Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/15-16/2010

Not enamored of the artful (but nonphysical) play of Swedish import Inge Hammarstrom, the outspoken owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Harold Ballard, once complained: "He could go into the corner boards with a dozen eggs and skate out without breaking any."

Birthdays:
Earl "Red" Blaik b. 1897
John Hadl b. 1940
Darrell Green b. 1960
Jaromir Jagr b. 1972
Amy Van Dyken b. 1973

Packers Fact:
In 2007, first-year running back Ryan Grant notched his first career 100-yard rushing game against Denver (Week 8). He gained 104 yards on 22 carries.

2/16/1986:
The Duke Blue Devils survive their second buzzer-beater finish this weekend, nipping Notre Dame, 75-74, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. For the second day in a row, it's guard Johnny Dawkins who rises to the occasion. Against the Irish, he blocks a shot by David Rivers in the final seconds to preserve the one-point win. Yesterday against NC State, Dawkins got fouled on a shot with two seconds left and made both free throws to produce a 72-70 Duke victory.

Birthdays:
Bernie Geoffrion b. 1931
John McEnroe b. 1959
Kelly Tripucka b. 1959
Mark Price b. 1964
Jerome Bettis b. 1972

Packers Fact:
Among the Packers' memorabilia in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, is a box of sod from Lambeau Field.


http://www.tenthousandcents.com/

Ten Thousand Cents
The webmasters paid ten thousand people a penny apiece to draw one ten-thousandth of a hundred dollar bill to see if a work of art could be reproduced by individuals who did not know what the whole piece looked like. You can see the results at this site and purchase a digital copy for $100.

DOWN ON THE PHARMA

What starts out as a murder mystery, which launches archaeologist Louise Cantor on a worldwide tour to piece together the clues about her son’s killing (among them, his obsession with JFK’s brain), ends up as a searing exposé of the rapacious greed of drug companies and how they have crippled Africa. Mankell shows he doesn’t need his Kurt Wallender series to deliver a fascinating story.

KENNEDY’S BRAIN, by Henning Mankell, translated from the Swedish by Laurie Thompson (New Press, 2007)

STOP FIGHTING, BOYS!

Longtime TV news correspondent and media historian Eric Burns (The Spirits of America: A Social History of Alcohol) creates a wonderful sort of Mad Men starring James and Ben Franklin, Thomas Paine, Alexander Hamilton, and other bad boys, troublemakers and muckrakers all, in the boisterous, backstabbing world of 18th-century politics and publishing.

INFAMOUS SCRIBBLERS: THE FOUNDING FATHERS AND THE ROWDY BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN JOURNALISM, by Eric Burns (PublicAffairs, 2006)

ORANGE BLOSSOM CREAM ALE

Buffalo Bill’s Brewery, Hayward, California

The lovely label on this cream ale lists honey, orange peel, and orange flower extract among its contents. The results pour a light golden color, with a slightly coarse trace of foam. In the nose, orange soda dominates, with slightly papery undertones—no recognizable blossom, but it’s admittedly a difficult aroma to detect. Flavor is also redolent of orange soda, with a nicely balanced finish between sweet malt and a slightly tart, dry-fruit character. Unsubtle, but certainly clean and refreshing enough as an orange fruit beer.

BEER FACT

Honey is a great food source for beer yeast. When added to beer prior to fermentation—at least in moderate amounts—it tends to add to alcohol content, drying the beer rather than sweetening it.

ALLAGASH WHITE ALE

Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, Maine

Pale gold, intentionally clouded with a powdery sediment, it pours from a smartly corked 750mL bottle with a huge, meringue head of foam. Aroma reveals fresh ground coriander with apricots and a bit of orange blossom. A sophisticated yet thirst-quenching ale, light in body and alcohol, with a surprisingly long finish. Don’t chill this one down too far (no colder that about 50°F)—you’ll miss a lot of the nuance. If you aren’t into bitter beers but yearn for great flavor, this one deserves a try. A perfect summer beer done in the Belgian style—easy to approach, terrifically easy to drink.

BEER FACT

Allagash White Ale won a Silver medal at the 2004 World Beer Cup and a Bronze medal at the 2002 World Beer Cup, both in the Belgian-style White Beer category.