Sports Fact & Book Rec of the day 4/27-28/2011

4/27/1949:
Pete Milne of the New York Giants hits his only major league home run - an inside-the-park grand slam at the Polo Grounds. Milne is called to the plate to pinch-hit for pitcher Andy Hansen with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and the Giants trailing the Brooklyn Dodgers, 8-7. Facing Pat McGlothlin, he lashes a drive to left center. Brooklyn center fielder Duke Snider dives for the ball, but it gets past him and rolls to the wall. Milne circles the bases for a home run and the Giants win, 11-8.

Birthdays:
Rogers Hornsby b. 1896
Enos Slaughter b. 1916
Earl Anthony b. 1938
Lee Roy Jordan b. 1941
George Gervin b. 1952

Packers Fact:
Paul Coffman caught more passes - 322 from 1978 to 1985 - than any other tight end in Packers' history.

4/28/1923:
The first soccer match at London's historic Wembley Stadium takes place with an FA Cup final between Bolton and West Ham United. The stadium is filled to its 125,000 capacity, but many thousands more force their way in and flood the field. Led by Constable George Scorey and Billy, his legendary white horse, police clear the pitch and the match can finally begin. The first goal is scored by Bolton's David Jack as a West Ham defender tries to climb back out of the crowd next to the touchline. Bolton's second goal, which seals a 2-0 victory, bounces off spectators standing on the goal netting.

Birthdays:
Tom Browning b. 1960
Mark Bavaro b. 1963
Barry Larkin b. 1964
John Daly b. 1966
Nicklas Lidstrom b. 1970

Packers Fact:
Quarterback Bart Starr was selected by the Packersw in the 17th round of the 1956 draft. He went on to play 16 seasons.

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world: the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”

—GEORGE BERNARD SHAW, Anglo-Irish playwright

“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”

—MARIE CURIE, French scientist

ON ANSWERS, OBVIOUS

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Family Feud host Ray Combs: A job that helicopters are used for.

Contestant: Uh . . . tuna fishing.

ON TOO TRUE, TOO TRUE

---

There’s always going to be a few bad eggs in a barrel.

rocker Roger Daltrey

THE NEW CLASSICS

Valentino Achak Deng was a boy in southern Sudan. When civil war came to his village he ran for his life in the dead of night. He joined with other “Lost Boys,” marching from one refugee camp to another, contending with starvation and with threatening animals. Eventually he reached America, where, finally in a home of his own, he was robbed and beaten. These things really happened. He related them to Dave Eggers, who then wrote this brilliant novelization of Valentino’s grueling journey.

“Eggers’s limpid prose gives Valentino an unaffected, compelling voice . . . harrowing, funny, bleak and lyrical.”—Publishers Weekly

WHAT IS THE WHAT: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF VALENTINO ACHAK DENG, by Dave Eggers (Vintage Books, 2007)

TRUTH IN FICTIONIn this superb fact-based novel, Paulette Jiles meticulously reimagines the life and times of Texas legend Britt Johnson, a freed slave from Kentucky whose wife and children were abducted by Kiowas soon after the family relocated to Texas with their former master. Johnson eventually found his wife and two of the three children and established very friendly relations with Indians. He settled down again, running Moses Johnson’s ranch, only to fall in 1871 in a raid of horrific violence by Comanches and Kiowas inflamed by disastrous government schemes to “handle” them. An awe-inspiring piece of historical writing.

THE COLOR OF LIGHTNING, by Paulette Jiles (William Morrow, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/25-26/2011

4/25/1966:
Larry Jaster of the St. Louis Cardinals shuts out the Los Angeles Dodgers, 2-0, setting in motion one of the strangest sequences in baseball history. Jaster will make five starts against the Dodgers in 1966 and pitch five shutouts. They're the first five shutouts of his career and the only shutouts he'll pitch this season. He becomes the only major league pitcher to register five consecutive shutouts against one team in a single season, and he does it facing the defending National League champions. He'll play in the majors until 1972 and pitch only two more shutouts.

Birthdays:
Meadowlark Lemon b. 1932
Vladislaw Tretiak b. 1952
Darren Woodson b. 1969
Jacque Jones b. 1975
Tim Duncan b. 1976

Packers Fact:
The Packers' Donald Driver and the Colts' Reggie Wayne were the only two NFL players to post more than 1,000 receiving yards each season from 2004 to 2008.

4/26/1931:
The New York Yankees lose to the Senators, 9-7, in Washington on an afternoon thath costs Lou Gehrig a home run title. With two out in the first inning and Lyn Lary on base, Gehrig hits a drive into the bleachers, where it bounces off the seats and back into the hands of Washington outfielder Harry Rice. Thinking it's an out instead of a homer, Lary runs into the dugout after crossing third base and Gehrig is declared out for passing him on the base path. The lost four-bagger means Gehrig will have to share the home run title with Babe Ruth, who matches his 46 homers at season's end.

Birthdays:
Hack Wilson b. 1900
Harry Gallatin b. 1927
Donna de Varona b. 1947
Mike Scott b. 1.955
Natrone Means b. 1972

Packers Fact:
Nose tackle B.J. Raji was the Packers' top pick in the 2009 draft. He was the ninth overall pick.

ON AND THIS IS AS CLEAR AS MUD

---

It was as clear as night is day.

sportscaster Alan Green

ON FOOD, FANTASTICO!

---

• Stewed Language

• Cooked knacks

• Meager with Tomato

menu items in Madrid, Spain

“We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth New Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times.”

—GEORGE WASHINGTON, U.S. president

“The world is disgracefully managed, one hardly knows to whom to complain.”

—RONALD FIRBANK, English novelist and playwright

DELISH DISH

Hollywood celeb divorcée Gigi Grazer knows what she’s talking about—fund-raisers, fake smiles, lots of money, acid tongues, and stabbed backs. In this quintessential beach or couch read, Cynthia Powers is feeling her age (but not looking it). The gorgeous ballerina has had it up to her swanlike neck with husband Jack’s philandering and yellow roses of penitence, which she loathes (and he thinks are her favorites). Serving up revenge both hot and cold, and thoroughly enjoying herself every step of the way, Cynthia eventually sweeps the board.

QUEEN TAKES KING, by Gigi Levangie Grazer (Simon & Schuster, 2009)

OIL!

The marvelous land in question in Booker Prize—winning Barry Unsworth’s new novel is Mesopotamia, part of the Ottoman Empire in the early 20th century. (Nowadays we call it Iraq.) The many well-drawn characters include archaeologist John Somerville and his bored wife, Edith, and the duplicitous oil prospector Alex Elliott, who are all involved in conflicts over archaeology and oil. And there is the railroad track being laid and heading straight for Somerville’s great career-making find. This is Unsworth’s 16th novel, and his ability to comment on the present by artfully telling a story of the past is one of contemporary literature’s great pleasures.

LAND OF MARVELS, by Barry Unsworth (Doubleday, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/23-24/2011

4/23/1950:
The Detroit Red Wings defeat the New York Rangers, 4-3, in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. The winning goal is scored by Pete Babando after 28 minutes and 31 seconds of overtime. It's the only time in Stanley Cup history that the seventh game of a final is decided in double overtime.

Birthdays:
Jim Bottomley b. 1900
Warren Spahn b. 1921
Tony Esposito b. 1943
Gail Goodrich b. 1943
Andrew Jones b. 1977

Packers Fact:
Star end Max McGee also served as the Packers' punter in coach Vince Lombardi's first season in 1959.

4/24/1988:
The Clippers' Michael Cage needs 29 rebounds to win this year's rebounding title over Charles Oakley of the Chicago Bulls. Cage plays all 48 minutes tonight in the last game of the season and pulls down 30 rebounds in a 109-100 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics in Los Angeles. he beats out Oakley 13.03 rebounds per game to 13.00.

Birthdays:
Vince Ferragamo b. 1954
Omar Vizquel b. 1967
Chipper Jones b. 1972
Eric Snow b. 1973
Carlos Beltran b. 1977

ON CLICHÉS, CONFUSED

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I’ve gone where the hand of man has never set foot.

movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn

ON HOWEVER TURKEYS
OR RIBS CAN BE

---

HAMS MAY NOT
BE STORED IN
COAT CHECK.

sign in the lobby, Mount Airy Casino Resort

A MAN
WITHOUT
DETERMINATION
IS BUT AN
UNTEMPERED
SWORD.

—Chinese proverb

“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.”

—Matthew 6:34 (King James Version)

“CUDGEL THY BRAINS NO MORE ABOUT IT”

After all, it’s April 23, probably Shakespeare’s birthday and so one of the most glorious days of celebration of the English language. Marjorie Garber has been lecturing with renown at Harvard and Yale about the Bard for the last 30 years. In Shakespeare After All, she has distilled her abundant knowledge into 38 (one for each play, in chronological order) enlightening, engaging, and utterly smart essays. She has generously included an introduction and bibliography.

SHAKESPEARE AFTER ALL, by Marjorie Garber (Anchor, 2005)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/22/2011

4/22/1959:
In a remarkable rally, the Chicago White Sox score 11 runs on one hit in the seventh inning of a 20-6 win over the Athletics in Kansas City. The first two batters reach on errors and Johnny Callison singles in a run, then advances to second on the next play when right fielder Roger Maris fumbles the ball. After three batters, the A's have made three errors. Before the inning is over, Kansas City pitchers Tom Gorman, Mark Freeman and George Brunet combine to walk 10 and hit one in a span of 13 batters; eight of the walks and the hit baseman come with the bases loaded. The inning finally ends when Jim Landis bounces back to Brunet, who throws to first for the out.

Birthdays:
Spencer Haywood b. 1949
Terry Francona b. 1959
Freeman McNeil b. 1959
Jeff Hostetler b. 1961
Jimmy Key b. 1961

Packers Fact:
Wide receiver Sterling Sharpe led the NFL in pass catching three times in five seasons beginning in 1989. He capped that stretch with a club-record 112 receptions in 1993.

“You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.”

—MARY TYLER MOORE, American actress

ON ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS SQUEEZE ’EM REAL HARD

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Forty percent of the mass of every tree in the forest is crude oil.

Congressman Bill Sali (R-Idaho)

MANY FACES OF LOVE

Linda Grant spins a kind of mystery that’s not a mystery. It’s seamless, and yet the narrator, Vivien, is only stitching together wisps of memories. Jolted into these memories by a chance meeting with the former mistress of her disgraced uncle Sándor—why disgraced, she’s not sure—of whom she was allowed only a few tantalizing glimpses throughout her childhood. She then remembers how she later got the chance to meet and know her endearing, fat, pendulous-lipped, womanizing uncle, and even to love him, though neither of them ever reveals to the other the knowledge of their connection. The (London) Observer proclaims, “You barely feel you’re reading it at all, so fluid and addictive is the plot.”

THE CLOTHES ON THEIR BACKS, by Linda Grant (Scribner, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/19-21/2011

4/19/1956:
Drawing 12, 214 fans on a Thursday afternoon, the Brooklyn dodgers play their first game at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey city, New Jersey, and beat the Phillies, 5-4, in 10 innings. Walter O'Malley had been trying to convince New York City officials to give him land at the corner of Brooklyn's Atlantic and Flatbush avenues on which to build a new stadium, so he moved seven home games from Ebbets Field to Jersey City to highlight the need for adequate seating. Roosevelt Stadium, used previously by a minor league team in the New York Giants system from 1937 through 1950 as well as for stock car racing, has a capacity of about 25,000 and parking for 10,000 cars (versus 800 at Ebbets Field). The Dodgers will play eight more games in Jersey City in 1957 before moving to Los Angeles at the end of the season.

Birthdays:
Jack Pardee b. 1936
Alexis Arguello b. 1952
Frank Viola b. 1960
Joe Mauer b. 1983
Maria Sharapova b. 1987

Packers Fact:
From his final season in 1941 until early in 1949, former Packers star Clarke Hinkle stood as the NFL's all-time leading rusher. Future Pro Football Hall of Fame member Philadelphia's Steve Van Buren took the record from him.

4/20/2008:
American driver Danica Patrick becomes the first woman to win an IndyCar race with her victory in the Bridgestone Indy Japan 300 at Twin Ring Motegi. Patrick takes first place in her Honda Dallara after the leaders are forced to pit for fuel in the final laps on the 1.5-mile oval, finishing 5.9 seconds ahead of pole sitter Helio Castroneves. Before Patrick, the only woman to win a major auto racing event was Shriley Muldowney, who won NHRA Top Fuel Championships in 1977, 1980, and 1982.

Birthdays:
Ernie Stautner b. 1925
Harry Agganis b. 1930
Steve Spurrier b. 1945
Don Mattingly b. 1961
Tai Streets b. 1977

Packers Fact:
Backup wide receiver Brett Swain made a big play on special teams during the Packers' victory over Chicago on Kickoff Weekend in 2009 by tackling the Bears' Garrett Wolfe short of a first down on a fake punt.

4/21/1944:
Because of player shortages during World War II, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Chicago Cardinals merge into one team under the name Card-Pitt. Walt Kiesling of the Steelers and Phil Handler of the Cardinals are co-coaches. The Card-Pitt name is pronounced "Carpet," and appropriate moniker for a team that will have an 0-10-0 record and be outscored 328-108. They'll play their last game on December 13 at Philadelphia's Shibe Park against the Chicago Bears and lose, 49-7. The Steelers and Cardinals will becomes separate franchises again in 1945, but both will finish last in their respective divisions.

Birthdays:
Joe McCarthy b. 1887
Gary Peters b. 1937
Al Bumbry b. 1947
Jesse Orosco b. 1957
Ed Belfour b. 1965

Packers Fact:
The Ravens drafted safety Derrick Martin in the sixth round in 2006 out of Wyoming. Martin joined the Packers via trade in 2009.

ON COMPUTER MOUSE USERS, OVERLY AESTHETIC

---

Customer: My mouse doesn’t work any more.

Tech support: Is it an optical or ball mouse?

Customer: Huh?

Tech support: Does it have a ball or light?

Customer: It has a light on top.

Tech support: On top?

Customer: Yeah. It was underneath before, but it looks better when it’s on top.

Tech support: Ok, try turning it around so the light points down on the desk.

Customer: Oh! It works!

actual computer-tech support call

ON TAKING OUTSOURCING TOO FAR

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We seek a journalist based in India to report on the city government and political scene of Pasadena, California, USA.

help-wanted ad on PasadenaNow.com

ON ISN’T THIS A LITTLE MISOGYNISTIC?

---

THE SOLUTION TO
HUNTING’S WOES?
SETTING SIGHTS ON WOMEN

headline in the Wall Street Journal

IF IT WEREN’T FOR
THE WIND IN MY
FACE, I WOULDN’T
BE ABLE TO FLY.

—ANONYMOUS

“The tragedy of life is not so much what men suffer, but rather what they miss.”

—THOMAS CARLYLE, 19th-century Scottish writer

Calmness is great advantage. He that lets
Another chafe, may warm him at his first.

—GEORGE HERBERT, 17th-century English poet

LOVE AND DEATH IN AKRON

The story told in this Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House gone Midwestern is more than the sum of its parts. A veteran with the Akron Beacon Journal, Giffels does not spare himself—and he is a fixer-upper himself, with some attitudes and behaviors very much in need of shoring up, repair, or replacement. You’ll enjoy the predictable schadenfreude of hearing wonderful details of crumbling ceilings, corroded pipes, and nests of vermin, but Giffels’s love for Akron, Ohio, and his excursions into its history and that of the house lift this above the usual money-pit story.

ALL THE WAY HOME: BUILDING A FAMILY IN A FALLING-DOWN HOUSE, by David Giffels (Harper Paperbacks, 2009)

A GEOFF DYER SAMPLER

OUT OF SHEER RAGE: WRESTLING WITH D. H. LAWRENCE (North Point, 1999) A hilarious and thoughtful roller-coaster ride of procrastination, double-talk, dilly-dallying, neurosis, and writer’s block. And Lawrence.

THE COLOR OF MEMORY (Little, Brown, 1997) A coming-of-age novel full of ideas, dialogues, scenes of gritty urban England, and some wonderful prose with hints of Hemingway and Lawrence.

BUT BEAUTIFUL: A BOOK ABOUT JAZZ (North Point, 1997) Highly recommended by none other than Keith Jarrett. Singularly beautiful, brainy, bittersweet riffs on jazz. Winner of the Somerset Maugham Award.

RUM AND CASTRO AND DESTINY

After Fidel Castro nationalized the Bacardi distillery in 1960, the Bacardi family fled to the United States, where they joined with other exiles to overthrow the new Communist government of Havana. This is the story of their as yet unsuccessful struggle. It is also the story of the greatly successful rise of the Bacardi fortune and name that began with a bricklayer, Facundo Bacardi Massó, in Santiago de Cuba in the 1860s. A well-researched and captivating account.

BACARDI AND THE LONG FIGHT FOR CUBA: THE BIOGRAPHY OF A CAUSE, by Tom Gjelten (Viking, 2008)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/18/2011

4/18/1942:
The Toronto Maple Leafs cap a tremendous comeback by beating the Detroit Red Wings, 3-1, in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals. The Maple Leafs lost the first three games of the series, 3-2 and 4-2 in Toronto and 5-2 in Detroit. In Game 4 in Detroit, they trailed 3-2 in the third period and it looked like a miracle win for the Red Wings, who had finished fifth among seven teams in the regular season with a record of 19-25-4. But the Maple Leafs rallied to win that game, 4-3, and went on to win the next two, 9-3 in Toronto and 3-0 in Detroit. With tonight's triumph, they become the first team to win after trailing three games to none in a Stanley Cup final, and NBA final or a World Series.

Birthdays:
Don Ohl b. 1936
Pete Gogolak b. 1942
Wilber Marshall b. 1962
Rico Brogna b. 1970
Haile Gebrselassie b. 1973

Packers Fact:
Linebacker Mike Douglass was the Packers' top tackler three times in four seasons beginning in 1980.

ON BOOKS WE GOTTA READ

---

• The Large Sieve and Its Applications

• The Potatoes of Bolivia: Their Breeding Value and Evolutionary Relationships

actual book titles

“We’re lost, but we’re making good time!”

—YOGI BERRA, American baseball player, on his way to Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame

MISS GRADWYN REGRETS

Baroness James of Holland Park, P. D. James to you, has produced at least one more elegant mystery for her masterful Adam Dalgleish to solve before he retires into the loving arms of his word-clever Emma. At a private clinic, located in a Dorset manor house, Rhoda Gradwyn has a renowned plastic surgeon remove a scar from her face, which he successfully does. Then the unfortunate Miss Gradwyn is strangled in her bed. At the age of 88 the baroness has not lost her way with compelling character and ingenious plot.

THE PRIVATE PATIENT, by P. D. (Phyllis Dorothy) James (Knopf, 2008)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/15-17/2011

4/15/1952:
For the second time during the Detroit Red Wings' Stanley Cup series with the Montreal Canadiens, Pete and Jerry Cusimano toss an octopus onto the ice at Olympia Stadium. The brothers have decided that the creature's eight legs signify the eight playoff wins necessary to garner the championship. Detroit wins again, 3-0, and a tradition is born. Fans will continue to throw octopuses onto the ice before Red Wings playoff games, even after 16 victories are required to claim the Stanley Cup.

Birthdays:
Evelyn Ashford b. 1957
Dara Torres b. 1967
Jeromy Burnitz b. 1969
Phillippi Sparks b. 1969
Jason Sehorn b. 1971

Packers Fact:
Cornerback Will Blackmon was lost for the rest of the 2009 season after tearing ligament in his left knee against Minnesota in Week 4 that year.


St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean on Pittsburgh Crawfords pitcher Satchel Paige in 1934: "If Satch and I were pitching on the same team, we'd cinch the pennant by July 4 and go fishing until World Series time."

Birthdays:
Dick "Night Train" Lane b. 1928
Rich Rollins b. 1938
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar b. 1947
Bill Belichick b. 1952
Luol Deng b. 1985

Packers Fact:
Aaron Rodgers' passer rating of 93.8 in 2008 ranked sixth in the NFL. San Diego's Philip Rivers was the only quarterback to post a rating of more than 100 that season (105.5).

4/17/1963:
Paul Hornung of the Green Bay Packers and Alex Karras of the Detroit Lions are suspended indefinitely by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle for betting on games, including those involving their own teams. Both will be reinstated in March 1964, and both will play next season. Hornung will be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1986.

Birthdays:
Cap Anson b. 1852
Geoff Petrie b. 1948
Borje Salming b. 1951
Boomer Esiason b. 1961
Theo Ratliff b. 1973

“Hope . . . is not a feeling; it is something you do.”

—KATHERINE PATERSON, American writer

“Let others praise ancient times. I am glad that I was born in these.”

—OVID, Roman poet

“The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.”

—Ecclesiastes 9:11 (King James Version)

ON STIFF COMPETITION FOR THE IRS

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Thank you for your Tax Returns ended 5th April 2006 & 2007, which we received on 20th December. I will treat your Tax Return for all purposes as though you sent it in response to a notice from us which required you to deliver it to us by the day we received it.

the British Revenue and Customs office, in a letter to a customer

ON LET’S NOT
TOUCH THIS ONE

---

Every prime Minister needs a Willie.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (referring to her deputy prime minister William Whitelaw)

ON BUT WE’VE HEARD
THAT JESUS PREFERS
TO USE E-MAIL

---

• I have received Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.

• I would like a personal call.

BEFORE THE HOUSE BURNED DOWN

Do you remember the madwoman in the attic (Mr. Rochester’s first wife) in Jane Eyre? The brilliant novelist Jean Rhys took the little information Charlotte Brontë provided about Bertha Mason and created the story of a West Indian woman trapped in a loveless marriage and far from the home she loved. The New York Times calls it “a triumph of atmosphere—of what one is tempted to call Caribbean Gothic atmosphere. . . . It has an almost hallucinatory quality.”

WIDE SARGASSO SEA, by Jean Rhys (1966; Penguin, 1997)

THE INSIDE STORY

George Taber, author of Judgment of Paris (2005), brings his journalistic nose for lively detail to the rather obscure topic of the wine-cork industry and cork “taint,” caused by an evil little molecule called 2,4,6-trichloroanisole (TCA). Follow this molecule through the streets and alleys of Lisbon and to the great wine brokers’ offices in Brussels and London, and on through the dusty vineyards of America and Europe, where winemakers and bottlers tear their hair out almost daily over the problem. You won’t be sorry you learned the incredible statistics and ins and outs of what goes into and comes out of wine bottles.

TO CORK OR NOT TO CORK: TRADITION, ROMANCE, SCIENCE, AND THE BATTLE FOR THE WINE BOTTLE, by George M. Taber (Scribner, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/13-14/2011

4/13/1957:
Paced by rookies Tommy Heinsohn and Bill Russell, the Boston Celtics win their first NBA title by outlasting the St. Louis Hawks in double overtime of Game 7. The score is tied at 103 at the end of regulation and 113 at the close of the first overtime period. With one second left in the second OT, Jim Loscutoff hits a free throw to put the Celtics up 125-123. Hawks player-coach Alex Hannum takes the ball out of bounds and heaves it the length of the court, but it clanks off the backboard. Bob Pettit grabs the carom and takes a shot. The ball bounces off the rim, and Boston prevails.

Birthdays:
Flash Hollett b. 1912
Bob Devaney b. 1915
Davis Love III b. 1964
Bo Outlaw b. 1971
Baron Davis b. 1979

Packers Fact:
Phil Bengtson was a defense assistant coach for each of Vince Lombardi's nine seasons (1959-1967) before taking over for the legendary head man in 1968.

4/14/1912:
Among the passengers on the Titanic when it strikes an iceberg tonight is Swiss tennis champion Richard Williams, who at age 21 had booked passage on the steamship with plans to attend college and play tennis in the United States. He'll survive the disaster and will become the NCAA men's singles champion next year and again in 1915. In 1914 and 1916 he'll capture the U.S. Nationals men's singles title.

Birthdays:
Marvin Miller b. 1917
Bart Giamatti b. 1938
Pete Rose b. 1941
Cynthia Cooper b. 1963
Greg Maddux b. 1966

Packers Fact:
Cornerback Willie Buchanon earned NFC Rookie of the Year notice in 1972 (from the Newspaper Enterprise Association).

ON EMERGENCY INSTRUCTIONS,
NOT ENORMOUSLY HELPFUL

---

NOT: a door closed and anchors requirement, made to be humid by the means of destiny (humid, towel, sheets) protégé longer at ground level smoke to less dense and the more tolerable temperature.

on a “what to do in an emergency” sign in the Hotel de l’Aerogare, Dakar, Senegal

ON SO MUCH?

---

She won by miles: seven one-hundred-thousandths of a second.

Olympic commentator

PUT YOUR TRUST
IN GOD, MY BOYS,
AND KEEP YOUR
POWDER DRY.

—VALENTINE BLACKER, 19th-century British solider

“Change is not made without inconvenience, even from worse to better.”

—RICHARD HOOKER, English theologian

IMPORTANT AMERICAN POET

Frank Bidart is known for his long poems—many of which are deeply felt psychological narratives of people who struggle to overcome often horribly difficult lives. In this collection he turns to a shorter, lyrical form of verse and seems to choose the calm and contemplative over the dramatic. Poems range from a meditation on Marilyn Monroe (“what you come from is craziness, what your / mother and her mother come from is / craziness”) to one on the ballerina Ulanova (really about art, of course) to “Tu Fu Watches the Spring Festival Across Serpentine Lake.” There’s enigmatically more, too.

WATCHING THE SPRING FESTIVAL: POEMS, by Frank Bidart (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008)

SHALL WE DANCE?

On your toes, readers! This is one of Russia’s most discerning critics writing about one of ballet’s greatest epochs—it produced Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, and Mikhail Fokine for starters. Akim Volynsky expatiates on Pavlova’s lower lip and her soul. He marks an 18-year-old Balanchine as a “young, lively and superbly disciplined talent.” He refers to Olga Spessivtseva, a dancer he adored, as “the weeping spirit.” For balletomanes, Ballet’s Magic Kingdom is indispensable. And for ordinary people, it is insightful and eye-opening.

BALLET’S MAGIC KINGDOM: SELECTED WRITINGS ON DANCE IN RUSSIA, 1911-1925, by Akim Volynsky; edited and translated from the Russian by Stanley J. Rabinowitz (Yale University Press, 2008)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/12/2011

4/12/1952:
In Game 1 of the NBA finals in St. Paul, the New York Knicks' Al McGuire hits a "phantom" basket. In the first quarter, McGuire drives to the basket and is fouled as he releases the shot. The ball plainly goes through the hoop, but official Sid Borgia calls for a two-shot foul because he didn't see where the ball went; neither did the second official. The call is critical, since McGuire misses both free throws and the Lakers win in overtime, 83-79. The series will go seven games, with the Lakers taking the title on April 25 with an 82-65 victory.

Birthdays:
Joe Lapchick b. 1900
Johnny Antonelli b. 1930
Mike Garrett b. 1944
Mike Macfarlane b. 1964
Adam Graves b. 1968

Packers Fact:
Cornerback Al Harris sealed the Packers' 21-15 victory over Chicago on Kickoff Weekend in 2009 by intercepting a pass with 58 seconds remaining.

ON KISSES, TOO POTENT

---

My girlfriend kissed me. I lost control and woke up in the hospital.

written on an actual accident report

“I must complain the cards are ill-shuffled, till I have a good hand.”

—JONATHAN SWIFT, Anglo-Irish satirist

THE NEW CLASSICS

Some of the best books are those that dwell in the limbo between childhood and adulthood—they can be read by either group and enjoyed equally, if differently. The worlds they depict are also often on the cusp of reality and fantasy. If you’ve been longing to bury yourself in a book and another world, you can’t do much better than reading Suzanne Collins, whose new series (following five New York Times bestsellers in the Underland Chronicles) will leave you feeling uneasy in your skin months after you put the books down.

THE HUNGER GAMES, by Suzanne Collins (Scholastic, 2008)

CATCHING FIRE (2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/11/2011

4/11/1980:
Eleven days past his 52nd birthday, Gordie Howe plays his last game as his Hartford Whalers lose in overtime to the Montreal Canadiens, 4-3, in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Howe played all 80 games during the regular season, scoring 15 goals and 26 assists, as well as all three playoff games. His son Mark played with him on the 1979-80 Whalers, scoring 24 goals.

Birthdays:
Jake Gaither b. 1903
Bret Saberhagen b. 1964
Jason Varitek b. 1972
Trot Nixon b. 1974
Kelvim Escobar b. 1976

Packers Fact:
In 2005, Nick Collins was the first Packers' rookie in 17 years to start at safety on Kickoff Weekend.

ON THE FAMED BRITISH HISTORIAN EDWARD GORILLA

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Weakest Link host Anne Robinson: Which author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire shares his name with a long-armed ape?

Contestant: Gorilla.

(The correct answer, of course, is Gibbon.)

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.”

—JOHN WOODEN, American basketball coach

EICHMANN IN BUENOS AIRES

Fifty years ago today, Adolf Eichmann went on trial in Jerusalem for committing, as “architect of the Holocaust,” crimes against humanity. Hunting Eichmann is the story of how, after Eichmann spent 15 years on the run, hiding and evading capture, he was finally hunted down and abducted on a deserted road in a lower-class area of Buenos Aires and flown to Israel to face justice at last. Fascinating and disturbing.

HUNTING EICHMANN: HOW A BAND OF SURVIVORS AND A YOUNG SPY AGENCY CHASED DOWN THE WORLD’S MOST NOTORIOUS NAZI, by Neal Bascomb (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/10/2011

Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda, on slow-moving catcher Mike Scioscia in 1988: "If he raced his pregnant wife, he'd finish third."

Birthdays:
John Madden b. 1936
Don Meredith b. 1938
Bob Watson b. 1946
Mel Blount b. 1948
Neil Smith b. 1966

PULL UP
YOUR
SOCKS!

—ANONYMOUS

ON ANSWERS TO
SENATORIAL QUESTIONS,
FORTHCOMING

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I think I may be aware of that.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, responding to a question during testimony before the Senate

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/9/2011

4/9/1987:
In Game 2 of a first-round Stanley Cup series, the Oilers rout the Los Angeles Kings, 13-3, in Edmonton. Wayne Gretzky has a goal and six assists, tying Mikko Leinonen's 1982 playoff record, and Jari Kurri contributes four goals. The Oilers will go on to win the third of five Stanley Cups claimed by the franchise from 1984 through 1990.

Birthdays:
Ebbie Goodfellow b. 1907
Paul Arizin b. 1928
Nate Colbert b. 1946
Seve Ballesteros b. 1957
Olaf Kolzig b. 1970

Packers Fact:
On this date in 1898: Curly Lambeau was born (with the given name Earl) in Green Bay. Lambeau, who died at 67 in 1965, coached the Packers for their first 29 seasons in the NFL (1921-1949).

Guard Fuzzy Thurston's (1959-1967) given first name was Frederick.

ON BUT WE ALWAYS
USE COCKTAIL NAPKINS
TO NAVIGATE!

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Printed on a cocktail napkin showing a mini-map of Hilton Head, South Carolina:

NOT TO BE
USED FOR
NAVIGATION.

“Champions keep playing until they get it right.”

—BILLIE JEAN KING, American tennis player

CHANNELING DICKENS

Kate Atkinson follows the stunning success of two previous novels featuring P.I. Jackson Brodie with the best yet, a tightly knit web of interrelationships among thrice-married Brodie; Dr. Joanna Hunter; her husband, who may be in big trouble; her mommy’s helper, who is always in trouble; and the recently released convict who long ago murdered Joanna’s family. An alternative title might have been No Great Expectations, as Atkinson displays her Dickensian magic with spectacular coincidence and unforgettable characters.

WHEN WILL THERE BE GOOD NEWS? by Kate Atkinson (Anchor Canada, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/8/2011

4/8/1982:
The New York Rangers receive a stellar performance from an unexpected source in Game 2 of a first-round match against the Philadelphia Flyers when rookie Mikko Leinonen records six assists in a 7-3 win at Madison Square Garden. The six assists set a Stanley Cup playoff record that will be tied but not broken. Leinonen collected only 20 assists in 53 regular-season games in 1981-82 and will contribute only 5 in 19 more NHL playoff games with the Rangers and Washington Capitals.

Birthdays:
Sonja Henie b. 1912
John Havlicek b. 1940
Jim "Catfish" Hunter b. 1946
Gary Carter b. 1954
Ricky Bell b. 1955

Packers Fact:
In 29 NFL seasons as the Packers' coach beginning in 1921, Curly Lambeau compiled a record of 212-106-21.

ON MALL SIGNS, NOT NORMAL

---

ALL NORMAL!

NO SEX SCANDAL OF THE STAR,

NOT SUPERSTARS.

NO SEX SCANDAL OF THE BRAND,

NOT TOP BRAND.

sign outside a fashion boutique, China

“We should laugh before being happy, for fear of dying without having laughed.”

—JEAN DE LA BRUYÈRE, 17th-century French essayist

ROCK OF AGES

Caught in a long line with other tourists in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to view what turns out to be Plymouth Pebble, journalist Tony Horwitz suddenly realizes that he has a very tenuous grasp on America’s early history, and that his fellow T-shirt-wearing compatriots are equally in the dark. So he embarks on a voyage long and strange, to Florida, to Virginia, and into the writings of the conquistadors and explorers, to discover the real discovery of America.

“Full of vivid characters and wild detail.”—The New York Times

A VOYAGE LONG AND STRANGE: ON THE TRAIL OF VIKINGS, CONQUISTADORS, LOST COLONISTS, AND OTHER ADVENTURERS IN EARLY AMERICA, by Tony Horwitz (Henry Holt, 2008; Picador, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/7/2011

4/7/1977:
The Blue Jays play their first regular-season game, the first American League game staged outside the United States. Their opponents are the Chicago White Sox, and the contest is played in near-freezing temperatures and snow flurries at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. The Blue Jays win, 9-5, as the White Sox strand 19 men on base. Doug Ault contributes the first Toronto hit, home run, run scored and RBI on one swing with a first-inning solo homer.

Birthdays:
John McGraw b. 1873
Bobby Doerr b. 1918
Tony Dorsett b. 1954
Ricky Watters b. 1969
Ronde and Tiki Barber b. 1975

Packers Fact:
Defensive end Aaron Kampman led the Packers with 9.5 sacks in 2008. He topped the team for the third season in a row.

ON TEXANS, SO FAIR–MINDED

---

TEXANS SUPPORT DEATH PENALTY
BUT ONLY FOR THE GUILTY

headline for an editorial in the Houston Chronicle

“One man with courage makes a majority.”

—ANDREW JACKSON, U.S. president

THE NEW CLASSICS

The exquisite Roxana Robinson—novelist, art historian, editor of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Edith Wharton—gives us a novel at once poetic and completely realistic. At the center is Professor Julia Lambert, who has come to the family house in Maine during summer break to check in on her parents. All around her are satellites with different gravitational pulls—her early-Alzheimer’s mother; her acid-tongued father; her ex-husband, Wendell; her two sons, responsible Steven and heroin-addict Jack. The gathering emotional storm brings an intervention for Jack and some relief to the others. But no mere synopsis can capture the pleasure of reading Robinson’s prose.

COST, by Roxana Robinson (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008; Picador, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/6/2011

4/6/1973:
The New York Yankees' Ron Blomberg becomes the first designated hitter in major league history as he draws a walk from Luis Tiant in the first inning of a 15-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Orlando Cepeda is Boston's DH in the same game. Also on this date, during an 8-3 victory over the Athletics in Oakland, the Minnesota Twins' Tony Oliva becomes the first designated hitter to come through with a home run.

Birthdays:
Mickey Cochrane b. 1903
Ernie Lombardi b. 1908
Bert Blyleven b. 1957
Sterling Sharpe b. 1965
Bret Boone b. 1969

Packers Fact:
Guard Daryn Colledge entered 2009 having played in all 48 of the Packers' regular-season games his first three NFL seasons.

ON AND YOU ALSO MAKE YOUR OWN CLICHÉS

---

I don’t believe in no curses. You make your own destination.

outfielder Manny Rodriguez

DARKNESS REIGNS
AT THE FOOT OF
THE LIGHTHOUSE.

—Japanese proverb

HIDDEN GEMS AND MORE

Let paleontologist and enthusiast of curiosities take you on a guided tour through the cabinet of wonders that is London’s Natural History Museum. Not so much a study of that august institution but a loving, if expert, tribute to this major repository of gems, fossils, exotic plants, birds and their feathers, eggs, dinosaur bones, and on and on through the wonderful rooms and back rooms where other similar enthusiasts work and play.

“An idiosyncratic, endearing, and colorful journey.”—The Boston Globe

DRY STOREROOM NO. 1: THE SECRET LIFE OF THE NATURAL HISTORY MUSEUM, by Richard Fortey (Random House, 2008)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/5/2011

4/5/2007:
At the age of 102, Elsie McLean of Chico, California, becomes the oldest golfer to hit a hole-in-one on a regulation course. Her drive travels an estimated 100 yards on the par-3 fourth hole at the Bidwell Municipal Golf Course. Shortly before her 103rd birthday next November, Elsie will birdie the same hole. The previous record holder was Harold Stillson, who had a hole-in-one in 2001 at the Deerfield Country Club in Deerfield, Florida, at the age of 101.

Birthdays:
Doggie Julia b. 1901
Doug Favell b. 1945
Rennie Stennett b. 1951
Brad Van Pelt b. 1951
Ike Hilliard b. 1976

Packers Fact:

The Packers acquired Lynn Dickey in April of 1976 by sending two players and two draft choices to the Houston Oilers.

From Wiki on Dickey:
In 1976 he was packaged in a trade to the Green Bay Packers involving John Hadl.^[2] Dickey led the Packers to the playoffs in 1982. They defeated the St. Louis Cardinals in the wild card round after Dickey went 19 of 26 for 286 yards with 4 touchdowns and no interceptions for a 41-16 triumph.^[3] They were eliminated the following week by the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round after Dickey went 24 of 37 for 274 yards with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions as the team fell 37-26.^[4]

Perhaps the high point of Dickey's NFL career came in 1983 when he powered the Packers' offense to a then-team record 429 points.^[5][6] He threw for 4,458 yards, which remains a team record.^[7] Dickey also threw an NFL-best 32 touchdowns that season and was named second-team All-NFC behind Joe Theismann.^{[citation needed]} Dickey's Packers had beaten Theismann's Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins in a thrilling Monday Night Football game earlier that season (Washington kicker Mark Mosley missed a field goal in the closing seconds, preserving the Packers' 48-47 win).^[8] The game remains the highest aggregate score in MNF history.^[9] He threw for 4,458 yards, which remains a team record.^[10] Other Packers records that Dickey holds includes highest completion percentage in a game (90.48%), most passing yards in a game (418), and highest average gain in a season (9.21).^[11] Dickey retired from professional football after the 1985 season.^[12]

ON HOOTS, HOLY MAN!

---

Host: What country does the spiritual leader the Dalai Lama come from?

Contestant: Scotland.

from a segment on See Hear, BBC2 (UK)

“I sometimes try to be miserable that I may do more work.”

—WILLIAM BLAKE, 18th-century English poet

SWEPT AWAY

This European bestseller deserves to be a blockbuster here. In 1953, at the outset of the epic storm that will inundate 50,000 square acres in the Netherlands and claim many lives, two sisters innocently decide to trade places for an evening. The unmarried sister will attend a party in Amsterdam with the other’s husband; the mother will travel to see her goddaughter’s family in the south and west of Holland and never be seen again. Life gradually picks up, then gathers speed for those left in Amsterdam; for the traveler, time and space contract. The two points of view alternate in a storytelling tour de force.

THE STORM, by Margriet de Moor, translated from the Dutch by Carol Janeway (Knopf, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/4/2011

4/4/2001:
In his first game with the Boston Red Sox, Hideo Nomo pitches his second no-hitter for a 3-0 win over the Orioles at Camden Yards. It's also the first no-hitter by a Red Sox pitcher since Dave Morehead's on September 16, 1965. Nomo throws 110 pitches, walks 3 and strikes out 11. Second baseman Mike Lansing saves the no-hitter when he makes a tumbling backhand catch of Mike Bordick's soft looper for the second out of the ninth inning; two pitches later, Delino DeShields hits a routine fly ball to Troy O'Leary in right field for the final out. Homo's first no-hitter was with the Dodgers on September 17, 1996, against the Rockies at Coors Field.

Birthdays:
Tris Speaker b. 1888
Gil Hodges b. 1924
Dale Hawerchuk b. 1963
Scott Rolen b. 1975
Ben Gordon b. 1983

Packers Fact:
Former Packers quarterback Brett Favre and Colts quarterback Peyton Manning are the only three-time winners (entering 2009) of the Associated Press' NFL MVP award.

ON THE WHOLE TRUTH

---

Judge: Is there any reason you could not serve as a juror in this case?

Potential juror: I don’t want to be away from my job for that long.

Judge: Can’t they do without you at work?

Juror: Yes, but I don’t want them to know it.

actual comments taken from court records

“It is a general popular error to imagine the loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for its welfare.”

—EDMUND BURKE, British philosopher and statesman

NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE

Have you ever wondered what the creator of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was smoking? You must have, especially if you’ve read the books rather than relying on the movie versions, which are considerably sunnier and less hallucinatory than Baum’s original conceptions. Evan Schwartz ranges over the enormous and uniquely American influences on Baum—from his mother-in-law, a passionate feminist, to the mysticism of Madame Blavatsky, the hucksterism of P. T. Barnum, and the visions of Thomas Edison. Weird and wonderful.

FINDING OZ: HOW L. FRANK BAUM DISCOVERED THE GREAT AMERICAN STORY, by Evan Schwartz (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/3/2011

Future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, the designated hitter for the California Angels in 1986: "The only way I'm going to get a Gold Glove is with a can of spray paint."

Birthdays:
Bernie Parent b. 1945
Pervis Ellison b. 1967
Rodney Hampton b. 1969
Picabo Street b. 1971
Michael Olowokandi b. 1976

“This is not the end of everything. This is the beginning of everything.”

—RONALD REAGAN, U.S. president

ON GREAT MOMENTS
IN FILM DIALOGUE

---

Once they were men. Now they are land crabs.

dialogue from Attack of the Crab Monsters (1957)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/2/2011

4/2/2001:
The Seattle Mariners open the season with a 5-4 win over the Oakland Athletics at Safeco Field. They'll go on to post a record of 116-46, tying the mark for most regular-season wins established by the 1906 Cubs, who were 116-36. The Mariners won't reach the World Series, however, they'll lose the American League Championship Series to the New York Yankees, four games to one.

Birthdays:
Luke Appling b. 1907
Carmen Basillo b. 1927 (Wikipedia says he was born in July, so I dunno)
Dick Radatz b. 1937
Don Sutton b. 195
Linford Christie b. 1960

Packers Fact:
Defensive end Johnny Jolly blocked a field-goal try to jump-start a 36-17 victory over St. Louis in Week 3 of 2009. He swatted Josh Brown's 48-yard attempt on the game's first possession.

ON CAKE INGREDIENTS,
NOT THAT APPETIZING
TO US

---

Sugar, bleached whole wheat flour, soybean oil . . . salt, whole eggs, butt water, topped with coarse sugar

from an ingredients label on a cake (which was supposed to say “butter, water”)

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.”

—HELEN KELLER, American writer and lecturer

GIFT IDEA

“We had faces then,” Norma Desmond observed in Sunset Boulevard. And they did. You can see them in this great collection gathered from the Library of Congress—not only faces, but posters, movie stills, and promo materials. Peter Kobel uses it all to show us the history of the movie business from 1893 to 1927. The New York Daily News calls this book “the definitive visual history of silent film.”

SILENT MOVIES: THE BIRTH OF FILM AND THE TRIUMPH OF MOVIE CULTURE, by Peter Kobel (Little, Brown, 2007)

Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 4/1/2011

4/1/2001:
In an all-Indiana final, Notre Dame beats Purdue, 68-66, for the NCAA women's basketball championship. With 5.8 seconds remaining and the score tied at 66-66, 6'5" Ruth Riley sinks two free throws. With two seconds left, Katie Douglas of Purdue launches a 17-footer that bounces off the rim, and the Notre Dame lead stands. Riley, named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, ends up with 28 points, 13 rebounds and 7 blocked shots. The Irish finished the regular season ranked No. 2 to fellow Big East squad Connecticut but dispatched the Lady Huskies, 90-75, in the semifinals.

Birthdays:
Bo Schembechler b. 1929
Ron Perranoski b. 1936
Rusty Staub b. 1944
Norm Van Lier b. 1947
Scott Stevens b. 1964

Packers Fact:
Guard Daryn Colledge grew up in North Pole, Alaska, a town of a little more than 1,600 residents.

ON WE’RE THINKING OF ANOTHER
WORD TO DESCRIBE YOU

---

As far as politics go, you know, I’m smart. I know what’s going on in the world. I’m intellectual . . . Wait, is that how you say that word?

Contestant Shayne on The Bachelor

“Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.”

—“NUKE” LALOOSH (TIM ROBBINS) in Bull Durham; screenplay by Ron Shelton

A FOOL AND HIS DAUGHTERS

It’s April Fools’ Day. Put down that smart disquisition on China or Seamus Heaney’s profound lyrical poems or that critically acclaimed study of plants or Shakespeare’s tragic King Lear. This is the day to revel in folly, the day to pick up Christopher Moore’s manic, bawdy, grammar-challenging, irreverent retelling of old, crack-brained King Lear’s story from the point of view of his fool, Pocket. Delicious and literate fun, with lots of shagging thrown in.

FOOL, by Christopher Moore (HarperCollins, 2009)