Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 11/4-11/6/2009

11/4/2002:
Defenseman Rod Langway, center Bernie Federko, left wing Clark Gillies and coach Roger Neilson are inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Langway played 15 seasons in the NHL, 11 with Washington, and won the Norris Trophy twice. Federko played 14 seasons in the league, 13 of them with St. Louis; a great playmaker, he was the first player ever to record 50 assists in 10 straight seasons. Gillies played 14 years, 12 of them with the Islanders; he could score and he could mix it up with anyone, serving as an integral component of New York's four straight Stanley Cup titles (180-83). Neilson coached several teams over a 25-year career and was an early proponet of using video to scout opponents before it became commonplace.

Birthdays:
Dick Groat b. 1930
Steve Mariucci b. 1955
Eric Karros b. 1967
Carlos Baerga b. 1968
Orlando Pace b. 1975

Packers Fact:
Guard Jerry Kramer, with help from center Ken Bowman, made the key block on Bart Starr's winning quarterback sneak in the Packers' 21-17 victory over Dallas in the "Ice Bowl" championship game of 1967.

A CURE FOR DYSTHYMICS?

“‘Happiness is contained in the nose. Like a diamond, it only crystallizes under pressure. In so much space’—he took another swipe—‘happiness cannot form. This is why Jews, as a people, are dysthymics. In those ample noses happiness moves around like a firefly in a jar.’ ” If you respond to this passage, you should seek out this Kafkaesque story of a Jewish son of a whore and his family in 1976 Buenos Aires, even if you don’t know the meaning of dysthymic.

THE MINISTRY OF SPECIAL CASES, by Nathan Englander (Knopf, 2007)

11/5/2006:
Marilson Gomes dos Santos of Brazil wins the men's division of the New York Marathon in 2:09:58 while Jelena Prokopcuka of Latvia wins her second straight women's race in 2:25:04 on a cool, windless day, ideal for racing. Both runners win with ease; there are no serious challengers, especially among competitors from the United States. Despite a lot of prerace buildup, America's best male long-distance runner, Meb Keflezighi, finishes 21st, and Deena Kastor, a bronze medalist in the 2004 Olympic marathon at Athens, places a distant sixth in the women's race.

Birthdays:
Bill Walton b. 1952
Javy Lopez b. 1970
Johnny Damon b. 1973
Alexei Yashin b. 1973
Jerry Stackhouse b. 1974

Packers Fact:
The Packers beat the Washington Redskins 48-47 on a Monday night in 1983, the highest-scoring game in club history.

ON THE ROAD

Have your weary tastebuds been battered into utter dysthymia by the never-ending, never-changing chain restaurants along our nation’s highways? A couple of food heroes, Jane and Michael Stern, have arrived to show the way to the best lobster shacks, the best barbecue, the best hotdogs, and the just plain best local cuisine to be found from Maine to California. An absolute must for the epicurian traveler. This sixth edition has 175 new listings and revisions.

ROADFOOD, by Jane Stern and Michael Stern (1977; rev. ed. Broadway Books, 2005)

11/6/1966:
In a bizarre game at Franklin Field, the Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Dallas Cowboys, 24-23. The Eagles score all their points in the first half on three kick returns and a field goal, despite gaining only six yards from scrimmage the entire first half. Tim Brown becomes the first player in NFL history to run back two kickoffs in onen game for touchdowns, running 93 yards the first time and 90 yards the second. Aaron Martin adds a 67-yard punt return TD and Sam Baker boots a 31-yard field goal to frustrate the Cowboys, who dominated play only to fail miserably on special teams.

Birthdays:
Pat Dye b. 1939
Ray Perkins b. 1941
John Candelaria b. 1953
Pat Tillman b. 1976
Lamar Odom b. 1979

Packers Fact:
Running back Dorsey Levens gained 205 yards from scrimmage in the Packers' 30-13 victory over the Panthers in the 1996 NFC title game.

HEROINE

The young Somali woman Ayaan Hirsi Ali escaped a forced marriage to a man in Canada by seeking asylum when her plane stopped over in the Netherlands. This incredible life story includes her collaboration with the film director Theo van Gogh on a documentary about the victimization of Muslim women. She writes of van Gogh’s murder and the death threats directed against her; her political career in the Dutch Parliament; and how she was threatened with the loss of citizenship. Infidel is also a damning critique of the Muslim treatment of women by one who has known it firsthand.

INFIDEL, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (Free Press, 2007)