Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 2/28-3/1/2012

2/28/1990:
The Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings play a penalty-filled match at the Forum. The game is suspended with 3:32 left in the second period as officials send the teams to the locker room in an attempt to restore order. With 41 seconds left in the contest, and the Kings leading 4-2, fights break out all over the ice. By the time the tilt comes to a merciful end, records are set for most penalties assessed to two teams (85) and to one team (44 to Edmonton). The penalties include 15 for fighting and another 21 for roughing. Kings right wing Tomas Sandstrom suffers a broken cheekbone following a punch-out with the Oilers's Glenn Anderson. Fans are incensed by the display, and shower the rink with debris.

Birthdays:
Hayden Fry b. 1929
Frank Malzone b. 1930
Mario Andretti b. 1940
Bubbba Smith b. 1945
Ickey Woods b. 1966

2/29/1964:
Cincinnati Royals rookie Jerry Lucas becomes the only forward in NBA history to nab 40 rebounds in a game, leading his club to a 117-114 win over the 76ers at Conventional Hall in Philadelphia. In 1965-66, Lucas will average 21.1 rebounds per game. Only Wilt Chamberlain and Bill Russell have ever averaged more rebounds in a single season than Lucas.

Birthdays:
Pepper Martin b. 1904
Al Rosen b. 1924
Henri Richard b. 1936
Steve Mingori b. 1944
Vonteego Cummings b. 1976

3/1/1954:
Only 60 seconds into the first day of spring training for the Boston Red Sox in Sarasota, Ted Williams takes a tumble in the outfield and breaks his left collarbone while chasing down a low liner hit from Hoot Evers. Realizing he can't get to the ball, Williams starts to slow down. Suddenly he trips, falls forward, and lands heavily on his left shoulder. Physicians say that Ted's muscles are so strong they pulled the collarbone apart. Ironically, Williams flew 39 combat missions as a pilot in the Marine Air Corps during the Korean War in 1952 and '53 and escaped without a scratch. He won't play in a game in 1954 until May 15, and will finish the season with a .345 batting average and 29 home runs.

Birthdays:
Harry Caray b. 1914
Pete Rozelle b. 1926
Elvin Bethea b. 1946
Mike Rozier b. 1961
Chris Webber b. 1973

SOCIAL HISTORY

Next time you’re relaxing after a yoga session, meditate on this: Yoga took hold in the U.S. thanks to a brash businessman named Pierre Bernard, “the first American yogi,” who hailed from Iowa, learned his trade via Calcutta, and never looked back as he cut a swath through the Jazz Age with his Tantrik Order. It’s a quintessentially American rags-to-riches tale that The Wall Street Journal dubbed “rollicking.” Namaste, Bernard!

THE GREAT OOM: THE IMPROBABLE BIRTH OF YOGA IN AMERICA, by Robert Love (Viking, 2010)

MEMORABLE MEMOIR

“Before leaving for Buenos Aires, I had cried to my friend Alan, ‘Tango wrecked my life!’ He firmly replied, ‘Tango will save your life.’ Somehow, I think we both were right.”
While Elizabeth Gilbert ate, prayed, and loved away her heartbreak, Camille Cusumano danced away hers on a transformative journey to Argentina. Passionate, colorful, and liberating, Tango the book is everything the dance promises.

TANGO: AN ARGENTINE LOVE STORY, by Camille Cusumano (Seal Press, 2008)

FIRST-RATE FICTION

A sweet, funny comedy of manners. Major Pettigrew is a proper widowed English pensioner who has developed a crush on his pretty Pakistani neighbor. Tradition and propriety forbid this relationship. So will he or won’t he? English country life has rarely been as charming and happy as it is in this clever, atmospheric read. “Funny, barbed, delightfully winsome storytelling,” trumpets The New York Times.

MAJOR PETTIGREW’S LAST STAND, by Helen Simonson (Random House, 2010)