Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 3/15-18/2010

While Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach earned notoriety for lighting a cigar when a victory was assured, legendary Los Angeles Lakers announcer Chick Hearn frequently offered this up when a Lakers victory was "on ice": "This game is in the refrigerator; the door's closed, the light's out, the eggs are cooling, the butter's getting hard and the Jell-O's jiggling."

Birthdays:
Punch Imlach b. 1918
Norm Van Brocklin b. 1926
Harold Baines b. 1959
Terry Cummings b. 1961
Kevin Youkills b. 1979

Packers Fact:
The Packers' top tackler in the 2007 season was linebacker Nick Barnett. He was credited with 165 stops.

3/16/1974:
A hush falls over the crowd at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh, when NC State's high-flying David Thompson crashes to the hardwood midway through the first half of the Wolfpack's bid to win the Eastern Regional of the NCAA basketball tournament. Thompson suffers a laceration requiring hospitalization and several stitches, but even without him top-ranked NC State crushes Pittsburgh behind 26 points and 12 rebounds by center Tom Burleson. Thompson will return to the lineup next weekend and help his team topple UCLA and Marquette to win the national championship.

Birthdays:
Roger Crozier b. 1942
Rick Reichardt b. 1943
Ozzie Newsome b. 1956
Mel Gray b. 1961
Curtis Granderson b. 1981

Packers Fact:
When Ahman Green set the Packers' single-season rushing record of 1,833 yards in 2003, he broke a mark by Jim Taylor that had stood for four decades (1,474 yards in 1962).

3/17/1967:
Although star forward Charles Beasley is held to only 9 points, ,SMU gets 30 points from Denny Holman, including a game-clinching lay-up with three seconds left in the game to upset second-ranked Louisville, 83-81, in the semifinals of the Midwest Regional in Lawrence, Kansas. Fred Holden has 23 points and Jerry King adds 20 for the Cardinals, but their All-American center Wes Unseld and star guard Butch BEard are held relatively in check by the Mustangs, who score a resounding victory for their basketball program, long overshadowed by football on their Dallas campus.

Birthdays:
Sonny Worblin b. 1910
Sammy Baugh b. 1914
Hank Sauer b. 1917
Chuck Muncie b. 1953
Mia Hamm b. 1972

Packers Fact:
The last time (entering 2008P that the Packers won all eight of their regular-season home games at Lambeau Field was in 2002.

3/18/2001:
After becoming the first woman in golf history to shoot a 59 in the second round of this event, Sweden's Annika Sorenstam holds off hard-charging Se Ri Pak to win the LPGA Standard Register Ping tournament at the Moon Valley Country Club in Phoenix. Her 72-hole score of 27-under-par 261 sets another LPGA record. Sorenstam will go on to win her fourth Vare Trophy for the lowest strokes-per-round average on tour and her fourth money-earnings title, becoming the first woman golfer to eclipse $2 million in one year.

Birthdays:
Mike Webster b. 1952
Guy Carbonneau b. 1960
Curt Warner b. 1961
Bonnie Blair b. 1964
Brian Griese b. 1975

Packers Fact:
Linebacker Nick Barnett is a top run stopper, but he also notched a career-best 3.5 sacks in his fifth NFL season in 2007.


http://averweij.web.cern.ch/averweij/index.htm

The Die Is Cast
When Caesar uttered those famous words he was referring to the same kind of dice we use today. At this site you can see dice from every period, including ancient dice that Caesar himself would have thrown at the gaming tables, dice with two to one hundred sides, dice made of rubber, wood, gold, and other unusual materials, Braille dice, electric dice, and dice bearing hundreds of different themes including animals, the Bible, U.S. states, and sports like baseball and golf.

http://www.strictlynophotography.com/

Forbidden Pictures
N,o, it's not porno, but it is a collection of photos taken by sneaky shutterbugs in places where photography is banned - like museums and art galleries, church interiors (including the Sistine Chapel), archaeological sites, government installations, rock concerts, sports events, and movie sets. With a bonus gallery of forbidden photos of "No Photography Allowed" signs.

http://www.irelandseye.com/blarney/blarney.shtm

Kiss the Virtual Blarney Stone

You might be stuck in the office this St. Patrick's Day, but you can still bring yourself good luck and eternal eloquence by kissing the virtual Blarney Stone without leaving your desk.

http://scottseegert.homestead.com/

It's A Guy Thing
Patent maven Scott Seegert showcases only the most ridiculous inventions that he claims were dreamed up by the "tiny portion of a guy's brain not dedicated to scratching himself." Be amazed by potential products like "John's Hunting Decoy," a gigantic cow suit big enough for two bird-hunters to hid in, "John's Neck Exerciser," which guarantees injury to anyone standing near the person wearing it, and "Win's Dog Pipe," a two-sided pipe-shaped rubber chew toy that its inventor thought was more dignified than the usual bone. With a gallery of famous inventors and "selfless bonus information" that includes advice on getting a better job that you can't afford to miss.

ET TU, SUETONIUS

Modern-day ruthless dictators should certainly beware the Ides of March. But the rest of us can sit back and enjoy ourselves, communing with that greatest of Roman gossips and muckrakers, Suetonius. He tells us all about that momentous day 2,054 years ago: “Confronted by a ring of drawn daggers, he [Caesar] drew the top of his gown over his face, and at the same time ungirded the lower part, letting it fall to his feet so that he would die with both legs decently covered.” That was a decent Caesar. Wait till you get to Caligula and Nero.

THE TWELVE CAESARS, by Suetonius, translated from the Latin by Robert Graves (2nd century; Penguin Classics, 2003)

HOW IT ALL ADDS UP

If you want to know which players are going to make the winningest baseball team, do you go to an experienced coach and ask him for his considered judgment, or do you go to a statistician and ask him what his computer thinks? Ian Ayres says if you’re smart you’ll go to the statistician. From baseball to winemaking to retailing to medicine, time after time the statisticians outperform the “experts.” Ayres’s accessible and entertaining book tells why that is so and why that’s important for ordinary people.

SUPER CRUNCHERS: WHY THINKING-BY-NUMBERS IS THE NEW WAY TO BE SMART, by Ian Ayres (Bantam, 2007)

HEGARTY’S WAKE

Veronica Hegarty’s favorite brother, Liam, put rocks in his pockets one day, walked into the sea, and drowned. That is the act that propels this novel and that fuels Veronica’s deep, anguished exploration of love and secrets and death in the family. Sounds depressing, perhaps, but Anne Enright’s ravishing prose lifts the story, dark though it is, into the light. The Gathering won Enright the Man Booker Prize for 2007.

THE GATHERING, by Anne Enright (Grove Press, 2007)

DON’T LOOK NOW

Cadence Moran is a blind auto mechanic, a very good one. The secret is her amazing ability to diagnose engine problems by listening. But Cadence’s skill—and other secrets—draws her into the black spiral of a white-knuckle mystery that keeps us guessing, while certain puzzles of her own personality and past form another level of mystery, always hovering around blind corners. Mystery writer Laura Lippman says of The Fault Tree, “An original and gripping work, more proof—as if any was needed—that Louise Ure is an exciting new voice in the mystery field.”

THE FAULT TREE, by Louise Ure (St. Martin’s Minotaur, 2008)

XINGU BLACK BEER

Cervejarias Kaiser, São Paulo, Brazil

The twist-off caps may be a testament to Xingu’s popularity—but this beer’s legacy stands strong. A self-proclaimed “black beer,” it could be called a stout but for its lager-like smoothness and its lack of roasty qualities. It pours black as night, with garnet hues when held up to the light and a beige foam thick enough to make a pint of Guinness jealous. Aroma is slightly fruity, with some buckwheat and maple nuances, and flavor is a heavenly balance of malt, maple, and creamy cereal grains—no roast, very little hops, nothing harsh—a surprise, considering its shade. Xingu is an anomaly, an enigma in the beer world. Mysterious, exotic, and one of the finest gifts you can give your beer-loving friends.

ESTRELLA DAMM

S.A. Damm, Barcelona, Spain

Estrella (“star” in Spanish) is one of the most popular beers in Spain, and for good reason. This premium-style lager comes in a brown-glass longneck, pouring a full gold color in the glass. Malt and floral, hay-scented hops are evident in the aroma, and a relatively dense froth attests to a good malt-to-cereal ratio. Malt is also the main player in the flavor, but a decent hop bitterness finishes things up nice and dry. Yes, this is a good choice for hot dusty summer days, as most quenching premium lagers of the region are, but Estrella Damm has enough bold flavor to make it worth seeking out on any day. Obviously Spain is the best place to drink this, but if you can find bottles that have been imported with care (not heat or light damaged), seek it out.

PRIMA PILS

Victory Brewing Co., Downington, Pennsylvania

It’s always gratifying to see American craft brewers take a classic Old World beer style and make it their own, with standards of quality that meet, and in some cases exceed those of the original beer. Prima, an exceedingly pale German-style pilsener, is a slice of hop lover’s heaven. Noble German hops hit you first with their minty, almost pine-like essence, then dominate the flavor with a clean, resounding punch. Malt is just the canvas in this beer, but it too displays a level of refinement and sophistication. The finish is appropriately dry, but without the puckery astringency of coarser, “catty” high-alpha ale hops. You get the impression that the brewers at Victory don’t cut corners with ingredients—hops of this quality are not cheap, and in Prima they are used lavishly. This is German brewing excellence made right here in the USA.

NUT BROWN ALE

Green Flash Brewing Co., Vista, California

This up-and-coming microbrewery’s Nut Brown has reddish-amber tints, appropriately low carbonation, and a fine layer of yeast (an indicator of bottle-conditioning). As is to be expected, the live yeast has amplified the beer’s fruity ale character, but malt is still the star of the show—caramel, chocolate, and just a slight hop aroma convince your nose that this is going to be a pleasant experience. The flavor doesn’t let you down. Surprisingly dry for a brown, the beer still exhibits the soft, gentle balance of classic English brown ale, and a teasing hop interplay rounds out the complexity.

BEER FACT

Real ale undergoes a secondary fermentation in the bottle or cask in which it is stored. It is a living product—it doesn’t undergo any sort of pasteurization, so some of the yeast remains dormant, but alive.