Mazel Tov to the Hall of Fame Inductees

The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame held an induction ceremony over the weekend, inducting seven new honorees, whose exploits ranged from the broadcast desk at SportsCenter to Olympic gold and even to the courtroom. Yes, it was a mighty diverse lot. The seven honorees for this year consisted of 2 women and 5 men. Before we get to the honorees, go ahead, admit it - you didn't think there was such a thing as a Jewish Sports Hall of Fame now did you? It's not only real, but has a very impressive list of inductees compiled over the course of seventeen years.

The two women, both still active and inspirational, are Linda Cohn of SportsCenter fame and the "Grandma" of the Beijing US Olympic swim team, the incomparable Dara Torres. The five men were sportswriter Dick Schaap (posthumously), former New England Patriot linebacker Andre Tippett, former Baltimore Colts trainer Ed Block, Olympic weightlifter Gary Gubner and trailblazing executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association Marvin Miller.

Jake and the Iditarod

or what's a nice Jewish boy doing all the way up in here in the cold with a team of dogs going nowhere? What am I supposed to say, my son the musher? Jake Berkowitz, a 22 year old dog sled racer, originally from St. Paul, Minnesota, just completed in his second Iditarod, placing 31st out of 67 and the only one who finished with all 18 of his dogs. How did he get here and what should we expect from him in the future?

It was a bit of a roundabout journey to Alaska as you might guess. It took Jake from Talmud Torah in St. Paul to Israel to white water canoeing in Colorado and then a winter job in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan guiding dog sled trips. The company he was working for in Michigan, Nature's Kennel, asked him to run in the Iditarod and after competing once he was hooked. So he moved to Alaska and the rest is history.

Look for Jake in next year's race as his dogs should all be back with an additional year of training and experience. As Jake has said, his goal is a top ten finish. I don't if that would be a record for a Jewish dog sled racer, but I was hazard a guess that it just might be.

Cross-posted to SportsBiz

Major League Baseball Opening Day Rosters

As we near the end of the opening week of Major League Baseball, it's time to check in and see who made the opening day rosters. This year, the list of SportsYids fave ballplayers are:

• Brad Ausmus, C, Los Angeles, Dodgers
• Ryan Braun, Milwaukee Brewers
• Craig Breslow, P, Minnesota Twins
• Scott Feldman, P, Texas Rangers
• John Grabow, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Gabe Kapler, OF, Tampa Bay Rays
• Ian Kinsler, 2B, Texas Rangers
• Jason Marquis, P, Colorado Rockies
• Scott Schoeneweis, P, Arizona Diamondbacks
• Kevin Youkilis, 1B, Boston Red Sox

You'll note that we now have a minyan, if they ever get together in one place.

HT to Kaplan's Korner (which has also been added to the blogroll, as have a couple of others)

Another Coach in the Tribe

With the relatively unexpeccted move of John Calipari to Kentucky, (unexpected by those of us who have watched Kentucky's boneheaded athletic director; Calipari had once said he would crawl to Lexington on his hands and knees for the job), the opening in Memphis was filled by a Calipari assistant, uber recruiter Josh Pastner. Pastner, only 31, is a protege of retired Arizona coach Lute Olson and is the latest MOT to join the college baskteball coaching ranks, joining such other BCS conference notables as Jim Boeheim at Syracuse and Seth Greenberg at Virginia Tech.