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)