Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/7-9/2012

2/7/2010:
Four years after Hurricane Katrina, the New Orleans Saints celebrate a Super Bowl win over the Indianapolis Colts, 3-17, in Miami. The underdog Saints fall behind 10-0 in the first quarter before two second period field goals make the score 10-6. New Orleans coach Sean Payton has a surprise in store on the second half kickoff; a successful onside kick. The Saints drive for a touchdown, add another field goal for a 13-10 lead, and then fall behind 17-16. But a two-yard pass from Drew Brees to tight end Jeremy Shockey and a to-point conversion put the Saints back on top, 24-17. The Colts march for a game-tying TD when cornerback Tracy Porter returns an interception 74 yards for a score. Brees has 32 completions in 39 attempts for 288 yards, two TDs, and no interceptions.

Birthdays:
Dan Quisenberry b. 1953
Carney Lansford b. 1957
Rick Neuheisel b. 1961
Juwan Howard b. 1973
Steve Nash b. 1974

2/81/942:
A baseball game between major leaguers and convicts at California's Folsom Prison is stopped when it's discovered that two prisoners, serving life sentences, have escaped. The pros lead 24-5 at the end of the seventh inning when the guards go after the pair of escapees, who are found two hours later. The major leaguers in attendance include Ernie Bonham, Gus Suhr, Joe Marty, Johnny Babich, and future Hall of Famer Ernie Lombardi.

Birthdays:
Joe Black b. 1924
Clete Boyer b. 1937
Marques Johnson b. 1956
Dino Ciccarelli b. 1960
Alonzo Mourning b. 1970

2/9/1992:
Magic Johnson comes out of retirement to shine in the NBA All-Star Game at the Orlando Arena. Johnson announced his retirement on November 7, 1991, after testing positive for HIV. Johnson is elected as a starter for the Western Conference in a vote of the fans. Many players argue that Johnson should not play because they would be at risk if he suffers an open cut during the game. Johnson shakes off the criticism and leads the West to a 153-113 victory with 29 points, nine assists, and five rebounds. He ends the game with a three-pointer, and players from both teams rush the court to congratulate the MVP. Magic won't play in an NBA game again for four years. He will appear in 32 contests for the Lakers near the end of the 1995-96 season before retiring for good.

Birthdays:
Dit Clapper b. 1907
Phil Ford b. 1956
Mookie Wilson b. 1956
Vladimir Guerrero b. 1976
Jameer Nelson b. 1982

A LIFE

Julia Child used to tell young chefs, when they tried to impress her with over-the-top food, to simplify and focus on the basics. That approach works for biography, too, as this slender volume illustrates. You can find a Julia biography with more facts and dates, but you won’t find another that captures the true essence of the French Chef—and her marriage and her remarkable late-blooming food career—with as much panache.

JULIA CHILD, by Laura Shapiro (Penguin, 2009)

WHODUNIT

Secretive and brilliant architect Nicholas Dyer is commissioned to build seven new churches in the aftermath of London’s Great Fire. Nearly 300 years later, Detective Nicholas Hawksmoor (another Nicholas!) realizes that a series of murders is linked by those church sites. Part ghost story, part metaphysical meditation, entirely enthralling.

HAWKSMOOR, by Peter Ackroyd (Penguin, 1993)

A LA MODE

This provocative book takes Brillat-Savarin’s famous maxim in another direction: “Tell me what you wear and I’ll tell you who you are.” Journalist and award-winning novelist Linda Grant has crafted a meditation on the pleasure of clothing, weaving intimate links between what we put on our bodies and what our deepest psyches hold. Whether you’re a dedicated follower of fashion or one who spurns such shallow pursuits, there’s no avoiding the fact that clothes do, indeed, make the (wo)man.

THE THOUGHTFUL DRESSER: THE ART OF ADORNMENT, THE PLEASURES OF SHOPPING, AND WHY CLOTHES MATTER, by Linda Grant (Scribner, 2010)