Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/6-4/9/2010

4/6/2000:
The three greatest golfers of their generation are paired together for the first time at the Masters: Jack Nicklaus, 60; Arnold Palmer, 70; and Gary Player, 64. It's not only a spectator's delight but also a rare treat for the three great champions who walk the fairways of the Augusta National Golf Club basking in a continuous serenade of reverential applause. For the record, Nicklaus, winner of six Green Jackets, shoots a 74, Palmer, winner of four Masters titles, shoots a 78, and Player, who won here three times, cards a 76. Interviewed at the end of the round, Player eloquently contrasts the wealth of good memories to the comfort of soft pillows, while being noticeably moved by the gallery's adoring reception.

Birthdays:
Ernie Lombardi b. 1908
Spider Lockhart b. 1943
Bert Blyleven b. 1957
Sterling Sharpe b. 1965
Bret Boone b. 1969

Packers Fact:
Including road games, the Packers played in front of more fans in 2007 (1,120,775) than in any other season in their history.

4/7/1975:
The Cincinnati Reds outlast the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-1, in 14 innings before over 52,000 fans on Opening Day at Riverfront Stadium. George Foster's infield single drives home Cesar Geronimo with the game's deciding marker. It's the fifth time in National League history that an Opening Day game lasts 14 innings. Joe Morgan has two hits and two stolen bases for Cincinnati, presaging two back-to-back MVP awards in his immediate future (175 and '76), leading to two world championships for the Big Red Machine.

Birthdays:
Bobby Doerr b. 1918
Gail Cogdill b. 1937
Tony Dorsett b. 1954
Ricky Watters b. 1969
Ronde and Tiki Barber b. 1975

Packers Fact:
Brett Goode made his NFL debut as the Packers' long snapper on kickoff weekend in 2008.

4/8/1984:
Coming off a 20-homer, 34-steals season in 1983, Houston Astros shortstop Dickie Thon is hit in the fact by a Mike Torrez fastball in a game against the New York Mets at the Astrodome and suffers a broken bone around his left eye. He'll miss the balance of the year and will be hampered by depth perception problems the rest of his career. A .274 hitter before the beaning, he's only .256 afterwards, bouncing from club to club after leaving the Astros at the end of the 1987 season and finally retiring in 1993.

Birthdays:
Turk Farrell b. 1934
John Havlicek b. 1940
Jim "Catfish" Hunter b. 1946
Gary Carter b. 1954
Ricky Bell b. 1955

Packers Fact:
On April 9, 1898: Packers' founder and longtime head coach Curly Lambeau was born in Green Bay (Lambeau died in 1964 at the age of 67.)

4/9/2005:
The University of Denver Pioneers win their second consecutive (and seventh all-time) NCAA hockey championship with a 4-1 victory over the North Dakota Fighting Sioux at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio. Freshman Paul Stastny (#11), son of Hall of Famer Peter Stastny, nets two power-play goals for the winners. Jeff Drummond and Gabe Gauthier also score for the Pioneers (39-9-2) while goalie Peter Mannino stops 44 shots and earns tournament MVP honors.

Birthdays:
Ebbie Goodfellow b. 1907
Paul Arizin b. 1928
Nate Colbert b. 1946
Seve Ballesteros b. 1957
Olaf Kolzig b. 1970

Packers Fact:
Packers' linebacker Dave Robinson blocked a short field-goal attempt to turn the tide in Green Bay's favor in a 28-7 victory over the Rams in a 1967 Western Conference playoff game.


http://www.pojman.com/PP/PP.html
Museum of Pocket Protectors
The purpose of a pocket protector is threefold-to protect your shirt from ink and graphite, keep the pocket in shape, and prevent pen clips from marring and wearing away shirt pockets. With over seven hundred different examples, including a CBS/Fox promotional protector for the Revenge of the Nerds movie, it's the ultimate nerd's website.

http://awesome.good.is/features/011/Wanderlust/index.html
Wanderlust Mapped
How about this for armchair traveling-select a trip from a list of two dozen real and fictional journeys and then see it plotted on the map along with detailed annotations of important stops along the way. Includes such historical tours as Columbus's 1492 ocean voyage, the Lewis and Clark expedition, Charles Lindbergh's solo airplane flight, and literary journeys like Phineas Fogg's trip around the world in eighty days and Jack Kerouac's route in On the Road.

http://www.cluegames.com/
Lost in a Forest
After awhile, it feels like the real thing. But remember, this is supposed to be a time-waster.

OTHER WORLDS

Like Scheherazade weaving the tapestry of tales in A Thousand and One Nights, Yunes of Gate of the Sun uses storytelling, memory, and the unfolding insight that grows from these acts to save a life—not his own but that of his friend Dr. Khalil, who lies in a coma in a Palestinian refugee camp. The strong bond between friends forms the gravitational force in this beautiful novel.

GATE OF THE SUN, by Elias Khoury, translated from the Arabic by Humphrey Davies (Picador, 2007)

ACROSS ASIA

At the age of 63, Colin Thubron began his 7,000-mile trek from Xi’an, China, to Antioch, Turkey, along the trade routes known as the Silk Road. He had traveled these parts before, and this book is rich with his memories and his knowledge of the road’s ancient history, which he uses to frame his sharp observations of its teeming, changing present. The writing is sometimes comic, sometimes poetic, always stimulating. “An exhausting journey and a marvelous book,” says Harper’s Magazine.

SHADOW OF THE SILK ROAD, by Colin Thubron (Harper Perennial, 2008)

HISTORY COMES ALIVE

Diane Ackerman (An Alchemy of the Mind; A Natural History of the Senses) goes in a new direction with this true story of a Warsaw couple who sheltered upwards of 300 Jewish and Polish souls in their home and in the Warsaw Zoo, where the husband was director. A crackling good story to begin with, it’s brought to life by Ackerman’s evocative images and unforgettable characterizations.

THE ZOOKEEPER’S WIFE: A WAR STORY, by Diane Ackerman (W. W. Norton, 2008)

BRUGSE STRAFFE HENDRIK

BVBA Straffe Hendrik, Brugge, Belgium

If you visit the majestic Belgian city of Brugge, it’s well worth taking a tour of the Straffe Hendrik Brewery, if only to check out the classy old Steinnecker brewing system. The brewing panel has mechanical levers instead of circuitry! As for the beer, it is light, quite effervescent, with a balanced malt character. Bottled versions seem prone to a tinny, metallic edge, so find it on tap if you can—you’ll also get a more pronounced hop character and freshness, which definitely helps the balance of this otherwise tame blonde.

STYLE TIP

Porter was brewed in the American colonies, and was a favorite style of George Washington’s. Although nearly forgotten by the end of the last century, it was fortunately revived during the craft brewing revolution of the 1970s.

ALLAGASH DUBBEL RESERVE, BATCH #70

Allagash Brewing Co., Portland, Maine

Sweet, clovey dried fruit and nuts abound in the aroma of this deep chocolate-brown beer. Good topography to the thick layer of foam on top, and enough carbonation to blow the cork a pretty good distance off the 750ml bottle. Let it warm up a bit and you’ll get a whiff of mellow brown sugar and a slight, musty woodiness—all the makings of brilliance before you’ve even taken a sip. Then, in the flavor, a full caramel malt, some pipe tobacco sweetness, that Belgian fruit-nut-toffee complexity, and just a hint of sugary alcohol. You’ve gotta love what these craft brewers can do with the form—and Allagash is one of maybe ten North American breweries that really can beat the Belgians at their own game. This one has the Gold medal to prove it (World Beer Cup, Belgian-style Dubbel). The finish is long and smooth, with malt and alcohol dryness.

CANTILLON GUEUZE

Brasserie Cantillon Brouwerij, Brussels, Belgium

The quintessential gueuze. Sharp, yet with a wonderfully complex fruitiness and oakiness in the bouquet, and tangy—you really can smell the tartness before it hits the tongue. The finish is long, with lingering acidic dry notes. The prolonged salivary spasm of an entire 750mL bottle of the stuff might actually induce fatigue; one can almost see the wisdom of tempering such intensity with a sugar cube, heretical as that sounds. But you’ve got to take authenticity into account. This is history. This is what’s in those clay pitchers in Breugel’s wedding scene, and the folks drinking it certainly weren’t complaining or adding sugar!

BEER FACT

Gueuze is traditionally made with spontaneous fermentation, in a small area south of Brussels.