Sports Fact & Book Rec of the Day 3/12-13/2012

3/12/1956:
At Madison Square Garden, unranked Canisius stuns second-ranked North Carolina State, 79-78, in four overtimes in the first round of the NCAA basketball tournament. The score is 65-65 at the end of regulation, 69-69 at the close of the first overtime, and 71-71 after two extra periods. Neither team scores in the third overtime. North Carolina State takes a 78-77 lead with 30 seconds remaining in the fourth OT, and Canisius plays for a final shot. The game-winner is a jumper by Fran ("The Fireman") Corcoran, a senior from Philadelphia, with four seconds left. It is Corcoran's only field goal of the game. Canisius will defeat Dartmouth, 66-58, in the second round before losing 60-58 to Temple in the East Regional final. The four overtimes in the Canisius-North Carolina State match-up sets an NCAA tourney record. It will be matched in 1961 when St. Joseph's (Penna.) beats Utah 127-120.

Birthdays:
Bronco Horvath b. 1930
Johnny Rutherford b. 1938
Darryl Strawberry b. 1962
Steve Finley b. 1965
Raul Mondesi b. 1971

3/13/1982:
Sixteen-year-old Elain Zayak of Paramus, New Jersey, rallies from seventh place to win the World Figure Skating Championship in Copenhagen, Denmark. Zayak's chances of winning seemed doomed when she fell to seventh in yesterday's short program, but tonight's program counts for 50 percent of the scoring, and the judges are duly impressed when she successfully lands seven triple jumps. Her performance leads to the creation of the "Zayak rule," passed by the 1982 International Skating Union Congress, introducing a scoring system that places less emphasis on jumps and more on a skater's variety of skills. Zayak will never win another major championship.

Birthdays:
Ordell Braase b. 1932
Joe Bellino b. 1938
Will Clark b. 1964
Thomas Enqvist b. 1974
Johan Santana b. 1979

INTO THE WILD

Seth Kantner, the son of hippies from Ohio, was born in an igloo—and into a changing way of life in a fragile ecosystem. His riveting first novel is about Cutuk, who moves from the Alaskan tundra to Anchorage and experiences a megawatt jolt of culture shock. Gorgeous writing and a strong plot make this coming-of-age tale a pick for fans of Barbara Kingsolver, Sherman Alexie, and Jack London.
     If you crave more, read Kantner’s memoir, Shopping for Porcupine: A Life in Rural Alaska (Milkweed, 2009).

ORDINARY WOLVES, by Seth Kantner (Milkweed, 2005)

INCENTIVIZE THIS!

In the old days, economics was about money. Now it’s more likely to be about baby names, crime rates, or swimming-pool accidents. Tyler Cowen keeps the entertainment factor high, addressing topics such as art collecting, eating well, and dating. The book boils down to incentives: If you know what motivates someone, you can control him. “Fast, furious, and fun,” promises Stephen J. Dubner, coauthor of Freakonomics.

DISCOVER YOUR INNER ECONOMIST: USE INCENTIVES TO FALL IN LOVE, SURVIVE YOUR NEXT MEETING, AND MOTIVATE YOUR DENTIST, by Tyler Cowen (Plume, 2008)