Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 8/12-14/2011

8/12/1950:
Confusion reigns as the New York Giants defeat the Ottawa Rough Riders of the Canadian Football League, 27-6, in an exhibition game before 15,000 at Landsdowne Park. The first half is played under CFL rules, the second half under NFL rules. Makeshift yard lines are put in place at halftime to mark the smaller field used in the NFL. The same format will be used between the same two teams on August 11, 1951, during the Giants' 41-18 win in Ottawa. Between 1959 and 1961, five more exhibition games will be played in Canada between CFL teams and those from either the NFL or the AFL. The NFL will be 4-0 in those games.

Birthdays:
Fred Hutchinson b. 1919
George McGinnis b. 1950
Pete Sampras b. 1971
Antoine Walker b. 1976
Plaxico Burress b. 1977

Packers Fact:
Bart Starr (1956-1971) never passed for as many as 2,500 yards in a season and never tossed more than 16 scoring passes in any year. But he was the consummate leader and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

8/13:
The Phillies' Pat Burrell, when asked if he could put a finger on what caused his season-long slump in 2003: "I don't have enough fingers."

Birthdays:
Ben Hogan b. 1912
Bobby Clarke b. 1949
Betsy King b. 1955
Shayne Corson b. 1966
Jarrod Washburn b. 1974

Packers Fact:
The Packers drafted center Jim Ringo in the seventh round in 1953 out of Syracuse.

8/14/1971:
Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals throws his only career no-hitter in an 11-0 rout of the Pirates in Pittsburgh. He walks 3 and strikes out 10. For the last three outs, he retires Vic Davalillo on a grounder to shortstop Dal Maxvill, Al Oliver on an easy roller to Ted Kubiak at second and Willie Stargell on a called third strike. It's Gibson'sn 201st5 career win.

Birthdays:
Earl Weaver b. 1930
John Brodie b. 1938
Debbie Meyer b. 1952
Magic Johnson b. 1959
Wayne Chrobet b. 1973

“There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and recovered hope.”

—GEORGE ELIOT, English novelist

“Maybe one day we shall be glad to remember even these hardships.”

—VIRGIL, Roman poet

“Nature reacts not only to physical disease, but also to moral weakness; when the danger increases, she gives us greater courage.”

—JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE, German poet and dramatist

ON SACRIFICES, ALMOST TOO HARD TO BEAR

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W hat was hard [during this recession] was giving up my live-in maid five days a week. My daughter said, do we really need somebody? So I cut back, and I just hired somebody for two days. And you know, it kind of brought our family together. We cook together more as a family. Normally when the housekeeper was there cooking for us, my husband would be off with the paper and I would be on the phone with my friends and the kids were doing homework. I do have the woman make one extra dinner for us though, and one or two nights we do order in, and a lot of times we will go out.

Real Housewives of New York City star Ramona Singer

ON WARNING SIGNS,
TOO GRAMMAR-ORIENTED

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NOUN AREA
BATHING
ADJECTIVE
FORBIDDEN

tri-lingual sign at a beach in Israel (over the English translation is Hebrew and Arabic, reading CAUTION! DEEP WATER NEAR THE SHORE.)

ON TOO TRUE,
TOO TRUE

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He’s trying to take the decision out of the hands of 12 honest men and give it to 435 congressmen!

Representative Charles Vanik (D-Ohio)

AN UNPLEASANT SUBJECT

It’s a wacky idea, taking one of the most vilified life-forms in the world today, E. coli, and tracing its genealogy, history, and economic significance, but that’s what venerable science writer Carl Zimmer has done. He even manages to defend the little guys’ usefulness to society—these bacteria, of which there are many different strains, some of them vital to our vitals, are now important links in the research on human cell aging, in genetic mapping and engineering, and in the classroom. We couldn’t have said it any better than Steven Johnson (author of The Invention of Air): “Creepy, mind-twisting, and delightful all at the same time.”

MICROCOSM: E. COLI AND THE NEW SCIENCE OF LIFE, by Carl Zimmer (Pantheon, 2008; Vintage, 2009)

THE GREATNESS THRUST UPON THEM

In this controlled and well-paced story, shy, emotionally wounded photojournalist Maria accompanies her brasher fellow journalist Imogen on assignment for an exposé on the phenomenon of young Afghan women’s self-immolating rather than submitting to arranged marriages. Maria, who has been protecting herself against life by cowering in the safety of employment as a food photographer, finds within her a life-giving elasticity and effectiveness that deepen the satisfaction of reading this admirable novel.

THE END OF MANNERS, by Francesca Marciano (Vintage, 2009)