Israel Matzav

They call this an Olympics?

Haaretz complains about an hour-long delay at the start of the half marathon to accommodate a wedding at the Maccabiah village (which is also used as a hotel, business center and wedding venue).

According to the runner, who cited a friend close to the organizing committee, the couple getting married insisted the roads in the area remain open to allow guests easy access.

The venue's management said it hadn't heard of the unusual heat that supposedly warranted a delay. The real reason for the postponement, it said, was to allow "guests and athletes to leave the village at that time." The decision was made following a discussion with the municipality.

"It was a bit of a crisis," said Rami Levy, the head of the athletics department at the Ramat Gan municipality, which is involved in planning races that pass through the city. Levy also confirmed the runner's account.

"The police got involved at one point. Listen, postponing a wedding is a big deal," he added.
The police said in response that they were "aware of the wedding and are preparing accordingly."

This is yet another testament to the unprofessional manner in which the Maccabiah has been organized. Some of the 9,000 athletes who arrived in Israel for the "Jewish Olympics" were left without accommodations, while others were struggling to find transportation to the sporting events.

"Many people are disappointed by this whole thing," said Kobi Tzvila, another participant in the half marathon. "Some people will start running at 9:20 P.M. and finish the race at midnight.

"These are regular people who have to be at work tomorrow," he added. "Who can even conceive of holding a race at that hour?"

If correct, the complaint about lack of accommodations is legitimate. And certainly you shouldn't change the starting time of events unnecessarily. But starting a half marathon at 9:20 and finishing at midnight? If you're that slow, you don't belong in the Jewish or any other Olympics.

I was far from being a professional runner (my Marathon best was 3:24:22 while the top male runners are in the 2:10 - 2:15 range), and my half marathon best was 1:31. If you can't finish a half marathon in less than 2:40, you don't belong in any Olympics.

Labels: Maccabiah, Marathon, wedding party

Oh my! US loses first ever baseball game at Maccabiah... to Israel!

There is no joy in Mudville. Mighty Casey has struck out.

For the first time ever in the Maccabiah - the Jewish Olympics - the United States has lost a baseball game. They lost 5-3 on Tuesday. To Israel. That's right. To Israel (Hat Tip: Sunlight).

The defeat was the first suffered by Maccabi USA’s baseball or softball teams at the Israel-hosted, quadrennial Maccabiah games. It was even more of an upset because the US dominated the first match between the countries, smashing Israel 15-1 on Friday. On Sunday, Israel lost again, to Canada, 7-4. (That same day, the US junior team hammered Canada 12-0, pitching the first no-hitter in Maccabiah history.)

Gottlieb said that while Israel’s baseball association has been around for 20 years, it only started to focus on building national teams in the past seven years.

The team that gathered for the Maccabiah, Gottlieb said, was assembled over a year ago, and trained at least twice –and sometimes five times — a week leading up to the games. Players threw, hit and ran at the Baptist Village stadium in Petah Tikvah, which is hosting the three-country baseball tournament at this Maccabiah.

The Israeli players, the assistant coach added, had already competed together in tournaments across Europe. “Having that tournament mentality helped us overcome” the defeat in the first two games, he said. “The players knew how to say ‘OK, I lost a game, let’s move on’.”

Wow.

Labels: Maccabiah

Mercy rule? American teen throws first no-hitter in Maccabiah history

Ben Feinman, a recent graduate of West Broward High School in Florida, threw the first no-hitter in Maccabiah history on Thursday, shutting down Canada 12-0.

The opener was ended after five innings according to the mercy rule. Robert Scherl of Connecticut, who will be playing college ball at the University of Chicago, had a big game offensively with two hits and four RBIS.

Scherl had to overcome hip surgery to make it this far, USA coach Nate Fish told Haaretz on Saturday. “He had a degenerative hip disease, and doctors told him as a young child he’d never be able to play sports,” said Fish.

On Friday, USA defeated Israel in front of a crowd of some 1,000 spectators. “It was really encouraging,” said Fish. “There were a lot of kids from the Israel Association of Baseball.”

The Americans scored two in the first to provide early support for starting pitcher, Dean Kramer.

“He is actually an Israeli citizen,” said Fish, who noted Kramer’s mother is from Israel. “He’s from California and going to Delta Community College, which has a very good junior college baseball program.”

Justin Diamond, from Las Vegas, closed the game for USA. Jason Schoen had a big hit early.

So are we going to have an Israel Baseball League again?

Labels: Maccabiah

Back to 2009-11? Obama snubs Netanyahu in Maccabiah opening remarks

The 19th Maccabiah - the largest Jewish athletic event in the world - opened Thursday night at Teddy Stadium. The opening ceremony included videotaped remarks from President Hussein Obama who violated protocol by 'forgetting' to mention Israel's Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu.

In a break from protocol, President Obama declined to mention Prime Minister Netanyahu in his recorded remarks for the opening ceremony last night of the Maccabiah Games in Jerusalem. Instead Mr. Obama wished, President Shimon Peres another happy birthday as he already did in President Obama's recorded
remarks when celebrations were held recently to mark Peres' 90th birthday.

Later that evening President Obama called PM Netanyahu on the phone to press him to make further concessions to Mahmoud Abbas.

The recording of President Obama’s remarks begin at [2:27:22] in the recording of the opening ceremony available on Youtube [the video starts in Hebrew but will switch to English when Obama comes on. CiJ] – they are followed by greetings of the UK PM that, following protocol, do greet PM Netanyahu [ends at 2:29:12. CiJ].