Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 7/22/2010

7/23/1957
Determined to keep his salary structure low (even for star players), Detroit Red Wings general manager Jack Adams trades union-organizing All-Star Ted Lindsay to the Chicago Black Hawks. The Detroit fan base is outraged by the move, but Lindsay, the heart and soul of four Stanley Cup winning teams, is now 32 and well past his prime. Adams' zeal to teach him a lesson about loyalty (i.e., playing for below-market value) also compels him to include young goalie Glenn Hall in the trade, which proves to be a monumental blunder. Hall will go on to play another 14 seasons in the NHL, at one point playing a record 502 consecutive games, and earn Hall of Fame enshrinement in 1975.

Birthdays:
Pee Wee Reese b. 1918
Don Drysdale b. 1936
Gary Payton b. 1968
Nomar Garciaparra b. 1973
Terry Glenn b. 1974

Packers Fact:
Cornerback Al Harris was the oldest player on the Packers' kickoff weekend roster in 2008. He was 33.

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DON’T DRINK MILK WHILE READING THIS

Hillary Carlip found her first discarded grocery list when she was a teenager, and she has been collecting them ever since. She felt that a list of “whole milk, heavy cream, ice cream, cheese, and Gas-X,” for example, said quite a lot about the person who made it. Extrapolating from the lists, Carlip tells us about these shoppers’ loves, tragedies, and ambitions. Her 26 subjects include an ex-porn star, a goth boy, and an octogenarian stand-up comedian. With photographs of the author made up as these characters in action at the market.

À LA CART: THE SECRET LIVES OF GROCERY SHOPPERS, by Hillary Carlip; photography by Barbara Green (Virgin, 2008)

BLACK TOAD DARK ALE

Goose Island Beer Co., Chicago, Illinois

Black Toad is intriguingly dark, not quite black, and brilliantly clear with a deep red tint when held to the light. The aroma has a nice balance of roast and caramel malts, with just a bit of hop charm. The flavor leads off quite sweetly, with some caramel, roast, and coffee complexities. Grain and hop provide a slight bitterness to fend off the chewy cascade of toffee and malt sweetness, but the finish is still a bit long, decidedly malty. Not a bad thing at all—this is a most pleasantly complex dark ale with lager-like smoothness.

BEER FACT

Black Toad Ale is brewed by Goose Island for Trader Joe’s, and marketed by Black Toad Brewing Co.