Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 1/21-22/2010

1/21/1958:
Bob Pettit delights a hometown crowd in St. Louis with 28 points and 26 rebounds, but it's not enough to prevent the East from defeating the West, 130-118, in the NBA All-Star Game at the Arena. Pettit, the St. Louis Hawks star, must play with a cast on his left wrist after suffering a broken finger three weeks ago. He also must play center tonight instead of his usual forward position but manages to get the better of Celtics great Bill Russell, who is forced to sit out almost half the game with foul trouble. Although Bob Cousy's 20 points and 10 assists propel the East squad to the win, Pettit is an obvious choice as the game's MVP, the second of an NBA record four such awards he will garner from 1956 through 1962.

Birthdays:
Don Donoher b. 1932
Jack Nicklaus b. 1940
Hakeem Olajuwon b. 1963
Detlef Schrempf b. 1963
Rusty Greer b. 1969

Packers Fact:
The 2008 season marked the 90th in the history of the Packers, and their 88th as a member of the NFL.


1/22/1984:
The Los Angeles Raiders dominate from start to finish and capture their second Super Bowl title in four years, 38-9, over the Washington Redskins at Tampa Stadium. Marcus Allen rushes 20 times for 191 yards and two touchdowns including a Super Bowl record 74 yards to close the third quarter. Two "free" touchdowns by the Raiders, one on a blocked punt in the end zone by Derrick Jensen and another on a five-yard INT return by Jack Squirek, add to the Redskins' misery. The Raiders franchise also won the Super Bowl in 1981 (1980 season) when they were still located in Oakland.

Birthdays:
Elmer Lach b. 1918
Serge Savard b. 1946
George Foreman b. 1948
Mike Bossy b. 1957
Greg Oden b. 1988

Packers Fact:
Third-year player safety Atari Bigby topped the Packers with 5 interceptions in the 2007 season.


http://www.theircircularlife.it/frameset.htm

Choose from one of five different sites, including a busy railroad station plaza in Modena, Italy, the canals of Venice, and a lakeside retreat, and then drag the triangle around the circle to experience a day in the life of one of these places.

http://eclectech.co.uk/sinatrasquirrel.php

It's the epitome of wacky, but the sound track's great! Never in Sinatra's wildest dreams would he have imagined they'd bring him back like this.

WHO WAS PRINCE HARRY’S FATHER?

If celebrity and royal dish are your dish, Tina Brown has laid out a feast for you. The former Vanity Fair and New Yorker editor doesn’t just give you the lowdown—there’s inside stuff here that you haven’t seen anywhere else. Gossip doesn’t get any juicier than this.

THE DIANA CHRONICLES, by Tina Brown (Doubleday, 2008)

A WINTER’S TALE

The premise of this beautiful war novel is that the Allies have lost WWII. In a rustic Welsh farming village, all the men have disappeared. The women struggle to farm the land in their absence, not knowing that the men are in fact part of a resistance movement. When six German soldiers, headed by Albrecht Wolfram, come to the village of women, a complex series of events and emotions unfolds during a hard winter.

RESISTANCE, by Owen Sheers (Nan A. Talese, 2008)

SOUTHAMPTON INDIA PALE ALE

Southampton Publick House, Southampton, New York

The IPA style has British roots, and this American-brewed version pays homage to both the original English and its more recently popular, hop-heavy American cousin. Deep amber in color, Southampton IPA shows great clarity and a good, rich crop of foam. In the nose, malt and hops mingle evenly, with lots of dark caramel notes to counter the clean spicy and floral tones. Very Old World so far. But in the flavor, things shift abruptly to the West. Hops dominate the palate, with a dry, puckering bitterness and astringency. Malt takes a definite step back, though caramel and dark malt flavors still feature in the background. Added to the mix is a gently warming 6.1%/vol. The effect is complex but refreshing.

OUDE GEUZE BOON MARIAGE PARFAIT

Brouwerij Boon, Lembeek, Belgium

This is a legendary 8%/vol. superior blend of wild fermented Belgian lambic beers from the award-winning Brouwerij Boon NV in Lembeek. One of the best gueuze lambic beers around. Tart, crisp, refreshing. Balanced acidity doesn’t assault the palate. Blended-beer flavors endorses food accompaniment. A perfect marriage of vintage gueuze beers.

STYLE TIP

Gueuze is traditionally produced by blending one-, two-, and three-year-old lambic. The spontaneously fermented, highly carbonated sour beer is made with pale malt, unmalted wheat, and aged hops.