TRIVIA TIME….I have two mega-trivial (or is that micro-trivial?) questions weighing on me. Can anyone help me out?

  1. Marian and I just saw the movie Fever Pitch, which is allegedly based on Nick Hornby’s book of the same name. But here’s the thing: I read the book a few years ago, and as far as I can tell the movie and the book have nothing in common. That is, both are based on men with a lifelong sports obsession (Red Sox baseball in the movie, Arsenal soccer in the book), but aside from that general theme they share no other characters, no plot points, no dialog, no nothing. Question: do I just have a bad memory? Can anyone else who’s seen the movie and read the book either confirm or deny a closer relationship between them that I missed?

  2. Brad Plumer wrote a post on free trade yesterday, the substance of which I don’t intend to engage. However, it’s titled “I Heart Hawley-Smoot,” and he links to several items that also refer to Hawley-Smoot. But I’ve never heard this treaty law referred to this way. It’s always been Smoot-Hawley. Am I imagining things? Or did historians change the convention on this at some point between the late 70s, when I attended college, and the early oughts, when Brad did? Or what?

That is all. You may now return to your normal business.

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