Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 1/17-19/2010

1/17/1982:
Ivan Lendl crawls out of a two-sets-to-none hole to upend Vitas Gerulaitis and win the Grand Prix Masters year-end championship at Madison Square Garden. The nearly four-hour contest swings on match point in the third-set tie-breaker with Lendl serving at 5-6. Lendl hits a deep second serve and keeps Gerulaitis pinned to the baseline, finally ending the point with an overhead. he closes out the tiebreaker, 8-6, and it's clear sailing from there to the stoical Czech's 36th consecutive victory since losing to Gerulaitis at last year's U.S. Open.

Birthdays:
Jacques Piante b. 1929
Kip Keino b. 1940
Muhammad Ali b. 1942
Chili Davis b. 1960
Jeremy Roenick b. 1970


Underscoring the element of intimidation he brought to the court during his career, basketball Hall of Famer Willis Reed conceded: "I admire Dr. Martin Luther King, but I'm not a nonviolent person."

Birthdays:
Syl Apps b. 1915
Curt Flood b. 1938
Mark Messier b. 1961
Brady Anderson b. 1964
Mike Lieberthal b. 1972

Packers Fact:
The Packers acquired running back Ryan Grant shortly before the season opener in 2007 from the New York Giants. The cost was a sixth-round pick in 2008.


1/19/2004:
Colorado right wing Milan Hejduk scores on a penalty shot 59 seconds into overtime to give the Avalanche a 5-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning at the St. Pete Times Forum. After being tripped from behind by Tampa defenseman Brad Lukowich, Hejduk goes top shelf on lightning goalie Nikolai Khabibulin to end the game. It's just the third game-winning OT penalty shot in the NHL since the league introduced regular-season overtime 20 years ago. Even more noteworthy about the goal, it's Hejduk's second successful penalty shot in only eight days; his earlier marker against Chicago came in regulation time.

Birthdays:
Bill Mlkvy b. 1931
O.J. Anderson b. 1957
Stefan Edberg b. 1966
Junior Seau b. 1969
Tyrone Wheatley b. 1972

Packers Fact:
The NFL's Super Bowl trophy first was named in honor of former Packers coach Vince Lombardi in game V to cap the 1970 season.



WHO KILLED KING?In 1999 Martin Luther King’s family brought a wrongful death suit to court. The jury took just one hour to bring back a verdict, which declared that James Earl Ray did not kill the great civil rights crusader, naming the CIA, FBI, and others as the responsible parties. Attorney William F. Pepper did exhaustive research and has laid out his case in a methodical and straightforward way. Is he another conspiracy nut? Coretta Scott King didn’t think so. An Act of State deserves serious attention.

AN ACT OF STATE: THE EXECUTION OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, by William F. Pepper (Verso, 2003; updated edition, 2008)

THE TOUGH GUY AND THE SOCIALITE

Set in a playground of the rich in the Adirondacks during the 1930s, The Reserve is a big, ripping, cinematic melodrama. A sultry divorcée and a left-leaning, Hemingwayesque artist light up the big screen in the reader’s mind with a torrid saga of romance, scandal, and homicide. It seems as if Russell Banks, author of The Sweet Hereafter and Cloudsplitter, is out to have some fun. Like-minded readers will definitely want to go along for the wild ride.

THE RESERVE, by Russell Banks (Harper, 2008)

DOS EQUIS AMBER

Ceeveceria Cuauhtemoc Moctezuma, Monterrey, Mexico

Mexican lagers are highly underrated. Sure, the light ones tend to range from banal to bourgeois, but fortunately even some of the commonest varieties derive from such quality pedigree as Salzburg-born Graf Vienna. For its part, Dos Equis Amber fills a needed slot as a mass-produced lager that’s full of flavor. A tame but clean malt-and-cereal aroma introduces a vaguely caramel flavor, then onto an exceptionally smooth, balanced finish.

STELLA ARTOIS

Stella Artois Brewery, Leuven, Belgium

Sure, it has the Belgian pedigree, but does the ubiquitous light lager measure up? If you’re used to American cereal beers, you might find Stella a bit rich. There’s hop character, you can actually taste the malt, and you might even feel guilty drinking a six-pack. Belgian beer snobs familiar with Monastery-, Abbey-, Farmhouse-, Wild Yeast-, and Garage-brewed ales, all of which have nothing in common but a pioneering brilliance and originality, might consider this lager humdrum at best. Still, like Germany, Belgium is a country with a beer for every season and every occasion. Who can turn down a light, cold, well-brewed lager beer on a hot day, especially if you plan on putting in some hard manual labor (or sitting in the cattle section on a cramped Euro-saver flight)?

THUNDERHEAD OATMEAL STOUT

Mountain Sun Brewery, Boulder, Colorado

Liquid silk, smooth as a cave-aged lager. Robust, too, with a wealth of roast malt and barley. Oatmeal provides a worldly, full-bodied foundation. Caramel malts lend additional smoothness. No ale-like fruitiness. No screamin’ hops. Just pure oh-be-joyful black Thunderhead Oatmeal Stout. Nice. Really nice.

SUDS SOURCE

Located at 1700 Vine Street, the third Mountain Sun brewpub brings the relaxed atmosphere and fine pub food of the original Boulder locations to Denver. Try a blackened chicken sandwich or an S.O.B. burger with a pint or two. Happy hour is Monday through Saturday, 4 p.m. to 6 and 10 to close, Sunday 4 to 6. $2.75 pints and $8.25 pitchers. Live music Sundays 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., no cover.