Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/10-11/2011

New York Nets forward Julius Erving, explaining his amazing but often mystifying moves on the court: "It's all psychological. If we're down a few points and I'm fast-breaking toward the hoop, I'll sometimes decide that the time has come to get freaky. It gets the crowd up and our team up, and it gets me up. Because of the excitement, we'll often start to defend better, to make good plays and to pull ahead."

Birthdays:
Bill Tilden b. 1893
Mark Spitz b. 1950
Greg Norman b. 1955
John Calipari b. 1959
Lance Berkman b. 1976

Packers Fact:
Tackle Chad Clifton blocked for his seventh Packers' 1,000-yard rusher in 2008. He helped pave the way for Ryan Grant to reach that plateau.

2/11/1990:
Buster Douglas pulls off one of the most shocking upsets in boxing history by defeating defending champion Mike Tyson in a heavyweight title bout in Tokyo. A 42-1 Las Vegas underdog, Douglas dominates right from the start, and by Round 5 Tyson's left eye is swollen almost shut. In Round 10, Tyson is knocked to the canvas for the first time in his career and unable to stand by the end of the count. Eight months from now, on October 25, Douglas will surrender his title to Evander Holyfield and retire from boxing.

Birthdays:
Eddie Shack b. 1937
Sammy Ellis b. 1941
Ben Ogilvie b. 1943
James Silas b. 1949
Brian Daubach b. 1972

Packers Fact:
The Packers Hall of Fame, which opened in a temporary facility in 1970, was the first sports museum ever dedicated to a single football team.

ON DOMESTIC IS OKAY, THOUGH

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IT IS FORBIDDEN TO CARRY
FOREIGN FOODSNIFFS
TO BE EATEN ON THE SPOT.

sign in Biarritz, France

ON ANATOMY, VERY STRANGE

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Neil Baker is standing on the touchline with his hands in his tracksuit bottoms scratching his head.

sportscaster Chris Kamara

IF I CANNOT
PREVAIL UPON
HEAVEN, I SHALL
MOVE HELL.

—VIRGIL, Roman poet

“The only place where success comes before work is a dictionary.”

—VIDAL SASSOON, English hairdresser

COMPULSIVE READING

Get to know the man behind one of the most famous reference books of all time. Both psychological study and literary biography, this is the remarkable story of Peter Mark Roget (1779–1869), originator of the thesaurus. Though he began exhibiting manias and compulsive behaviors at the age of eight, Roget nevertheless had a successful medical career, published two significant treatises—in addition to the famous thesaurus in 1852—on widely diverse scientific and theological subjects. He married happily (and was also rather handsome, if melancholy).

THE MAN WHO MADE LISTS: LOVE, DEATH, MADNESS, AND THE CREATION OF ROGET’S THESAURUS, by Joshua Kendall (Berkeley Trade, 2009)

A GREAT ESCAPE

Philippa Gregory has proven herself mistress of the Tudor historical novel, and The Other Queen is a prime example of her gift for bringing the intrigue, pageantry, and characters of 16th-century England to life. This time Mary, Queen of Scots, has been placed by Elizabeth I in the custody of the Earl of Shrewsbury, who falls for the Scottish queen’s legendary beauty and vivacity. His wife, Bess of Hardwick, an intelligent and ambitious woman, keeps an eye on the situation for both herself and Elizabeth’s spymaster, William Cecil. Gregory has delivered yet another irresistible page-turner.

THE OTHER QUEEN, by Philippa Gregory (Touchstone, 2008)