rookie of the year after intercepting 4 passes in 1972.


Enter the world of Alexander Pope and his most famous creation, the scandalous “Rape of the Lock.” Except that this time, unlike when you were in college, you don’t have to do any work. A literature professor at Princeton has done it all for you! The setting is correct down to the tiniest historical details, the sex scenes are very steamy, and the major players—Pope and his fellow writers, friends, and love interests—still have the power to fascinate with their wit and intellect. Topnotch historical fiction.

THE SCANDAL OF THE SEASON, by Sophie Gee (Scribner, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/5/2009

10/5/1985:
The Air Force Academy defeats Notre Dame, 21-15, at Colorado Springs, the fourth straight time the Falcons have beaten the Irish. Air Force defender Terry Maki has a marvelous game, recording 30 tackles (19 of them unassisted). He also blocks a field goal attempt, which results in a 77-yard runback by A.J. Scott for the winning touchdown. This victory serves as a springboard for the Air Force en route to a 12-1 season, a Bluebonnet Bowl victory over Texas and a No. 8 ranking in the final wire-service poll.

Birthdays:
Barry Switzer b. 1937
Laura Davies b. 1963
Mario Lemieux b. 1965
Patrick Roy b. 1965
Grant Hill b. 1972

Packers Fact:
Late in the 1929 season, the 9-0 Packers beat the 8-0-1 Giants 20-6 in a key game in New York. The victory propelled Green Bay to its first league championship. The Packers went on to finish the season 12-0-1; the Giants were 13-1-1.

A CRAZY, MIXED-UP WORLD

Heyday is a sprawling 19th-century sort of novel, teeming with characters (the chief one being a young Englishman in love with an actress-prostitute), plots and subplots, historical personages (Charles Darwin, for instance), a plethora of historical detail, eccentrics, big ideas, gold, Paris, murderers, California, bestiality, and just about everything else. It’s the kind of book you read when you want to get thoroughly lost in a huge, crazy, mixed-up world that is definitely not your own.

HEYDAY, by Kurt Andersen (Random House, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/4/2009

10/4/1952:
Michigan State protects an unbeaten season with a second-chance field goal on the game's final play to defeat Oregon State, 17-14, at Multnomah Stadium in Portland. After Gene Lekenta misses a chip-shot placement with only second remaining, OSU is called for offsides, giving him a second chance. He converts this one, and the Spartans, coached by Biggie Munn, celebrate their 17th straight win over three seasons. MSU will win the rest of their games by an aggregate margin of 268-57 and be named national champions at season's end by AP and UPI.

Birthdays:
Rip Repulski b. 1927
Sam Huff b. 1934
Vic Hadfield b. 1940
Tony La Russa b. 1944
A.C. Green b. 1963

THE BEAT GOES ON

The previously unpublished personal journals and earliest poems of Allen Ginsberg provide an interesting glimpse into Beat culture, personalities, ideas, and lifestyle. Ginsberg was such a fluid thinker and so inclined to be garrulous, at turns fun and scholarly, fierce and tender. These writings are a new window on the man and the time.

THE BOOK OF MARTYRDOM AND ARTIFICE: FIRST JOURNALS AND POEMS, 1937-1952, by Allen Ginsberg; edited by Juanita Lieberman-Plimpton and Bill Morgan (Da Capo Press, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/3/2009

10/3/1995:
Tony Pena's 13th-inning walk-off homer gives the Cleveland Indians a 5-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox in the first game of the ALCS at Jacobs Field. It's Cleveland's first postseason appearance since 1954. With two rain delays thrown in, the game doesn't end until shortly after two A.M. The victory continues the Indians' outstanding good fortune (13-0) in extra-inning games during the regular season, helping them to compile a 100-44 won-lost mark for the strike-shortened campaign. Each club scores on home runs in the 11th inning. Tim Naehring connecting for Boston and Albert Belle answering for Cleveland. The Indians will win this series for the AL pennant but will lose the World Series to Atlanta.

Birthdays:
Marques Haynes b. 1926
Jean Ratelle b. 1940
Dave Winfield b. 1951
Dennis Eckersley b. 1954
Fred Couples b. 1959

Packers Fact:
In 1959, Boyd Dowler caught 32 passes, including 4 for touchdowns, and earned NFL rookie of the year honors from United Press International.



“Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?” (On the Road, Part 2) In 1951 Jack Kerouac—the poet of the open road, the original dharma bum, Walt Whitman reincarnated as James Dean—sat down to write On the Road. In its original form, it was a typewritten stream of hyperconsciousness single-spaced on 120 feet of tracing paper. This 50th-anniversary celebration restored the original, as it was before it was altered, watered down to suit the suits, and published by Viking in 1957. Fasten your seat belts.

ON THE ROAD, by Jack Kerouac (1957; Viking, 2007)

APCKRFAN's NFL picks 2009: Week 4

Sun, Oct 4
Tampa Bay @ Washington - Washington (what a horrible game, I'm giving the 'skins homefield advantage)
Baltimore @ New England - Baltimore
Tennessee @ Jacksonville - Tennessee
Oakland @ Houston - Houston
Cincinnati @ Cleveland - Cincinnati
Seattle @ Indianapolis - Indianapolis
NY Giants @ Kansas City - NY Giants (sorry John)
Detroit @ Chicago - Chicago
Buffalo @ Miami - Buffalo
NY Jets @ New Orleans - New Orleans
St. Louis @ San Francisco - San Francisco
Dallas @ Denver - Dallas
San Diego @ Pittsburgh - Pittsburgh

Mon. Oct 5:
Green Bay @ Minnesota - Minnesota


Byes: St. Louis, Atlanta, Carolina, Philadelphia

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 10/1-10/2/2009

Exhorting his hBuffalo Bills players each week as they made their way onto the field, Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy would ask: "Where else would you rather be?"

Birthdays:
Rod Carew b. 1945
Grete Waitz b. 1953
Jeff Reardon b. 1955
Mark McGwire b. 1963
Cliff Ronning b. 1965

Packers Fact:
Don Hutson (1941 and 1942), Paul Hornung (1961), Jim Taylor (1962), Bart Starr (1966), and Brett Favre (1995-97) are the five Packers who officially have been recognized as NFL MVPs.

OF FISH AND MEN

A truly gigantic (800 pages) compendium of fishing stories and essays from numerous times, places, and authors. Surprises and old friends: Guy de Maupassant rubs shoulders with John McPhee, Zane Grey with Dave Barry, Grover Cleveland with James Henshall. Parts include saltwater fishing, anglers’ philosophies, fishing stories, trout, and many others. A delightful and significant collection.

THE GIGANTIC BOOK OF FISHING STORIES, edited by Nick Lyons, foreword by David Halberstam (Skyhorse Publishing, 2007)

10/2/1974:
The Pittsburgh Pirates clinch the National League East title with a contentious 10-inning, 5-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Three Rivers Stadium. The Cubs take a 4-0 lead in the first inning, forcing the Bucs to play catch-up all night. In the fourth inning, Richie Zisk of the Pirates is thrown out at the plate and the crowd turns ugly, tossing fruit, batteries and whiskey bottles at Cubs outfielders. The Cubs leave the field in the eighth inning until things calm down, and Pirates manager Danny Murtaugh (fearing a forfeit) personally appeals to the unruly crowd in the ninth inning. The Pirates scratch out two runs to tie the game in the ninth and win it in the 10th on a hit by Manny Sanguillen.

Birthdays:
Maury Wills b. 1932
Dick Barnett b. 1936
Mark Rypien b. 1962
Thomas Muster b. 1967
Eddie Guardado b. 1970

Packers Fact:
The stands at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum were only about two-thirds full when the Packers beat the Chiefs 35-10 in Super Bowl I in January of 1967. It is the only Super Bowl that was not a sellout.

DARK DOINGS

With the end of the Harry Potter series, it might be a good idea to look around for some backups. We recommend this Russian version set in contemporary Moscow. Among us and alongside us and born to human parents are the Others. They have powers and use them for the Light or the Dark Side, and the Night Watch maintains the perpetual, uneasy cold war between the two forces. “Potent as a shot of vodka.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

THE NIGHT WATCH, by Sergei Lukyanenko (Anchor, 2006)