Being a Jewish athlete isn’t all about getting picked last or not at all for the basketball game, but if that is the case, what great irony this world brings.
Some of the world’s most famous athletes, coaches and sports minds, past and present, have been Jewish.
If it’s Olympic medals that impress you, does Mark Spitz’s name ring a bell?
How about the hero of the 1996 U.S. gymnastics team, Kerri Strug?
Sarah Hughes won the figure skating gold medal in the 2002 winter Olympics, and 2006 gold medal hopeful Sasha Cohen just finished winning the 2006 U.S. championships.
If Olympic sports don’t suit you, how about the successes of tennis legend Pete Sampras? Some consider Sampras to be the best tennis player of all time. Sampras has won the player of the year award more times than anyone else in history, and has finished the year as the highest ranked tennis player more than anyone. His 14 grand slam singles titles are also the most by any player.
David Beckham is not only the most rich and famous soccer player of our time, but has his posters hanging on the walls of ladies around the world.
Now that it is well established that Jews are the best swimmers, soccer and tennis players of all time, what about baseball, football and basketball?
Well, Sandy Koufax was a pretty good pitcher. Koufax won the National League MVP, was a World Series MVP twice, and won the most coveted award for pitchers — the Cy Young — three times. Koufax finished with a career ERA under 3.00 and now has a plaque resting in the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest pitchers ever to play.
Lou Boudreau is in the Hall of Fame, also. Boudreau won the AL MVP, was an eight-time All-Star, and was a basketball All-American for the University of Illinois.
In football there’s Al Davis, Jay Fiedler, Sage Rosenfels and Maryland punter Adam Podlesh. OK, so football’s not our best sport — you can’t be good at everything.
Moving on.
With nine championship rings, including eight straight from 1959 to 1966, Red Auerbach has won 938 basketball games in his coaching career. Auerbach coached the All-Star team for 11 straight years, and has been voted the greatest NBA coach of all time on more than one occasion.
Larry Brown recently became the fourth winningest coach ever and has more than 1,000 career wins. He is the only coach to win both an NBA title and a college championship. Brown was selected to coach the Olympic team in 2004 and holds the NBA record for most career assists.
The North Carolina record holder for most points per game in a career does not belong to Michael Jordan, Antawn Jamison or Rashad McCants. That record, along with many others, belongs to Jewish star Lennie Rosenbluth. Art Heyman still holds the Duke record for most points per game in a career, was named player of the year and was the first pick in the NBA draft.
More recently, preseason All-American candidate Jordan Farmar is leading injury-plagued UCLA to a top-20 ranking. He averages six assists per game, which is among the best in the nation.
So next time you go to the gym and see the Jewish kid waiting on the sideline for the next game because you did not choose the “chosen one,” just realize the irony. David Stern is the one that will announce the picking that matters for many who have NBA dreams. Without hearing your name from the mouth of this Jewish commissioner’s mouth, it is you who will be sitting on the sideline of your dreams.
And if you are still not persuaded that Jewish athletes are among the most celebrated in sports history, maybe a little more “creative” persuasion is needed. We’ll just send former welterweight champion of the world Zab “Super” Judah to have a conversation with you. You can tell him otherwise.
