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)