Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 9/22/2011

9/22/1953:

Torben Ulrich of Denmark defaults a third-round tennis match against American Bill Hoepner in the Pacific Coast Tournament in Berkeley, California. Hoepner has an annoying habit of meticulously wiping his glasses and retying his shoelaces at frequent intervals. He also frustrates his opponents by hitting the ball calmly but effectively high into the air. Trailing 11-9, 4-1 and 30-15 in the second set, Ulrich walks to the net, shakes Hoepner’s hand and states: “It wasn’t any fu7n. I quit.”

Birthdays:

Tommy Lasorda b. 1927

Ingemar Johansson b. 1932

David Stern b. 1942

Ronaldo b. 1976

Swin Cash b. 1979

Packers Fact:

On this date in 1935: after being used sparingly in the season opener the week before, rookie end Don Hutson surprised the Bears by hauling in an 83-yard touchdown on the first play of a 7-0 win over the Bears. Arnie Herber threw the pass.

“Despair . . . is too easy an out.”

—PAULE MARSHALL, American writer

ON ZEE-EEE-EEE

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Weakest Link host Anne Robinson: What is the only letter in the alphabet with three syllables?

Contestant: Z.

THE DOMESDAY BOOK

We don’t think we’re spoiling anything by giving away the very last line of Stephen King’s newest (at time of writing) opus. Ready? “The King just wants you to have a good read!” That’s what he lives for, and, boy, does he succeed with this one. It’s a sprawling, apocalyptic soap opera of biblical proportions and symbolism, cloistered within the confines of a single week of hell for the small town of Chester’s Mill, when the Dome suddenly claps down on them and every one of the cast of thousands begins to play out his or her role in the cataclysm that unfolds.

UNDER THE DOME, by Stephen King (Scribner, 2009)