Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 5/6-5/8/2011

5/6/1984:
Rookie guard Derek Harper of the Mavericks loses his focus in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Los Angeles Lakers in Dallas. With six seconds remaining and the score tied, Harper takes a pass from Dale Ellis. He thinks the Mavs are up by a point and dribbles out the clock. The Lakers go on to beat the Mavs in overtime, 122-115, and win the series four games to one. Harper shakes off the embarrassment and plays 17 seasons in the NBA.

Birthdays:
Weeb Ewbank b. 1907
John Vaught b. 1908
Willie Mays b. 1931
Martin Bredeur b. 1972
Chris Paul b. 1985

Packers Fact:
Former Packers tackle Cal Hubbard (1929-1933, 1935) was a charter member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. Thirteen years later, he was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as an umpire.

5/7:
Kansas City Royals closer Dan Quisenberry in 1983: "I've seen the future, and it's much like the present only longer."

Birthdays:
Johnny Unitas b. 1933
Bob Weiss b. 1942
Louis Orr b. 1958
Brad Isbister b. 1977
Shawn Marion b. 1978

Packers Fact:
Lindy Infante earned NFL Coach of the Year honors while guiding the surprising Packers to a 10-win season in 1989.

5/8/1968:
Catfish Hunter throws a perfect game to give the Athletics a 4-0 win over the Minnesota Twins in Oakland. It's the A's first season in Oakland after transferring from Kansas City. And it's the first perfect game by an American League pitcher since Charlie Robertson of the Chicago White Sox blanked the Detroit Tigers, 2-0, on April 30, 1922.

Birthdays:
Sonny Liston b. 1932
Mike Cuellar b. 1937
Bill Cowher b. 1957
Ronnie Lott b. 1959
Speedy Claxton b. 1978

ON CHURCH SERVICES, A BIT RACY

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During the service,
Francis Bollinger, chorister,
aroused the audience.

in a church bulletin

ON THINGS
YOU PROBABLY
SHOULDN’T SAY
DURING A JOB INTERVIEW

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Interviewer: Why did you leave your last company?

Applicant: Mostly because I sued them.

(thanks to Rachel Fout)

ON ACRONYMS,
NOT QUITE GETTING IT

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I’m an “MTM”: a “Mommy to Be.”

Good Day Philadelphia anchor Jennaphr Frederick, on why she shouldn’t be snowboarding

“Nobody ever said it would be easy— and that was an understatement.”

—GEORGE MITCHELL, American politician

TO ENDURE THE
UNENDURABLE
IS TRUE
ENDURANCE.

—Japanese proverb

“I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.”

—MOTHER TERESA, humanitarian

ON A WING AND A PRAYER

Chelsea Handler is the bestselling author of My Horizontal Life and the host of her own show on E! TV. Known for her no-holds-barred comedy, she does not disappoint in this collection of essays on subjects ranging from how she babysat a 14-year-old when she was 12 to her philandering boyfriend to how she pretended to honeymoon with her father so they could upgrade to first-class accommodations. And then there’s her relationship with that higher power, vodka.

ARE YOU THERE, VODKA? IT’S ME, CHELSEA, by Chelsea Handler (Simon & Schuster, 2008)

YES, THE CRADLE WILL ROCK

The cradle in question is one that rocked Marissa, Matt’s newlywed wife and soon to be mother of his baby, when she was a child and before she was abandoned by her mother. Marissa wants Matt to find it, and his quest leads him to discover a great deal more than that in this narrative of intertwining stories, the other being about a children’s-book author and her past. The Cradle is a small, beautifully crafted book filled with large themes of family and its centrality in our lives.

THE CRADLE, by Patrick Somerville (Little, Brown, 2009)