Ticket prices, ranging from $18-$100, include a Jewish Family Night T-shirt. In addition there will be a Glatt Kosher concession stand and halftime entertainment will feature the Hazamir Choir.

For ticket information, contact John Warnick at 201-635-3157 or jwarnick@njnets.com.

His bar mitzvah: “I don’t think at the time I really understood what it meant. Now, looking back on it, I feel like I have come a long way in regards to maturity and becoming an adult. I think it helped me do that.”

Let’s hope that maturity shows up after his poor showing at the annual Combine, a (faux) event where college players strut their stuff for NFL scouts. Evidently, Mays didn’t do too well.

I’d be interested in an explanation of why driver receives top billing: “ Steven Holcomb’s USA 1 won the United States’ first Olympic bobsleigh gold…” etc. Granted, the two guys in the middle don’t really seem to be “doing” much, at least to the uniformed eye. I guess it’s just one of the quirks of the sport.

ESPN has suspended Tony Kornheiser for two weeks for comments he made about Hannah Storm’s attire. Storm is a cohost of ESPN’s SportsCenter TV program.

Kornheiser and Storm

Kornhesier, who also cohosts  Pardon the Interruption (on ESPN), made the “offensive” remarks on his radio show on ESPN 980 in Washington DC late last week:

Hannah Storm in a horrifying, horrifying outfit today. She’s got on red go-go boots and a catholic school plaid skirt … way too short for somebody in her 40s or maybe early 50s by now. She’s got on her typically very, very tight shirt. She looks like she has sausage casing wrapping around her upper body … I know she’s very good, and I’m not supposed to be critical of ESPN people, so I won’t … but Hannah Storm … come on now! Stop! What are you doing? … She’s what I would call a Holden Caulfield fantasy at this point.

A very brief item on ESPN.com on the incident reads as follows:

ESPN has suspended “Pardon The Interruption” co-host Tony Kornheiser for two weeks following comments he made on his Washington-based radio show last week.

On his radio show, Kornheiser made critical comments about the wardrobe of morning “SportsCenter” co-anchor Hannah Storm.

ESPN executive vice president of content John Skipper released the following statement:

“Tony Kornheiser’s comments about Hannah Storm were entirely inappropriate. Hurtful and personal comments such as these are not acceptable and have significant consequences. Tony has been suspended from PTI for two weeks. Hannah is a respected colleague who has been an integral part of the success of our morning SportsCenter.”

Kornheiser apologized for the remarks on his radio show Friday.

At the risk of being ignorant — and I am ignorant in that I did not hear Kornheiser’s remarks myself — most of what I’m reading online and in emails makes this seem like a tempest in a teapot and the punishment certainly does not fit the “crime.” (I have seen Storm’s outfit, on the other hand. Kornheiser may have exaggerated a bit in his sartorial descriptions, but that’s like Randy on American Idol calling someone “pitchy”; it’s a matter of personal taste.)

Was what he said “hurtful and personal?” Depends on your perspective and how sensitive you choose to be. Let’s be clear here, we’re not talking about Imus, or Jimmy the Greek, or Al Campanis. There’s no racial or religious animosity here. It’s not even sexist really, since Kornheiser routinely comments on the wardrobe choices of his male colleagues as well (could be construed as age-ist? Kornheiser is 61 himself).

And — not to get him in any more trouble — but why is it all right for him to regularly ridicule the Today ’s Hoda Kotb, but this merits a suspension? Is it because he’s talking about an ESPN “product?” Did management have an ulterior motive?

This is his shitck. He’s loud, opinionated (but never vulgar), and no one is off limits (he was suspended in 2002 for remarks made against ESPN about the firing of a coworker). And if the suits in Bristol haven’t realized this in all the years Kornheiser has been in their employ, someone hasn’t been paying attention.

More on the situation here, here, and here. Even those who don’t care for Mr. Tony’s style feel compelled to defend him. In fact, I find it amusing that so many outlets that normally wouldn’t even look over their collective eyeglasses at this story are chiming in.

Of course, this could all just be a strategic ploy to garner ESPN some attention.

She finished 77th out of 88 starters in yesterday’s 7.5 km biathlon with a time of 23:18.1. On the bright side, it was second among the U.S. women ’s group. It was her only scheduled event.

Steinberg does an in-depth parsing of remarks made over the years by the late Abe Pollin, owner of the NBA’s Washington franchise, formerly known as the Bullets (a name they had since their origins in Baltimore) but changed to the Wizards in 1998.

Abe Pollin with Michael Jordan

The situation is even more timely thanks to the Wizards’ poster boy for the NRA, Gilbert Arenas, who was suspended by the league for brandishing an unloaded handgun in the team’s locker room last December. He also faces criminal charges for unlicensed gun possession, loaded or not.  (More about Arenas and his recent op-ed apology in the Post here.)

Why the name change? Was it because of the violent connotations of the “Bullets,” made all the more prominent by the assassination of Pollin’s friend and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin? Or was it a crass maneuver for more merchandise money? Opinions vary.

Pollin died last November at the age of 86.

That was then...

this is now.

The veteran catcher — who has been suggested would make a great coach when he does call it quits — agreed to a one-year deal yesterday worth $850,000 plus a $1 million option for 2011 or a $150,000 buyout, according to Dodgers.com.

Ausmus, who turns 41 on April 14, had a great 2009, essentially playing once a week and hitting a career-high .295 as backup to Russell Martin.

From the JTA:

Ice dancers, skier are Israeli Olympians

JERUSALEM (JTA) — An ice-dancing pair and a skier will represent Israel at the Winter Olympics.

Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky, a brother-and-sister duo, and skier Mikail Renzhin will go to Vancouver next month, the Olympic Committee of Israel announced Monday at its headquarters.

The Zaretskys finished seventh in the 2010 European Championships, which earned them an Olympics berth. They are scheduled to skate to “Hava Nagila” and the music of ” Schindler’s List.” It is their second Olympics.

Renzhin will compete in the slalom and giant slalom events. It is also his second Olympics.

The team left Tuesday for their training sites in North America.

* * *

Pe’er protesters fail to show at Aussie Open

MELBOURNE, Australia (JTA) — Threats of pro-Palestinian protests in Australia against Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe’er failed to materialize.

There were few Israelis and fewer Israeli flags — and no Palestinian protesters — among the 10,000-plus fans for Pe’er’s match Saturday on center court against Caroline Wozniack of Denmark. Wozniacki, seeded fourth, defeated the 29th-seeded Pe’er, 6-4, 6-0, in the third round of the Australian Open.

Demonstrators had targeted Pe’er, 22, at a tournament earlier this month in Auckland, New Zealand.

The Melbourne-based Australians for Palestine had threatened to protest at the Australian Open against the unofficial recruiting officer for the countrys armed forces, but a seclusion zone was imposed around the Rod Laver Arena.

In response to the group, which calls for a sports boycott against the apartheid state, Peer told reporters, Its unfair because I have nothing to do with politics. Im only a tennis player who wants to enjoy the tour like other players.

Peer said that she was not distracted by the security in Melbourne.

“I know that there is security going on around me, and I don’t know exactly how much but I really feel safe,” she told the French news agency AFP. “I’m just focusing on playing tennis. I’m not here to focus on my security or whatever’s going on outside the court.”

Pe’er is headed for her first appearance in Dubai next month after being refused a visa last year to play in a tournament there shortly after Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip. Her denial sparked an international furor.

Anyway, this item comes from Boston.com:

Youk on screen

He plays first base, he plays third base, and he also acts. All-purpose All-Star Kevin Youkilis is on his way to New York to shoot a scene for the indie film “Goat.’’ We’re told Youk’s former teammate Bronson Arroyo also has a cameo in the film, which stars Armand Assante, Ice-T and “Sopranos’’ alums William DeMeo and Vincent “Big Pussy’’ Pastore. The film’s being directed by Paul Borghese and produced by Irena Angeliades, a big baseball fan who helped cast Youk, Arroyo, and Eduardo Pérez.

Hey, it worked for Major Leaguers Chuck Connors and Johnny Berardino (not so much for Jim Bouton, though; the televised version of his seminal book, Ball Four, lasted just four episodes).

According to IMDB.com, a Kevin Youkilis had a uncredited role as a kid in the 1994 film Milk Money, starring Melanie Griffith and Ed Harris. Must be him; how many Kevin Youkilises (Youkili?) can there be?

Efraim Zinger is the Secretary-General of the Israel’s Olympic Committee. according to the report, he believes the nation’s “best hopes of silverware will come in judo, wind-surfing and gymnastics.”

Does that mean he’s conceding the Gold already or is it merely a confusion in the use of jargon (silverware, hardware, bakeware, whatever)?

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?”

Sadowski was brilliant in his first two games, winning both on the strength of 13 scoreless innings in which he gave up just seven hits. But it was all downhill from there: in his next four starts — all losses — he allowed 14 runs in 15 1/3 innings. What a turnaround. He was banished to the minors and ultimately designated for assignment.

The 27-year-old righty seemed to have a new lease on his professional life when the Houston Astros signed him to a minor league contract on Dec. 8. But just two weeks later, they let him out of the deal to allow him to sign with the Lotte Giants in the Korean Baseball Organization.

As far as I know, Richie Scheinblum is the only other MOT to play in Asia (Hiroshima Carp, 1975-76).

Update: Bob Wechsler, author of Day by Day in Jewish Sports History (KTAV), wrote to remind us that Gabe Kapler played part of the 2005 season for the Yomiuri Giants and Micah Franklin, who appeared in 17 1ames for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1997, also had a taste with the Nippon Ham Fighters of the Pacific League and the Hanshin Tigers in the Central League from 1999-2000.

The event is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 15 when the Heat take on the Toronto Raptors. Too bad it’s not the Lakers (Jordan Farmar) or Kings (Omri Casspi), but I guess you can’t have everything.

The occasion marks the first time kosher food will be available at the American Airlines Arena, according to a release on Lubavitch.com.

In addition,

A giant Menorah will be erected at the east plaza of the arena, and will be lit during the half time. The Lubavitch Educational Center Boys Choir will sing “Maoz Tzur.”

At the game’s end, fans and guests will be invited to the court for a Free Throw and Chanukah celebration.

Tickets are available for purchase at jewishheritagenight.com or by calling 305-373-8303.

Farewell to Larry Frank, coach of the as-yet-winless New Jersey Nets. The last straw came before last night’s 106-87 beat-down at the hands of the Los Angeles Lakers.

Frank had been the head coach since 2003, when he took over the team from Byron Scott halfway through the season. He posted a 25-15 record the rest of the way as the Nets made it to the Eastern Conference semifinals.

The Nets would return to the post-season in each of the next three seasons, but never made it past the semis.

Perhaps the Nets wanted to save the 39-year-old native of Teaneck, NJ, the embarrassment of setting the all-time mark for losses at the beginning of a season.

In an email to the Korner, Ian Eagle, who has been handling the Nets play-by-play for a dozen years, called Frank “an excellent coach, adding that Frank is a “very good friend– and a very good man.  When the smoke clears he’ll be fine.”

For more on Frank’s dismissal, see here and here.

According to this item from JTA,

Pollin changed the name of his basketball team from Bullets to Wizards as a statement against gun violence after the assasination of his longtime friend Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

More on Pollin from ESPN

* * *

Bobby Frankel, who rose from the streets of Brooklyn to become one of the most successful and respected trainers in the history of thoroughbred racing, died Nov. 16 from complications due to lymphoma. He was 68.

The ESPN story.

After prayer and punch, Foreman takes Jewish victory lap

By Marc Brodsky and Gil Shefler

Yuri Foreman used his time wisely between rounds of his super welterweight world championship bout against titleholder Daniel Santos.

Not only did he take liquids and instruction from his corner, the Orthodox rabbinical student sought some divine assistance in the last 10 seconds of each 60-second break of the 12-rounder.

“God, please give me strength,” was his simple invocation.

Foreman related the tidbit at a Nov. 19 reception at a posh kosher steakhouse on New York’s East Side. The night before he was the guest of honor at a Jewish National Fund gala.

Think of it as an ethnic-themed victory lap for Foreman, 29, who found enough strength to win a unanimous decision on the night of Nov. 14 in Las Vegas for the World Boxing Association crown.

The Brooklyn boxer, via Belarus and then Israel, moved to 28-0 since turning pro seven years ago, even though most prognosticators figured he would fall to Santos.

At the reception, Foreman said he turns especially spiritual in the ring, gets “very close to God,” because “another guy wants to take your head off.”

Santos didn’t take off Foreman’s head, but the new champ, clad all in black for the Prime Grill fete featuring some sumptuous steak and chicken, did need 18 stitches (of course it was 18) to close a cut over his left eye.

Foreman’s spiritual mentor, Rabbi DovBer Pinson, said no other fighter can “balance spirituality and physicality” like Foreman, who he praised as a “gentle lion” breaking a lot of stereotypes about boxers and Jews.

What’s next for Foreman?

The fighter said he’d have to consult with his “second rabbi” and promoter, Top Rank’s Bob Arum. Foreman asked to know the veteran matchmaker’s Hebrew name.

“Reuven Moshe ben Shlomo,” Arum answered.

Should Foreman ever fight in Israel, Arum already has the bout named: “Next Year in Jerusalem.”

Attendees at the JNFuture’s 3rd annual gala event didn’t have to wait that long to hang out with the new champ. Foreman was the guest of honor at the event, held at a club in New York’s Soho district.

Organizers of the gathering, aimed at raising money for environmental causes in Israel, had booked Foreman well in advance of his title fight and were thrilled to have him there on one of his first public appearances since his victory in Vegas.

“It’s amazing to have him here,” said Gabrielle Carlan, one of the JNFuture promoters. “We’ve got a good turnout of 200-plus people, more than we had last year.”

Foreman’s wife, Leyla, told JTA at the event that she remained unusually calm during her husband’s fight.

“Most fights I’m very tense,” the Hungrian-born former model said. “But this time I had a good feeling. He had done all the training and all the praying right, what more could he do?”

Now eyes are on another observant Orthodox Jewish boxer with a shot at claiming a world champion boxing title, as Brooklyn’s Dmitriy Salita prepares to square off against champion Amir Khan in London on Dec. 3.

If Salita manages to defeat the heavily favored Khan in his own backyard, it would make an already great year for Jewish boxing even better.

More on Salita:

In a letter dated Nov. 19, Mayor Michael Bloomberg wished Salita luck in his upcoming title about against Amir Kahn.

On behalf of New York City, I want to wish you the very best as you head across the pond to Newcastle to take the Junior Welterweight Championship from Amir Kahn.

New Yorkers know that with hard work and dedication, the sky’s the limit. Throughout your stellar career you’ve always shown the fighting spirit that is so quintessentially New York, and is the reason so many world-class fighters have come out of the five boroughs. As someone devoted to faith — and your community — as you are to the ring, you’re also setting a wonderful example for others.

We’re very proud of you, and we look forward to welcoming you back to New York City as the new Junior Welterweight Champion of the world! All the best.

The Maccabi Haifa pro basketball team announced last week it would sponsor Salita in his quest. Logos of the team will appear on the fighter’s trunks, robe, and website.

“Dmitriy is a hero in the eyes of the Maccabi Haifa organization and the Jewish community in general,” said Jeff Rosen, Triangle Financial Service chair and team owner. “[We] will continue to support Jewish athletes who are making an impact in both the jewish community and their respective sport. We wish Dmitriy all the best for his upcoming fight and Maccabi Haifa is behind him 100 percent.”

And let me tell you, it hasn’t been easy getting a connection to post this, so I hope ya’ll appreciate it.

So let’s do a quick re-cap.

Arrived yesterday after a pleasant plane ride (word of advice: Do not read Marty Appel’s bio of Thurman Munson while flying.) Ira Jaskoll, a professor at Yeshiva University’s Sy Syms School of Business, and his colleague and buddy, Dick Williams (not the major league manager from the 60s-80s) were on the flight as well.

A shuttle brought us to the Sheraton Suites were we signed in and were pretty much free until the cocktail party/dinner later in the afternoon.

Yankee "counselors" Mickey Rivers, Jesse Barfield, and Roy White

We met the Yankee Legends who serve as managers and coaches. My team — the Bombers — is led by Roy White and Jesse Barfied, with assistance from Ron Shelton, a veteran Yankee minor league instructor (and not the movie director, to my initial disappointment). Other Yankees here include Fritz Peterson, Mickey Rivers, Homer Bush, Chris Chambliss, Al Downing, Oscar Gamble (minus the giant Afro), Tommy John, Phil Linz (minus the harmonica), and, of most interest to the Jewish contingent, Ron Blomberg.

Ron Blomberg, left, and Ira Jaskow

Blomberg is a very affable guy, always smiling and laughing and making you feel like you’re his best friend. White has always been known as a quiet guy and Barfield is also friendly and jovial.

You wonder why these guys do it. For most, who played before the really big contracts, it’s how they earn their living now. I hope they like the gig. Not sure what they get paid, but it seems like easy money.

Reggie Jackson

Reggie Jackson showed up at the tail end of the dinner and regaled the audience with a few stories. Since I have no real interest in memorabilia or collecting, I didn’t hang around much after that, when Jackson was signing for the group.

So with the buses schedule to leave for the ballpark at 7 a.m., I headed off for a good  night’s rest.

An elated Foreman told reports, “I’m very proud to do this for Israel, and for Brooklyn, and to show that Jews can fight.”

Got the following video from Youtube. Don’t know how long it will stay up, or if additional posts will be made, but here it is for what it’s worth.

More on Foreman.