Trotting to Tel Aviv

October 13, 2008 - 11:30 AM by Harry · 2 Comments
Filed under: General, Sports

With a Jewish founder (in 1926, Abe Saperstein first organized the team in Chicago, naming it after a New York neighborhood known for its African American populace) and even a Jewish honorary team member (Middle East diplomacy mastermind Henry Kissinger – for real), the relationship between the Harlem Globetrotters and Israel seems to be one that was made to be. Of course, Israelis’ love of the hoops helps to solidify it.

Tomorrow night, the Harlem Globetrotters return to compete – no, to perform – in Israel for the first time in 18 years, as part of an international tour that will bring them to their 120th country, including shows in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to their official schedule, the team’s “regular season” begins at the end of December, when they’ll be traversing the American Midwest and Southwest, amazingly playing in two cities during many time slots. The schedule doesn’t specify who the opponents will be.

But for now, they’re gearing up for gigs in Mexico and Turkey – and, tomorrow night and Thursday, at Tel Aviv’s Nokia Arena.

The Jerusalem Post recently previewed the upcoming local appearances:

“We are ambassadors of good will and it means the world to us to have the opportunity to be Globetrotters,” coach Clyde Sinclair, now in his 20th season with the Globetrotters’ organization, told The Jerusalem Post.

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Tags: Abe Saperstein, basketball, Clyde Sinclair, Harlem Globetrotters, Henry Kissinger, hoops, Mexico, Nokia Arena, Tel Aviv, turkey

Slow and steady gold

August 1, 2008 - 8:38 AM by Harry · 2 Comments
Filed under: Sports

Despite the numerous European championships won by Maccabi Tel Aviv, Israelis aren’t exactly known for their athletic accomplishments. At the most recent summer Olympic games in Athens four years ago, windsurfer Gal Fridman won Israel his first gold medal after 52 years of attempts.

The Beijing games are set to kick off in a matter of days now, and we’re dead set on picking our battles. One blogger astutely points out that we dominated the celebrations at July’s Mathematics Olympics in Madrid.

And we can always look back fondly at the accomplishments of the Ramat Gan Safari’s Tortoise Olympics, where a new world Sudanese giant tortoise speed record of one kilometer per hour was set, triggering wild celebrations involving flowered wreaths and enthusiastic monkeys.

The old parable about the tortoise and the hare earns added poignancy in this context. And besides, let’s not forget that Israel is a place that has much love for turtles, operating a very special sanctuary dedicated to the creatures in Michmoret – just a few hours by turtleback from Gal Fridman’s hometown of Hadera.

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