Jews in Sports Part 2 |
American Jews in Sports, Part 2
Jewish
Owners of Pro-Football Teams Ten of the 32 American
professional football team owners are Jewish. Arthur Blank, the founder of Home
Depot, is the owner of the Atlanta
Falcons. Robert Kraft is the owner of the New England Patriots, the most
successful team of the 21st century. Mark Davis owns the Oakland
Raiders. He inherited the team from his father, Al Davis ,who was the target of
a great deal of anti-Jewish hate when he became the first Jew to own a football
team. Brian, Edward and Joe Glazer,
the sons of Malcolm Glazer, own the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which they inherited
from their father, Malcolm Glazer. Jm Irsay is the owner of the
Indianapolis Colts. Irsay once told an interviewer that his mother was
Polish-Catholic and that therefore he knew nothing of Judaism, but viewed
himself Jewish nevertheless. The Philadelphia Eagles are
owed by Jeffrey Lurie. Lurie graduated with a doctorate from Brandeis University
and is a movie producer in Hollywood. Stephen Ross owns the Miami
Dolphins. Ross is a tax attorney who bought 50% of the Dolphins in 2008.
Steven Tisch is owner of the
New York Giants. Tisch is a film producer and is known for his philanthropic
(lover of humanity) interests. Zygmunt Wilf owns the
Minnesota Vikings. He is the son of Holocaust survivors who is associated with
the family real estate business. Basketball Anyone who watches a basketball game in 2020 can
easily be convinced that “white men can’t jump” and that there is a
“natural” affinity between basketball and the Afro-American community. The
phrase, “it is only natural” is common among all ethnic groups who believe
that their activities, their interests, and their conduct is somehow
“inborn” and that that is also
true of other subcultures. Yet, history and sociology tach that behavior is
learned, so that there was a time when Jews, not Afro-Americans, dominated the
basketball scene .That was true in the 1930’s and continued
until after the Second World War. Therefore, the City College of New York
and New York University were the basketball powers of the day. Professional
basketball was in its infancy and hardly gaining much attention as basketball
and football were mainly college sports before television made professional
sports the huge success it is in
the 21st century. The Basketball
Association of America. which was the first group to promote
professional basketball, began its activities in the early 1930’s . The
first man to score a basket in that league was Oscar Schechtman, a Jewish boy,
born in Brooklyn in 1919. In 1946, the first ever game of the Basketball
Association of America, Schechtman made the first basket when the New York
Knicks played the Toronto Huskies. In 1949, the league became the National Basketball
Association. Schechtman played 54 games for the Knicks in one season. Schechtman
averaged 8.1 points per game. He ended his career with a 4.3 points average. Schechtman played one more season in 1947-48 with
the Paterson Crescents before retiring. He was named to the All NBA first team.
He was then elected to membership in the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and
the Long Island Athletic Hall of Fame and the New York City Basketball Hall of
Fame. Jordan
Farmar
was born in Los Angeles in 1986. He represents a much later segment of Jewish
basketball professionals than is true of Schechtman and Nat Holzman.
Farmar began playing basketball at age four because his father taught him
the sport at that early age. He had a competitive spirit, as did both his
parents. Farmar began his basketball career in high school
when he scored 54 points in a single game. As a junior, he averaged 28.5 points
per game, 8 rebounds, and 5.9 assists. When he became a senior, he averagd 27.5
points and led his school to its first Los Angeles city title. Farmar was then named The Los Angeles Times Player
of the Year and the California Interscholastic Federation Player of the Year. Parade
declared Farmar “All American,” Cal-Hi awarded him all states Honors,
and he was declared California Jewish athlete of the year. He then played in the
McDonald’s All America game. Farmar enrolled in the University of California Los
Angeles campus where he was named to the All Pacific first team. He was named
National Freshman of the Year in his first year at UCLA, as he led his team in
assists and free throws. In 2006 at the NCAA Tournament, he led the Bruins
to the National Championship against Florida. In 2006 he joined the Los Angeles
Lakers, who drafted him when their scouts saw him achieve a 42 inch vertical
leap. At his first professional game he, made 17 points and three assists in 30
minutes. In April of 2007, Farmar was called by the Lakers
to play against Sacramento. In seven minutes of play, Farmar scored four points
and four rebounds. In 2007, Farmar averaged 9.1 points, 2.2 rebounds,
and 2.7 assists. Farmar had won two championship rings with Los Angeles when in
2010 he signed a three year, $12 million contract with the New Jersey Nets. In 2011 Farma signed a one year contract with the
Israeli Basketball League. There he won Europlayer of the Week honors. In 2011, Farmar returned to the Lakers. Farmar has
sponsored golf tournaments and raised money for numerous charities. Few basketball players have achieved the record
attained by Farmar. There are and
have been numerous Jewish basketball players who are adequate professionals,
such as Zalofsky, Grunfeld, LaRusso, Stoudemire and Shays. Slats
Zalofsky became a member of the
Chicago Stags in 1946, the year in which the NBA was founded. He was then 20
years old and was a veteran of the U.S. Navy, having fought the Japanese during
World War II. Zalofsky was elected
to the first four All NBA First Teams, leading the Association in scoring in
1947 and 1948. He made the All Star team in 1952. In ten seasons he averaged
14.8 points. Ernie
Grunfeld is an immigrant from
Romania who came to the United States in 1964. He enrolled at the University of
Tennessee and averaged 23.4 points and 6.6 rebounds in his four seasons with the
Volunteers. He won the SEC Player of the Year award in 1977. In 1977 he went to the Bucks, where he averaged 7.4
points and 2.6 rebounds in 893 games. Grunfeld later worked for the Knicks in the front
office as general manager. He created teams that made the NBA finals in 1994 and
1999, and stayed with the Bucks until 2003, when he became the Wizards’
president of basketball operations. Rudy
LaRusso was born in Brooklyn. Like Fiorello La Guardia, he
had an Italian father and a Jewish mother. His basketball career started at
Dartmouth College where he played on two Ivy League teams, winning conference
titles in 1958 and 1959. He was called “Roughhouse
Rudy” for his bruising aggressive playing. In nine NBA seasons he
averaged 16.9 points and 10.2 rebounds. He also made the NBA’s All Defensive
team. He played in five all star games. Arthur
Heyman was born in New York City. College scouts fond him
in high school, which led him to play for Duke University. He then embarked on a
seven year professional career. He averaged 13.0 points and .7 rebounds in the
NBA and ABA. With the Pittsburgh Pipers, he won an ABA title. Heyman was a superstar in college. He was
repeatedly physically attacked by opposing players, including Jewish players who
sought to handicap his competition. Heyman was All American three times and reached All
American Honors in his senior year. He won Final Four Most Outstanding Player,
even though his squad did not reach the title game. Amare
Stoudemire is a truly
great athlete whose NBA achievements include six All Star games, an All NBA
First Team election, an NBA Rookie
of the Year Award, an average of 18.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks with
the Suns, Mavericks, Knicks, and Heat. Dolph
Schayes was born in the Bronx in 1928. He graduated from
college with a degree in aeronautical engineering. In 1948, he was drafted by
the Knicks, and later played for the Syracuse Nationals. He played 16 seasons
for Syracuse, one in the NBL and fifteen in the NBA. He then played for the Philadelphia 76’ers. He made six All
State teams. In 1955, Schayes led the Nationals to an NBA title over the
Pistons. Schayes finished his career with 18.5 points and 12.1 rebounds in
fifteen NBA seasons. Swimming Any mention of achievements in competitive swimming
must include Mark Spitz, who won seen
gold medals at the 1972 Olympic games in Munich (München),
Germany. Those Olympic games are also unforgettable because they became the
scene of a murderous attack on the Israeli delegation. Mark Spitz was born in Modesto, California, in
1950, the first of three children
of Lenore and Arnold Spitz. When he was two years old, his family moved to
Honolulu, Hawaii, but returned to California four years later. His parents enrolled him in a local swim club,
which led to his winning one world age group record at age 17.This win was
mainly due to having been trained by George Haines for
three years beginning at age 14. Then, during his high school years, he
held the record for every stroke and every distance. At age 16, he won the
butterfly at a national championship race. The next year he became known
worldwide when he swam the 400 meter freestyle in 4:10.6 minutes. In 1968, Spitz entered the Olympic competition in
Mexico City. He won two gold medals
in the 4x1000 meter free style relay and the 4x200 meter freestyle relay. In
January 1969, Spitz enrolled in Indiana University to train with swimming coach
Doc Counsilman. In 1977, Spitz won the James Sullivan Award as the
top amateur athlete in the United States. In 1972,
Spitz set a number of world
records during the U.S. Olympic Swim trials. He then became a member of the U.S.
delegation to the 1972 Olympic games in Munich, which led to his astounding
victories in seven competitions. He won the 200 meter butterfly in 2:00.7
minutes, the 2x100 freestyle relay, the 200 meter freestyle, the 100 meter
butterfly, the 4x200 meter freestyle relay, the 100 meter freestyle, and the
4x100 m medley relay. After Spitz had won seven gold medals, he was
advised to leave Munich early in view of an event generally known as The Munich
Massacre, when eleven Israeli athletes were taken hostage and later murdered by
terrorists. Olympic authorities feared that Spitz would become a target for the
terrorists because he was Jewish like the Israeli hostages. He was escorted out
of Germany by U.S. Marines stationed in Germany. After the 1976 Olympics Spitz retired from
competitive swimming at age twenty-six. In 1999, he became the only aquatic
athlete to be included in Sports Century:
50 Greatest Athletes. When Spitz was 41 years old, a filmmaker offered
him a million dollars if he succeeded in qualifying for the 1992 Summer
Olympics. He was seconds slower than was required, and failed to be included in
the US team. Spitz is a member of several Halls of Fame. He is
included in the International Swimming Hall of Fame, the International Jewish
Sports Hall of Fame, the United States Olympic Hall of Fame, the San Jose Sports
Hall of Fame, the National Jewish Museum Hall of Fame, the Long Beach City
College Hall of Fame, and the Indiana University Athletic Hall of Fame. After his retirement from swimming, Spitz appeared
on a Bob Hope Special on televison in 1972. In 1973, he appeared on the Tonight
show with Johnny Carson and the Sonny and Cher show. He next appeared on
Emergency, and the Dean Martin Comedy Roast. Beginning in 1976, Spitz worked for ABC Sports,
including coverage of the 1976 Olympics in Montreal and the 1984 Summer Olympics
in Los Angeles. In 1985 he appeared on TV in “Challenge of a Lifetime,” and continued as a broadcaster. At subsequent Summer Olympics he was a
commentator at swimming events. Since then, Spitz has worked at his real estate
company in Beverly Hills and his sailing hobby. In 2006,
Spitz narrated the film “Freedom’s Fury,” which was produced by
Quentin Tarantino. Spitz has appeared in numerous commercial
advertisements selling milk, razors, and other products. In 2006 he appeared on
TV in a show called “Shock,” and later appeared in a commercial for a
testosterone supplement. Mark Spitz has an estimated net worth of $20
million. He married Susy Weiner in a traditional Jewish ceremony in 1973. They
have two sons. The family lives in Los Angeles , California. American
Sports Sports are of great and lasting interest to
Americans. This supports democracy, in that sports are open to all ethnic,
religious, and racial subcultures living in the United States. Whatever
prejudices may be associated with various “minorities” in the United States,
sports are open to all. Whether football or basketball, tennis, or track and
field competition, no one is excluded, all are welcome. Sports has the additional advantage of allowing
athletes of various backgrounds to meet one another and to learn “that all men
and women are created equal” and that achievement, not ethnicity or relgion,
count in the sports arena. For the vast majority of Americans who cannot
compete at the Olympic level, sports has the advantage of being a satisfying
entertainment as fans identify with one or another team and enjoy supporting
“their” team instead of assaulting one another. Indeed, sports contributes
to ethnocentrism, a sociological term which deals with the tendency for all men
to favor their family, their school, their ethnic subculture, and their country
over that of others. As long as ethnocentrism is related to sports, it is indeed
a harmless way of achieving self-identification. Ethnocentrism becomes dangerous
oly when it serves extremists who fancy themselves
“Übermenschen”
or “supermen,” and all others
as “Untermenschen,” or “subhumans.” Sports integrate people of all heritages and is an essential part of democratic living in the United States. May it reign forever. Shalom u'vracha. Dr. Gerhard Falk is the author of numerous publications, including 30 books and 45 journal articles. |