Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 1/4/2010

1/4/1996:
Top-ranked and unbeaten UMass holds off third-ranked Memphis, 64-61, at the Mullins Center in Amherst, Massachusetts. Fresh from an exhausting trip to Hawaii, where they won the Rainbow Classic, the Minutemen grab a 31-15 first-half lead before Memphis storms back to assume a 50-47 advantage. With the game slipping away, UMass center Marcus Camby (23 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocked shots) keys a 7-0 run to restore a working margin. Two pivotal hoops by Donta Bright, along with clutch free throws by Edgar Padilla and Camby, help to seal an impressive intersectional victory.

Birthdays:
Johnny Lujack b. 1925
Don Shula b. 1930
Floyd Patterson b. 1935
Kermit Alexander b. 1941
Garrison Hearst b. 1971

Packers Fact:
The Packers equaled a club record for victories during the regular season in 2007. They won 13 games that year (against only 3 losses).

AN ICELANDIC GEM

This reissue of a novel that first appeared in English in 1966 is a good way to introduce yourself to the starkly beautiful and bygone world of Icelandic author Halldór Laxness, winner of the 1955 Nobel Prize in Literature and better known for his magnificent novel Independent People. In The Fish Can Sing, Young Alfgrimur, after showing some talent as a singer, begins a quest to find the famous singer and national hero Gardar Hølm (now a very old man). You’ll become hooked on Laxness’s lyrical majesty and rugged characters.

THE FISH CAN SING, by Halldór Laxness, translated from the Icelandic by Magnus Magnusson (1966; Vintage, 2008)

FARSONS LACTO

Simonds Farsons Cisk PLC, Mriehel, Malta

A slight metallic twinge taints this otherwise very drinkable stout. At 3.8% alcohol by volume, it’s neither heavy-bodied nor sweet, as one would expect a lactose-dosed ale to be. (The bottle describes the brew as “Milk Stout with Caramel Color Added.”) Why the caramel coloring? Unclear, but perhaps it’s from a brewing licorice of sorts. Regardless, the result is smooth and dry without a hint of hops. Most refreshing on a hot day in Malta.