Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 1/3/2012

1/3/2003:
In the BCS championship game at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona, Ohio State edges Miami of Florida, 31-24, in double overtime. The Buckeye victory ends Miami's 34-game winning streak and their hopes of a second straight national title. The Hurricanes tie the score at 17-17 on a 40-yard field goal from Todd Sievers on the last play of regulation. Tight end Kellen Winslow II catches a seven-yard TD pass from Ken Dorsey on fourth down in the first overtime for a 24-17 Miami lead. On the ensuing Ohio State possession, quarterback Craig Krenzel converts a fourth-and-14 play, but faces another fourth down at the five. The Hurricanes are called for a controversial pass interference penalty on the play, and three plays later Krenzel scores on a one-yard run to tie the game at 24-24. In the second OT, running back Maurice Clarett crosses the goal line for Ohio State and Miami is stopped at the one-yard line.

Birthdays:
Hank Stram b. 1923.
Bobby Hull b. 1939
Darren Daulton b. 1962
Jim Everett b. 1962
Cheryl Miller b. 1964

A LIFE

In this surprisingly entertaining biography of Samuel Pepys, Restoration England’s foremost diarist, author Claire Tomalin plops you in a time machine and whirls you off to mid-1600s London. You’ll walk the cobblestones, breathe the smoke of the Great Fire, lift tankards in the taverns … Tomalin’s scholarship, writing, and observations are unparalleled. How can a book this rollicking make you feel so smart?
     If you want more, get it from the horse’s mouth with The Diary of Samuel Pepys (Modern Library, 2001).

SAMUEL PEPYS: THE UNEQUALLED SELF, by Claire Tomalin (Vintage, 2003)