Look carefully at the logo on the cap of Rabbit Maranville, circa 1914.

There’s a rather lengthy “forensic” attempt to identify the circumstances of this shot at the Baseball Researcher blog, but here’s the upshot:

…[I]n 1914, there was no stigma associated with the swastika. Well, at least very little. On January 26, 1912, the New York Times ran an article with the headline “‘Jinxes’ Have No Place With Yankees: Manager Wolverton Will Drive Superstitious Ideas Out of His Ball Team.” The article goes on as follows:

“Manager Harry Wolverton of the Yankees says that the day of the superstitious ballplayer is over. He doesn’t believe in jinxes, good or bad omens, rabbits’ feet, swastika signs, or all that ancient baseball lore.”Despite the best efforts of Harry Wolverton, the lucky swastika was and continued to be embraced by people around the world, including ballplayers. In fact, it is my belief that the Braves wore the special “swasti-caps” on Opening Day of 1914 as a good-luck charm … or at least as an end-the-bad-luck charm.

The Boston Braves entered the 1914 season having finished in the National League’s second division 11 straight years — dead last in four of the previous five campaigns. Opening the season in Brooklyn, it’s not hard to believe that the exasperated club might choose to adopt a good luck symbol to help turn things around.

At first it appeared that the superstitious move was a failure. The club lost both games in Brooklyn and continued to slide downhill for nearly three months. After dropping both ends of a doubleheader to Brooklyn on July 4, the Braves found themselves with a record of 26-40, in last place and 16 games out of first. Then, things turned around.

The Braves won their next four games and, ultimately, 68 of their final 87. The turnaround was nothing short of incredible, as the club took sole possession of first place by early September and ultimately grabbed the pennant by 10.5 games over the second place Giants. In the World Series, Boston dismissed the powerful Philadelphia Athletics in four straight games.

Today known as the “Miracle Braves,” Boston’s celebrated comeback remains unparalleled in big league history. Who would have guessed that it all began with a superstition and a symbol that has long since become taboo?

You can read the entire entry, which parses the where’s and when’s of the photo, here.

Peer was not allowed to play in the tournament a year ago when she was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates government, citing security reasons, according to an AP story.

“Dubai organizers were fined $300,000 by the WTA for not allowing Peer to play in the event.”

Read more about Peer’s strong showing here.

Not to put too fine a line on this, but it’s difficult enough at any level to beat top-notch opponents without having to deal with other intrusions, such as politics and racism/anti-Semitism.

Israeli flags defaced in Vancouver

Two Israeli flags that were part of an Olympic display in Vancouver were removed after being defaced.

The Israeli flags were covered in paint with the words “Free Palestine” written on them, the Vancouver Sun reported Sunday. They were removed last month.

The display on the streets of the city features 450 international flags from 80 countries.

The flags will be replaced before the start of the games, according to the Sun. Their slots are now empty.

The League for Human Rights of B’nai Brith of Canada weighed in on the case of female ski jumpers who were  denied the “right” to participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

That BBC should deem this a situation worthy of their resources is a separate issue, but what really rankles the their comparison of the Olympic organizers to the Nazis for discriminating against the athletes.

From the organization’s press release:

In a letter to John Furlong, CEO of VANOC, the League recalled the 1936 Berlin Olympics when the IOC turned a blind eye to Hitler’s fascist regime, which was even then implementing discriminatory policies against Jews that impacted Games that year. The League asks the IOC and the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) to focus on its policies and practices relating to discrimination, “and that includes eliminating discrimination against women now, just as it should have included resistance to discrimination against Jews then”.

As my colleague Andrew Silow-Carroll writes in his blog today,

Did no one at B’nai Brith Canada pause and think, “Sure, discriminaton of any kind is awful, but do we really want to compare a boneheaded policy by some piggy snow jocks to the systemmatic apartheid and dehumanization policies that led to the slaughter of 6 million Jews? Won’t that sound, I don’t know, out of proportion?”

From the JTA:

Iranian soccer federation mistakenly greets Israel

An Iranian soccer federation official has reportedly resigned after sending New Year’s greetings to Israel.

The head of the league’s foreign relations office, Mohammad-Manour Azimzadeh, resigned over the gaffe, and the president of the Iran Football Federation apologized, according to reports.

The foreign relations office sent New Year’s greetings to all members of FIFA, soccer’s global federation, and forgot to leave the soccer federation of  Israel, which is called the “Zionist entity,” off the list.

Israel’s soccer federation replied positively to the message, according to reports.

Iranian athletes do not compete against Israeli athletes, including in the Olympics.

You can read more about the mess here.

* * *

When a fight is over — bang, bang — in a little more that a minute of the first round, it is a pretty persuasive win and there is no diminishing its decisiveness. That’s why I refrained from reporting certain events surrounding Amir Khan’s convincing stoppage of Dmitriy Salita in Newcastle, England Saturday night.

I made it plain that I was not an impartial observer –  I have known Dmitriy  since the beginning of his career and  have forged a strong bond with him –- and by relating what occurred  would seem an attempt at alibiing and detracting from Khan’s superb performance. It would not have been fair to present anything other than what had taken place in the ring.

Both fighters were shining examples of what true sportsmanship is all about. They displayed mutual respect and conducted themselves with dignity and class before, during and after the fight and both stand out as credits to the sport.

Unfortunately, these attributes were sorely missing from the hate-spewing, abusively anti-Semitic mob that greeted Dmitriy as he journeyed from dressing room to ring and threatened his fans on the streets as well as in the arena.

The following accounts are from fans in attendance, people who traveled to a country they perceived as “friends” from one of the most civilized nations on this planet.

I took the train right after shabbos from London to Newcastle. The ride is a little over three hours. As we got closer, it seemed that everyone on the train was drunk, rude and anti-Semitic. As we walked up to the arena, we could already hear people shouting racial slurs at us and it became abundantly clear that this was a very hostile environment.

The stadium was packed with 10,000 rabid and mostly drunk Khan fans. During the “ring walk” the shouting, boos and cursing became deafening. As Dmitriy and his team made their way to the ring, people reached over the railing and swiped at Dmitriy while screaming nasty insults at him. He was hit numerous times. Two people jumped the railing in an attempt to hit Dmitriy and were arrested. Four other people were arrested close to the ring.  The booing and insults were thunderous. As an orthodox Jew, I feared for my life. When we left the arena the insults and near-fights continued. Had Dmitriy won, I don’t know how we could have gotten out of there alive, without exaggeration. When Dmitry left the arena there was a mob waiting for him, screaming anti-Israel and ant-Semitic things at him and the rest of the group. Barely escaped that moment as well. At 3 a.m., leaving Dmitriy’s hotel, we were accosted again by a group looking for a fight: ”Are you some kinda F***ing Jews? etc. etc. It was unreal.”

— Chaim Marcus, a fan and friend of Dmitriy’s who traveled from California.

I myself sensed Dmitriy was unusually tense before the fight. During Shabbat — I think there was fear before the fight, going into the ring, and then the fight itself.

From what I observed the real hostility towards Dmitriy came not from the Moslems [sic] but came from the drunken Geordies (as the local population is called). The Jew-Moslem [sic] issue was a non-issue.”

—  Myron Sugerman, businessman and long-time boxing expert from NJ

I broached the subject of the extreme hostility and rowdiness bordering on the physical of the fans to Dmitriy. I told him that when he entered the ring amid the torrent of abusive catcalls and booing and fans pelting him and reaching to try to strike him. “I saw a look on your face of … let’s call it a combination of hurt, surprise, and distraction and I was worried that your focus had been momentarily shifted,” I told him.

“I trained very hard and was well prepared,” Dmitriy responded. “He caught me early and I couldn’t get it going. The crowd was pretty hostile, I am not sure if that froze me or I just started late.”

There were no excuses, no alibis even though I opened the door for him to easily hang onto one. That’s one of his endearing qualities.

All the whys, wherefores, and what-ifs are meaningless. Real life is not a film or video that can be replayed and edited.  It is one minute and sixteen seconds that Dmitriy Salita would very much like to have cut out of his life, but it can’t be done. There will be rationalizing and hypothesizing and from that, possibly some solace. There were no excuses or alibis. Dmitriy explained that “He caught me early and I couldn’t get it going. …. I am not mad at myself because I did all in my power to prepare for the fight.”

There was no devastating, hurting punch. He got tagged by the first right hand that Khan threw and went to the canvas. He pulled himself up but it seemed as though his equilibrium and legs were gone. The rapid flurry of punches that Khan followed up with, though not making solid contact with Salita’s chin, were enough to topple him to the canvas again.

When Dmitriy was cowering in a corner trying to shield himself from punches, he threw nothing back in return.  Luis Pabon, the referee, rightfully stepped in and called a halt. Dmitriy was relatively unhurt, at least physically.

There were two champions that night: Amir Khan, who kept his crown with a sparkling performance, and one who didn’t get the crown he reached for but there are more ways to be a champion …

“An hour and a half after the fight, Dmitriy entered a packed conference room at his hotel, where he was greeted to thunderous cheers and applause. Despite the lateness of the hour, over 100 people crammed into the conference room to wish Dmitriy well. We made “l’chaims”, sang songs and Dmitriy smiled and joked. He raised a glass and thanked everyone for their support. There were a number of people there who have been involved in boxing for more than thirty years, including one former world champion. They all made the same toast. “We have never in our entire lives seen a fight that ended like tonight’s and yet is being greeted with so much warmth and support from so many people.” It was indeed remarkable.

The post fight party continued until the wee hours of the morning. At that moment it was easy to forget the fight and be reminded of the positive impact Dmitriy has had on so many different people in so many different ways, and realize that the result of a single boxing match will never change that.

— Chaim Marcus

Dmitriy Salita is a champion to all those who know him!

Here’s one story from WCBSTV.com.

And to think: it only took 73 years.

Schiller refers to this chastising article published in April, 2008 on WorldMag.com (which describes itself as “World News/Christian Views”) about this article written by Murray Chass, then a columnist for The New York Times about Josh Miller, a Jewish minor league umpire, and his discomfort with Baseball Chapel, an Evangelical Christian organization that provides services every Sunday in the  clubhouses of pro teams. (Since Miller was a native of New Jersey, I wrote about him as well.)

The WorldMag piece by Marvin Olasky states:

Times sportswriter Murray Chass is crusading against voluntary Baseball Chapel services in major league locker rooms on Sunday mornings. He’s equally upset with “faith nights” that typically feature a Christian music concert following a game, with players testifying to their belief in Jesus.

At least eight major league teams and at least three dozen minor league ones have such nights annually. Chass snorts, “Just what baseball needs—peanuts, popcorn and proselytizing.” His solution: Since the U.S. Constitution “provides for separation of church and state,” baseball executives should institute “separation of church and baseball.”

To which Schiller comments:

What are my thoughts, you might ask? Well I’ll answer it by asking a question of my own. Who’s it hurting and why is Mr. Chass so bothered by it? Is he an atheist? Did he get burned by the church at some time in his life?

To which I respond: Peter, are your only choices being an atheist or being a lapsed Christian? Is it out of the realm of your list of possibilities that Chass is Jewish?

Schiller later writes, “Somehow, Mr. Chass has forgotten our national foundations of religious freedom.”

To which I respond: Those religious freedoms also apply to those of other relgions as well as those who choose to follow no religion at all.

I passed along the link to Chass, who is, in fact an Orthodox Jew, to see if he might like to respond to Schiller, but you can’t really argue with some people. That’s one of the reasons I never like talking about why I became a vegetarian late in life. I don’t want to feel I need to defend my choice or hear arguments why my philosophy is inconsistent or just doesn’t make sense.

Russo, left, and Francsea

I never could stand WFAN’s Mike and the Mad Dog program. For one thing, the intro was terribly obnoxious, with Chris “Mad Dog” Russo (or as Steve Somers, another WFAN host called him, “the angry puppy”) screaming his greetings. They would constantly repeat their comments. Francesa, in particular, would berate the listener; Russo’s job seemed to be agreeing with everything Mike said.

Anyway…

A renewed feud between Francesa, who now works solo, and Phil Mushnick, the NY Post sports media critic, regarding something the former apparently said on-air and subsequently denied about Phillies’ second baseman Chase Utley? I can’t keep up, but it gave Mushnick the opportunity to bring up an eight-year-old column as proof of Francesa’s past history of misstatement followed by denial, in which he criticized the then-partners for comments made following 9/11. In his column of Nov. 2 titled “You’re on, Francesa,” Mushnick writes

Days after the 9/11 attacks, Francesa, global affairs expert (it’s a gift), launched two bigoted, backwoods and facts-depraving commentaries blaming both Israel and American Jews for America’s peril at the hands of terrorists.

Francesa also said the Jews he knows are disloyal Americans in that they would go to war to defend Israel but not the United States.

In the wake of an attack on the U.S. by Islamic lunatics, Francesa even called upon American Jews to prove their virtue as Americans, to choose between Israel, which he called “a failed experiment,” and the U.S.

As a third-generation American Jew, whose great-uncle was a WWI doughboy, and whose father was a WWII Naval Lt., then commander of the Staten Island chapter of the Jewish War Veterans, I was, shall we say, displeased by Francesa’s determination that the time had come for me to swear allegiance to the United States.

On Sept. 23, 2001, the above appeared in this column. In WFAN’s response, on behalf of Francesa, station boss Mark Chernoff denied that Francesa said any of that — despite thousands, including WFAN staff, having heard what I’d heard. My challenge to produce those tapes was ignored.

“Bob” helpfully reprints a letter from the ADL’s national director Abe Foxman to Chernoff in the wake of the incident. But rather than reinvent the wheel, I refer you directly to Bob’s Blizt’s blog, which includes a YouTube clip of Francesa in which he blubbers, in effect, that some of his best friends are Jews, that he never said what Mushnick said he said, and that he couldn’t be “that way” because he grew up in a “great melting pot” as a child.

As I always used to say on the ball field when intervening in a brewing fight “Boys, boys, boys.”

and this classic Bugs Bunny cartoon?

Abraham H. Foxman, National Director of the Anti-Defamation League, left, salutes celebrated Irish tenor Ronan Tynan after his rendition of “God Bless America” before the Anti-Defamation League’s annual meeting on October 29.  (Photo by David Karp/JTA)

From the JTA report:

Irish tenor Ronan Tynan, a fixture at New York Yankees games, stole the show from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon at the ADL’s Annual Meeting Thursday [Oct. 29] when he apologized for making an anti-Jewish comment. At the dinner, Tynan received a standing ovation after delivering a dramatic rendition of “God Bless America” — which he regularly sings at Yankee Stadium during the sevent inning, until he was temporarily banned by the team.

Tynan was invited by ADL national president Abraham Foxman, who said he accepted Tynan’s public apology for the joke as sincere.

“We need to give a message to people that they can be forgiven if they own up to their bigotry,” Foxman said. “Otherwise, it’s counterproductive to our fight against racism.”

Who connected Tynan with the ADL? Meet Abraham Cohen, 37, from Teaneck, N.J. Cohen spoke exclusively to the JTA about how the shiduch came into being.

“When I heard what happened, I called Jeff Sulivan, who’s a mutual friend of mine and Ronan Tynan’s, and I said ‘what happened? This isn’t the guy! It isn’t him!’ Then Ronan called me and said ‘Abe, I may have said something but I didn’t mean it.’ Then it was in Sports Illustrated and other meida. It got worse and worse. I called Jeff again and I was livid. At this point Ronan was starting to lose business. I said, hey, I live in Teaneck, New Jersey,” where Foxman also lives, “and the ADL is someone who stands up for you.”

“It was a lesson well learnt,” Tynan, who was standing nearby, added. He said he hopes to sing at Yankee Stadium again in the future.

As he departed, the soft-spoken Irish singer said “lehitraot,” the Hebrew equivalent of see you later.

That may be all well and good, but according to the New York Post, the Yankees still have no plans to bring him back. (Maybe this was the out they were looking for?)

Since Tynan is connected with the Yankees, this qualifies as a sports issue so  the column’s suggested use of statistics to measure the severity of one’s comments versus the appropriate response seems germane to this venue.

T + S ÷ P + A = R

Let T be the offender’s track record and S stand for the severity of the remark as determined by its classic anti-Semitic content or the hurt perceived by its target. Divide that by P (private or public nature of offense) plus quickness and seeming sincerity of the Apology, and you arrive at the appropriate Rebuke.

Now let’s apply the TSPAR formula to Tynan: If the singer has no record of anti-Semitism or intolerance (check), if the remark was made in a private setting (check), and if the offender was quick to apologize without waffling (check, check), everyone involved should let it go.

As for the content of the remark, is it possible (stay with me here) that Tynan was joking about a certain New York “type” — think Mike Myers’ “Coffee Tawk” character? Stereotypes always have the potential to offend, but we need to distinguish between a racist slur that traffics in classic hate themes and a stab at humor that deals in the kinds of stereotypes we all notice on a daily basis.

Seems quite “sabermetrical” to me.

Snyder is roundly booed locally in D.C. was one of the worst owners in sports history, incapable of putting quality coaches on the field, refusing to delegate responsibilities to a general manager, and spending beaucoup bucks on faltering free agents.

Despite all the animosity, Dan Steinberg, who writes the D.C. Sports Bog (Not a typo) for the Washington Post, believes some fans have gone over the line with a t-shirt depicting the Jewish Snyder with horns and a tail (sorry, it’s a bit hard to tell, but this is the best photo I could find).

“Now, let’s get the obvious out of the way,” writes Steinberg in the Oct. 20 piece. “Does it fill me with warm and happy feelings to see the Jewish owner of the Redskins pictured with devil horns, a devil tail and big wads of cash spilling out of his hands? Um, no, not really. Unless I’m missing something, that’s sort of way, way, way, way out of bounds.”

In a way, though, I almost doubt the designer understands the historical anti-Semitic connotations. That might be giving them too much credit.

Ronan Tynan’s anti-Semitic remarks. Snyder “Jew-as-devil” t-shirt. These things come in threes. Waiting for the third shoe to drop.

A day after the Yankees dropped their long-standing tradition of having him perform the song during the seventh-inning stretch of postseason games, Tynan said he’d apologized to the woman who was the subject of his remark. Tynan also said he had made a charitable contribution to an organization of her choice.

* * *

On Friday, during the ALCS opener, Yankees spokeswoman Alice McGillion said: “There are no plans for him to sing.”

But more recently, questions have come about about his squeaky clean image. Not that there’s anything wrong with that or that he’s a hypocrite, seen out dancing and drinking with the wrong crowd. No, it’s more that he’s too good, too religious in his comments.

This column by Tony Krattenmaker in USA Today (Oct. 12)  brings up a sensitive point: When athletes praise their particular deity, what does that mean for the rest of their fans who do not happen to follow the same beliefs?

He offers nothing but praise for Tebow as an outstanding role model, but wonders about the message of tolerance imparted by those who believe their way is the only way.

Tebow does his missionary trips to the Philippines under the auspices of his father’s Bob Tebow Evangelistic Association. The Tebow organization espouses a far-right theology. Its bottom line: Only those who assent to its version of Christianity will avoid eternal punishment. The ministry boldly declares, “We reject the modern ecumenical movement.”

* * *

In making and acting on rigid claims about who is or isn’t in good standing with God, the Bob Tebow organization is working at cross purposes with the majority of Americans — indeed, the majority of American Christians — and their more generous conception of salvation.

Certainly, Tim Tebow must be applauded for the good he does working on his father’s missions, but he should be seen, too, as one who promotes a form of belief that makes unwelcome judgments about everyone else’s religion. Let’s not forget the twinge that is felt by sports-loving Jewish kids and parents, for example, or by champions for interfaith cooperation, when adored sports figures like Tebow use their fame to push a Jesus-or-else message. [emphasis added]

Is sports-world evangelicalism really “good for everything”? Certainly a lot, but not everything. Not if you’re Jewish, Muslim, Catholic, non-evangelical Protestant, agnostic or anything else outside the conservative evangelical camp.

I’ve spoken with several sports figures — Jewish and gentile — who have mentioned their discomfort with the clubhouse chapel and feelings of helplessness about being in the minority. In 2005, Ryan Church, then with the Washington Nationals, made front page news in 2005 when he had to apologize for saying that those who didn’t believe in Jesus — Jews specifically — were doomed to hell.

An article in Sunday’s paper about Baseball Chapel quoted Church as saying that he had turned to Moeller for advice about his former girlfriend, who was Jewish. “I said, like, Jewish people, they don’t believe in Jesus. Does that mean they’re doomed? Jon nodded, like, that’s what it meant. My ex-girlfriend! I was like, man, if they only knew. Other religions don’t know any better. It’s up to us to spread the word,” Church said.

I would guess that most of these evangelical athletes are well-meaning and believe in their mission. But they should heed the proverb, “The road to hell is paved weith good inettnions.”

Tynan is famous for singing God Bless America during the seventh inning of Yankee’s games. What started out as a patriotic gesture in the wake of 9/11 has turned into a questionable practice. Players (and fans) complain it takes too long –especially the way Tynan renders the tune — and interrupts the flow of the game.

According to the item from NBCNewYork.com,

The trouble began on Thursday when the 49-year-old Tynan bumped into a Halstead Property real estate agent showing an apartment on his floor to a potential buyer, a pediatrician from NYU Medical Center.

The real estate agent said to the tenor, famous for his association with Yankees, “Don’t worry they are not Red Sox fans,” according to the apartment-hunter, Dr. Gabrielle Gold-von Simson.

To which Tynan replied, “I don’t care about that, as long as they are not Jewish,” Gabrielle Gold-von Simson told NBC New York.
“Why is that?” asked a flabbergasted Gold-von Simson of the singer.

And Tynan responded that Jewish ladies had been looking at the apartment before and they were “scary,” according to Gold-von Simson.

The singer now claims he was joking, but the good doctor didn’t see it that way.

“I didn’t know him at all so how could I take it as a joke,” said Gold-von Simson.

Tynan for his part said it was just a “big misunderstanding.”

“I’m not anti-Semitic and I have never been in my life,” Tynan told NBC New York. “There are three members of my band that are Jewish.  And I love them like brothers.  I call them my brothers from another mother.”

Oh, please. The next thing you know, he’ll offer the old saw, “Some of my best friends are Jewish.”

Sure enough, a little bit farther down the article:

“A lot of my friends are Jewish,” said Tynan. “It’s something misfortunate, I was too stupid with my mouth.”

Close enough for opera.

Thanks to Andy Silow-Carroll for the heads-up.

Tennis star Venus Williams received an award from the Anti-Defamation League for opposing the exclusion from play of an Israeli tennis player. Williams was presented with ADL’s Americanism Award on Sept. 1 for speaking out against a move in February to exclude Israeli tennis player Shahar Pe’er from a tournament in Dubai. The United Arab Emirates had refused to issue a visa to Pe’er, Israel’s top female tennis player, preventing her from taking part in the Dubai Tennis Championship. Williams publicly decried the move and called for fair treatment of players. What Venus Williams did in Dubai must be acknowledged and celebrated, Abraham Foxman, ADL’s national director, said at the award presentation in New York. When Shahar Peer was denied a visa to compete in the tournament, Venus knew that it was wrong and she knew that someone had to say so. And she did. After receiving the award, Williams said she strongly believes in equality among tennis players and that she did not think UAE officials would deny Pe’er a visa next time..”I feel like I did the minimum, just to speak and to say something,” Williams said. “It shows that whatever little things you can do to make a difference really will help. I want to thank Shahar for her courage, and I share this award with her.”

This is an annual issue, as we get closer to the High Holy Days, and with so many high profile players, it will be interesting to see who does (or doesn’t) do what. It’s easier for the pitchers to get moved around in the rotation (Marquis and Scott Feldman are the only starters), but for everyday anchors like Kevin Youkilis, Ryan Braun, and Ian Kinsler — whose teams are all vying for post-season berths — well, that will really be the test.

* * *

According to the JTA,

Yuri Foreman, who is undefeated in 27 professional bouts, will challenge super welterweight champion Daniel Santos (32-3-1) for the World Boxing Association title, the 15 Rounds Web site reported Tuesday.

Dovid Efune, Foreman’s spokesman, said the fight is expected to take place Nov. 14 in Las Vegas.

“He’s got a Jewish head attached to his Jewish fist,” Efune said in a telephone interview. “He’s a very tactical player. He boxes like he’s playing chess.”

Foreman, 29, is fervently religious and is studying to become an Orthodox rabbi.

* * *

J Weekly, the San Francisco (Jewish) treat, ran this profile on Omri Casspi, the Sacramento King’s latest draft signee. The team hosts the Portland Trailblazers in a pre-season exhibition on Oct. 7 and begin the regular season on Oct. 28 as guests of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Kings are set to take on Jordan Farmar and the World Champion Los Angeles Lakers on a pre-seqson match-up on Oct. 15, then “for real” on Dec. 26.

* * *

Brett Favre shouldn’t be waiting for any holiday cards from Rabbi Eliyahu Fink (finkorswim.com), who believes there’s way too much emphasis on sports:

I dislike Favre, but it is not really his fault. ESPN makes me hate Favre with over-reporting and unprofessional, blatant favoritism and flattery of Favre. It is just impossible to like a guy who is in the news that much.

For others, the hatred toward Favre is due to his “treachery”. To illustrate I have some photos for you.

The film, Berlin 36, premiers in September in Germany and I predict, before too long, it will be making the international film festival circuits.

According to the article, Lambert, then known as Gretel Bergman,

moved to England when she was 19, and found success in her renewed sporting career. But the Germans unexpectedly ordered her to return in 1936. The United States had threatened to boycott the Olympic Games because of the persecution of Jews in Germany. The Nazi propaganda machine needed to present a token Jew at the Games.

Her father cautioned her that if she refused to come back, their family would be in trouble….

Selected in the core team of high jumpers and spurred on by her anger, Bergmann equaled the German women’s national record of 1.60 meters at trials in Stuttgart. It was June 30, 1936 – one month before the opening ceremony of the Games.

Then came the shock: No sooner had the U.S. Olympic team set sail from New York than Bergmann received a letter saying she hadn’t performed well enough in the trials to participate in the Games and was offered “standing room only” tickets.

Lambert was the subject of Hitler’s Pawn, an HBO documentary released in 2004.

Karoline Herfurth stars as German-Jewish high Jumper Maraget Lambet in Berlin 36.