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)