Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 8/1/2011

8/1/1914:
On the same day that Oscar Kreuzer and Otto Froitzheim finish up a 5-0 loss to Australiasia (Australia and New Zealand) in a Davis Cup match in Pittsburgh, Germany declares war on Russia. The two German tennis stars announce they'll be sailing home to fight for their country. On August 4, Great Britain declares war on Germany, and a British warship patrolling off the Gibraltar coast intercepts the ship carrying Kreuzer and Froitzheim. The pair are taken prisoner and released when the war ends in 1918.

Birthdays:
Jack Kramer b. 1921
Cliff Branch b. 1948
Kiki Vandeweghe b. 158
Gregg Jefferies b. 1967
Stacey Augmon b. 1968

Packers Fact:
Linebacker Clay Matthews is the son of Clay Matthews Jr., who played linebacker in the NFL for 19 seasons beginning in 1978. His uncle is Bruce Matthews, the Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive lineman.

ON AND OURS IS FEW

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And my concern, David, is several.

President George W. Bush

“They underestimated me, because I am a fighter and not a quitter.”

—PETER MANDELSON, British politician

A GREAT ESCAPE

This great stew of a historical novel revolves around the opium trade and similarly unsavory business in the early 19th century. It brims with magnificent characters, such as Baboo Nob Kissin, an overseer of coolies, a fallen raja, a transgendered mystic, and a great many others. An abundance of historical detail is ingeniously woven into the plot, and the author’s gloriously inventive use of the English language is a joy to read. Sea of Poppies is the first volume of a projected and eagerly awaited trilogy.

SEA OF POPPIES, by Amitav Ghosh (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008)