SubscribeMaccabiah update
According to the JTA,
Maccabiah softball games were canceled because the sports complex did not have the proper business license.
Police canceled Tuesday’s men’s game between Israel and Mexico and all future games — men and women — at the Baptist Village sports complex near Petach Tikvah, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Previous Maccabiah softball games and Israel Baseball League games in 2007 did not have a business license, according to the newspaper.
Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post published this commentary which expresses a sentiment I’ve held for a long time: That the games don’t always field the best athletes, just the ones who can afford to go. The monetary component is enough to drive away the talented but impoverished, even with help in the form of fundraisers, contributions, and sponsorships. This is especially true in this economic downturn.
This seques into another cynical idea I had: Is Jason Lezak’s decision to skip the world swimming championship’s to participate in the Maccabiah so much that he wanted the oporunity to be in Israel with his people, or that, at the relatively advanced age of 33, he was wary of facing much stiffer competition in Rome. Lezak Lezak lit the torch at the opening ceremonies on July 13.
In other news:
- A veteran of the first Maccabiah Games (1932) reminisces
- Athletes play for pride, not just medals
- Observations from “The Daily Fix,” a blog from The Wall Street Journal
- From “Left Field” (no kidding), Reuters’ sports blog: What if you threw an Olympic-style event and nobody came?
- From JewishinStLouis, profiles of local athletes competing in the Games
To find out the latest medal results, click here.
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