Sunday, May 27, 2007
Haveil Havalim #118
Haveil Havalim #118, the weekly Carnival of Jewish Blogging, is now up at Esser Agaroth, who has done a masterful job of collecting, organizing and presenting this week's Carnival. Get over there and check it out!!
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Israeli Hoops Ambassador to the WNBA
A 5 foot 9 inch teenager from a Tel Aviv suburb is armed witih a dream, to play professional basketball in the United States. Her parents are supportive, as many parents are around the world, only these parents, athletes themselves, have a good idea of what it takes to make it as a professional athlete and know that to beat the odds it will help if their daughter goes to college in the US. So, to increase the odds of getting a scholarship, the family picks up and moves to Long Island and Shay Doron enrolls at a Catholic high school which has produced Chamique Hosclaw and Sue Bird, becoming the only Jewish student at her school.
Flash forward two years and Doron enrolls at Maryland, a program rebuilding. Before she leaves, Doron leads the Terps to the national championship. Last month, at the WNBA draft, she waits, watches as the first round goes by and her name is not called. The second round comes and as the New York Liberty's, her "hometown" team, turn rolls around, the team's Vice President of Player Personnel is staring at her as she makes picks Doron. Shay's childhood dream comes true; she is the only Israeli in the WNBA.
Doron is not just any 5'9" guard, however. “She has the skills and mentality to play in this league, absolutely,” Liberty Coach Pat Coyle said. “Every day she competes. This is her life. This is her dream. She won’t be satisfied until she’s starting and is an impact player. I can’t ever see that kid not working.”
However, what really separates Doron is that she sees herself as an ambassador for Israel. She is not serving in the Israeli Defense Force since she has been living outside the country but sees herself as serving the country as a roving ambassador. She encourages everyone she meets to visit Israel and perhaps even move there. She anticipates using the "fame" associated with being a WNBA player as a platform to educate more people about the situation Israel finds itself in every day and the lives Israelis are living, as well as the good things that are going on inside the country. Playing in the world's media capital can only help, as this New York Times article proves.
Flash forward two years and Doron enrolls at Maryland, a program rebuilding. Before she leaves, Doron leads the Terps to the national championship. Last month, at the WNBA draft, she waits, watches as the first round goes by and her name is not called. The second round comes and as the New York Liberty's, her "hometown" team, turn rolls around, the team's Vice President of Player Personnel is staring at her as she makes picks Doron. Shay's childhood dream comes true; she is the only Israeli in the WNBA.
Doron is not just any 5'9" guard, however. “She has the skills and mentality to play in this league, absolutely,” Liberty Coach Pat Coyle said. “Every day she competes. This is her life. This is her dream. She won’t be satisfied until she’s starting and is an impact player. I can’t ever see that kid not working.”
However, what really separates Doron is that she sees herself as an ambassador for Israel. She is not serving in the Israeli Defense Force since she has been living outside the country but sees herself as serving the country as a roving ambassador. She encourages everyone she meets to visit Israel and perhaps even move there. She anticipates using the "fame" associated with being a WNBA player as a platform to educate more people about the situation Israel finds itself in every day and the lives Israelis are living, as well as the good things that are going on inside the country. Playing in the world's media capital can only help, as this New York Times article proves.
Sunday, May 06, 2007
Haveil Havalim #115
Haveil Havalim #115, the Carnival of Jewish Bloggers, is now up at Barbara's Tchatzkah's. This week's edition featured my post on the Benjamin Rubin, the Orthodox Major Junior hockey player in Quebec and a post on the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame inductees among the other interesting and informative items.
Saturday, May 05, 2007
An Athlete's Dilemma
Benjamin Rubin is an excellent 18 year old hockey player. In fact, he is one of the best young hockey players in Quebec. How do I know this? His coach, legendary goalie Patrick Roy of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey Club Quebec Remparts said so - told him he had the talent to possibly make it to the NHL. There is only one problem - Benjamin is Orthodox, and won't play or practice on Shabbat. As this article points out, it may mean the end of the Benjamin's NHL dream, as the Ramparts won't have him back and the Canadiens have backed off from drafting him. It will be very interesting to see if anyone drafts him or is willing to sign him to even a minor league contract. If he makes the NHL, Rubin would be the first known Orthodox athlete to play a major league sport in North America, or, for that matter, Israel, as Tamir Goodman, the only Orthodox athlete in Israeli professional sports is currently playing for a basketball team in the league below the Israeli Premier League
Jewish Sports Hall of Fame Inductees
Yes, there is a Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and there are more than a dozen people enshrined there. In fact, this year's class of inductees is an even dozen, inducted at a ceremony held just this past April 29. Among the members of the class are swimming legend Mark Spitz, high jumper Dwight Stones, UNC basketball legend Lennie Rosenbluth, broadcasting legend Howard Cossell and current broadcaster Bonnie Bernstein. I don't know about you but I'm a little surprised it took this long for Spitz and Cossell, especially Spitz. I mean what does a Jewish athlete have to do that he didn't do? If you have forgotten what he did, take a look at this video and see for yourself:
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