Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 3/16/2011

3/16/2003:
Ricky Craven edges out Kurt Busch by just two thousandths of a second in the Dodge Dealers 400 at Darlington, South Carolina. It's the smallest margin of victory since NASCAR introduced electronic timing in 1993; in fact, Craven and Busch bang door-to-door down to the checkered flag. The right side of Craven's Pontiac is nearly flattened. The left side of Busch's Ford is mashed beyond recognition.

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

Packers Fact:
While with the Philadelphia Eagles, defensive end Reggie White led the NFL in sacks in back-to-back seasons in 1987 (21 sacks) and 1988 (18 sacks).

ON PUBLISHERS, TYPICALLY BONEHEADED

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It is impossible to sell animal stories in the USA.

publisher’s rejection of George Orwell’s classic Animal Farm

“Nature . . . is what we are put in this world to rise above.”

—ROSE SAYER (KATHARINE HEPBURN) in The African Queen; screenplay by James Agee and John Huston

LIVING HISTORY

In the 1960s, comedy was a blood sport, say Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen. They met while working for a public-school drug-awareness program, took their funny and incendiary act on the road for a few years at the height of political pandemonium, broke up for financial reasons, and went their separate ways—Tim as an actor (remember Venus Flytrap on WKRP Cincinnati?), producer, and director; Tom as a successful stand-up comedian. Tim and Tom came together again to write a funny, smart, inspiring, fascinating book about the first—and maybe the last—black-white comedy team.

TIM AND TOM: AN AMERICAN COMEDY IN BLACK AND WHITE, by Tim Reid and Tom Dreesen (Oxford University Press, 2008)