Video: 'Palestinians' try to provoke fight at Maccabi Tel Aviv celebration
Israelis in London took to the streets to celebrate on Sunday night after Maccabi Tel Aviv won the Euroleague Basketball Championship.
And 'Palestinians' took to the street to try to provoke a fight.
Let's go to the videotape.
But give them a state and they'll develop an identity other than trying to destroy Israel.
/sarc
Labels: Israeli basketball, London, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Palestinian people
Omri Caspi is coming home
You have to wonder why he waited this long (apparently there were some tax issues), but with the NBA season about to be wiped out by a labor dispute, Sacramento Kings forward Omri Caspi (pictured here with a group of Bnei Akiva kids in Denver) has signed a deal to
come home in January and play for Maccabi Tel Aviv if the NBA season is wiped out.
"Maccabi and I have signed the contract and I'm as happy as can be to be returning home," Casspi wrote on his Facebook page. "I'm so excited to be coming back home, to my family and the best fans in the world."
"I will be coming in January assuming the NBA season is canceled. The reason I will only be arriving in January is because I don't want Maccabi to suffer from having two players leaving the team at once should there eventually be an NBA season."
The chances of the entire 2011/12 NBA season being canceled significantly increased on Monday after the NBA players union rejected the latest deal offered by owners and announced that it will file an antitrust lawsuit against the league.
Casspi, who was drafted by the Sacramento Kings two years ago, was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers at the end of last season. He has not yet played for the team due to the labor dispute.
Maccabi has already benefited from the lockout, during which a number of NBA players have signed temporary contracts to come play for European teams.
Maccabi's roster has been bolstered by two-time NBA champion point guard Jordan Farmar.
Farmar, who is Jewish, was playing for the New Jersey Nets until he landed in Tel Aviv as a result of the lockout.
Welcome home Omri. You have a much better chance of winning a championship with Maccabi than you had with Cleveland.
Labels: Maccabi Tel Aviv, NBA strike, Omri Caspi
They should stick to sports
As some of you may have picked up by the fact that I still root fanatically for Boston's sports teams nearly 40 years after I moved out of this town, Boston is a fanatical sports town. In this town, the key scores are always on the front page of the paper, and when the season nears the end, the sports stories are on the front page as well. If you don't believe me, go look at the local news sites.
ESPN was the first all-sports network (in fact, it stands for Entirely Sports Programming Network) and when it started local flavors, Boston was one of the first cities picked up.
But while Boston's local media knows a lot about sports and not enough about other things (like Israel), ESPN knows everything about sports and
nothing about other things.
ESPN should stick to sports.
Labels: ESPN, Istanbul, Maccabi Tel Aviv, Mavi Marmara, Turkish obsession with Israel
Maccabi Tel Aviv playing in Turkey
A lot of people are worried - really worried - about Maccabi Tel Aviv's soccer match (they insist on calling it 'football') in the Istanbul suburb of Besiktas on Thursday evening. The players were met at the airport by 2,500 policemen, the team has hired an additional security company and has asked UEFA - the European Football Federation - to send a representative, and Israeli fans who insisted on
violating the National Security Council directive by going to the game have been told not to wear the Maccabi yellow and blue to the stadium.
Maccabi will be escorted by police throughout its 48-hour stay in Turkey, but its management decided to leave nothing to chance and also hired a private security company, as well as requesting UEFA to send a representative to oversee safety matters.
Players have been told that they will only be allowed to leave the team hotel for training sessions and the match itself, and fans, who decided to follow the team despite the National Security Council's warnings, were requested to take off shirts identifying them as supporters of the yellow-and-blue.
"We are not interested in politics," Maccabi coach Moti Ivanir told Turkish media upon the team's arrival in Istanbul. "We are here to play soccer. We have been here before and we are expecting everything to be the same. We are not scared of anyone and we are not concerned anything will happen to us." Maccabi players were not allowed to speak to media ahead of the match, but one player said: "It is very strange to be traveling to a match abroad with no one talking about soccer. Clearly we would have preferred that the situation would be more calm, but it shouldn't effect our play on the field."
Besiktas has put the following
announcement on their web site.
As you all know, we are to open our Europa League campaign with a home game against Maccabi Tel Aviv on Thursday, September 15 at 20:00. In light of recent political developments, the eyes of UEFA and international football community will be strongly focused on this event. However, despite the critical nature of this match, we see it as a good opportunity to show the world Beşiktaş JK’s traditional hospitality and sportsmanship sprit, which we are known for. We must also not engage in any activity that will send the wrong message.
Negative comments circulating in the social media such as enticing you onto the pitch before and during game are being closely monitored by the Istanbul Police Department as it has fully committed to not turn this match into anything other than a simple football event. Besides, as a true supporter of this great club, we expect you to avoid all types of unacceptable behaviour that could lead to disciplinary action by the UEFA. Also remember, politics and sports are two separate entities that should not be mixed. Just concentrate on your own team, help the security forces, who has taken all the necessary measures, and enjoy your game.
For your urgent consideration,
Beşiktaş JK
Players on Maccabi Tel Aviv who are currently serving in the IDF have been
barred from traveling to the game.
In 2006, a Paris St. Germain soccer fan was
shot by a police officer in a brawl following a game that the Parisian team lost to HaPoel Tel Aviv. The officer was trying to protect HaPoel fans who had been set upon by PSG fans.
In 2007, there was
violence at a HaPoel Tel Aviv soccer game with Bosnia's Široki Brijeg.
Two weeks later, a diplomatic incident was averted when Turkish television (those were the days) decided not to show
Israeli soccer fans singing songs about Mohamed during a trip to a game in Turkey.
The Red Sox play the Yankees in the Bronx next weekend. I'd much rather be there.
Labels: Besiktas JK, Maccabi Tel Aviv, soccer, Turkish soccer fans, UEFA
