Canada Israel — “Celebrating all that is similar and unique about our two amazing countries” — ran this wrap-up on the Israeli participants in the just-completed games.

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.

According to jweekly.com, Charlie White, who, with his ice-dancing partner Meryl Davis won the silver medal, and Steve Mesler, a member of the favored U.S. four-man bobsled team, are also MOT.

Mesler

White (on left)

One of the “problems” these days is the etiquette of finding out who’s Jews. On the good side, it seems that it’s less important to identify a person as a member of a group. Ask a college coach about his charges and he’ll probably tell you he has no idea.

On the other hand, it seems less important for a person to be identified as a member of a group. That is, even if an athlete is Jewish by “definition,” he or she might not even think along those lines any more, thanks to generations of assimilation and a deeper distancing from the aspects of observing the religious tenets of their faith.

A sample:

What a great opportunity, I thought, for this pair to represent the Jewish state and show the progress it has made in the world of winter sports. I was anticipated being able to write a glowing column about Zionism, ice and pride.

I was wrong…. They looked, I’m sad to say, like they were from a community theater performance of “Fiddler on the Roof.”

(That’s what it was, I knew it looked familiar.)

The most recent podcast of Slate’s “Hang Up and Listen” also touched on it briefly in their usual pithy manner.

Sometimes I watch the games and ponder that these are the best at what they do. Granted, it’s all relative to each other. That is, the Israeli ice dancing team of Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky might have finished 10th, but that’s still better than a good chunk of their competitors and eons beyond what the average Olympics viewer can even hope to accomplish.

It’s kind of like the worst player on a major league team. Regardless of just how bad he might be, he’s still better than you and I. Keep that in mind when you’re belittling the .191 batter in a major league game or the 12th man on an NBA team.

The brother-and-sister duo — who reside in Garfield, NJ — earned a score of 90.64 in the free dance, and a score of 180.26 overall.

They skated to music from Schindler’s List, chosen in part as a tribute to 27 family members that died in Minsk, Belarus, during the Holocaust. “The music is amazing. We just weren’t sure we could skate it or not,” Roman Zaretsky said. “I think it brought the balance — music and skating together. It doesn’t matter when you hear it, it’s the greatest music, and we wanted to try it.”

On Sunday evening, Roman Zaretsky wore a kipa as part of the skaters’ costumes as they performed their program to “Hava Nagilla.”

Prior to competing, the Zaretskys had said they hoped to break the top 10 in their Olympic finish.

Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, who is Jewish, finished in fourth place with a total score of 203.07, missing a bronze medal by four points. They won the silver medal in 2006.

Alexandra and Roman Zaretsky. Photo by Andrew Mills/Star-Ledger

]]> http://njjewishnews.com/kaplanskorner/2010/02/23/mazel-tov-zaretskys/feed/ 0 http://njjewishnews.com/kaplanskorner/2010/02/22/lets-give-em-something-to-talk-about/ http://njjewishnews.com/kaplanskorner/2010/02/22/lets-give-em-something-to-talk-about/#comments Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:03:52 +0000 Ron Kaplan http://njjewishnews.com/kaplanskorner/?p=2661 Just happened to be flipping the dial in time to catch some of the ice dancing on the Olympics, in particular, the Israeli team of Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky.

I’m kind of torn Now, I’m no follower of the “sport,” but I understand you get props from the judges on costumes and music. Still, I was a bit ambivalent by their choices, and am even bothered by that (if that makes any sense).

The Zaretskys — a brother and sister team — hit the ice in “Israeli costume” — Roman was even wearing a kipa. The commentators mentioned the duo would be performing some Israeli folk dance moves, which is fine. But did that have to pick “Hava Nagilla?” (There must be some additional lyrics to the tune, because some of the words sound unfamiliar). Can we be anymore stereotypical? (more including a link to the video of the routine, here. Blogger Uriel Heilman wrote, “I wasn’t sure if it was fair to groan when I saw their cliched choice of costume and song — after all, performers from other countries also chose traditional folk songs that may have been no less cliched than “Hava Nagilla” — but I felt vindicated when I learned of their song choice for their final performance Monday night: Theme music from Schindler’s List.”)

By the way, the Zaretskys finished in tenth place, which, all countries considered, strikes me as pretty good. In fact, the way these things get scored, who knows, maybe they can earn a medal?

The other Jewish skate: The JTA reports that “Americans Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, who is Jewish, were in fourth place following the compulsories. The duo won the silver medal in 2006.”

But the buzzworthy part is that four of the 23 couples in ice dancing are siblings. The Wall Street Journal addressed this in an article title, “That’s your sister?”

Sinead and John Kerr at the European Figure Skating Championships in January in Tallinn, Estonia. Ice dancing often requires partners to convey believable sizzle on ice. Photo by Reuters

According to Wikipedia, “Her parents named her Torah after Marion Bright learned the word meant “bearer of great message” in addition to referring to the five books of Moses.”

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.

Elise Amendola/Associated Press

Also, to put things into perspective, this tragic news about Nodar Kumaritashvili, a luge athlete from Georgia, who was killed when his sled jumped off the track and crashed into an unpadded pole.

I think we tend to forget just how dangerous many of the winter games can be. Skiiing, bobsled, luge, skeleton (careening head-first on the sled; who came up with that sport?), ski jumping — all have the potential to end in disaster. Does anyone remember the opening for ABC’s Wide World of Sports that featured the skier crashing? (Fortunately, he wasn’t hurt.)

The summer Olympics don’t have this kind of drama. Aside from pulled muscles and the rare broken bone, there are not too many serious injuries (save for the occasional bicycle melee).

There are enough problems with the Olympics these days: the tremendous costs, both to the consumer and the host city, neither of whom seem to recoup their losses; the spectre of performance enhancing drugs; the politics. It’s small change compared with news like this.

The opening ceremonies will be held this evening. No doubt a moment of silence will be observed. But the show must go on.

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.

Katz, a three-time national champion, met the International Skating Union’s standards for Olympic eligibility, but not her nation’s when she cam in 21st.

On the one hand: Her inclusion could serve as an inspiration to young Israeli athletes. How difficult must it be to excel at a winter sport in a country that’s almost perpetually in summer mode? And finishing among the best in the world is no small feat.

On the other hand: To put it in the vernacular, rules is rules. There comes a point where you know longer get props for participating, or an A for effort. This isn’t little league anymore. If the Israelis allow this, can they deny the same consideration for an athlete that finishing 18th? Sixteenth? Some countries want to win medals; others are satisfied with the pride of being there.

According to this article in the Jan. 20 New York Times,

Two weeks before the European championships in Estonia, Katz came down with a viral infection. She was off the ice for two weeks but recovered a few days before the competition. On the day of the short program Katz failed to execute her triple-lutz-double-loop combination, which would have been her highest-scoring element.

“Because of it, I missed qualification for the free program by half a point,” she said. “Had I been able to skate in the free program portion of the event, I would have been able to pull up from my current 21st position.”

Perhaps, but seven place? I hate to seem like an ogre here; the illness factor is certainly heartbreaking for Katz, but them’s the breaks.

Israel will send three athletes to Vancouver: a team of ice dancers and a skier. Way short of a minyan.

The biathlon combines cross country skiing with rifle shooting. How very European. I guess the trick is to control your heartbeat and respiration after the phsyically strenuous skiing part to be able to fill the precision part of target shooting.

The link above takes you to the USA Biathlon team site. For a more “up close and personal” look, check out this entry from YoYenta.com.

And for an interesting take on how the financial crunch is hurting the individual teams and sports this winter, listen to the Jan. 25 podcast of Slate’s Hang Up and Listen.

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.

In a follow-up analysis by Jeré Longman, the 25-year-old skate expressed agita over the scoring system

…Cohen eloquently and ruefully said that a skater’s head must now be stuffed with numbers. Did I spin eight times? Did I hold my spiral six seconds? In her view, bean counting has become an Olympic sport.

“It’s one thing I don’t like,” said Cohen….

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)?

Jordan Farmar scored five points to go along with two rebounds and three assists in the Lakers’ 126-86 win over their cross-town rivals, the Clippers on Friday. Yesterday he dropped in 11 in a 98-92 victory over the Orlando Magic.

Meanwhile Omri Casspi’s Sacramento Kings dropped three straight over the weekend. He scored six points and grabbed six rebounds against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday and repeated those numbers against the Washington Wizards the next night. Casspi scored 13 against the Charlotte Hornets yesterday, but the end result was the same.

JICE:

Mike Cammelleri scored a goal against the Rangers on Sunday, but it was nowhere near enough as the Blueshirts took a 6-2 win.

Jeff Halper had assists in back-to-back games: a 5-2 loss to the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricane on Sunday.

Speaking of ice, The New York Times ran this article today about the Israeli athletes competing in the Winter Olympics, including downhill skier Mikail Renzhin, a downhill skier who has already made the 2010 Israeli team, has been training in the United States for the last couple of years. And unless something unexpected happens at the European Figure Skating Championships, which start Tuesday in Tallinn, Estonia, Roman and Alexandra Zaretsky, a brother-sister ice-dancing pair, should also make the squad. They live in Garfield, N.J., and train at the Ice House, in Hackensack.

According to the article, “A third Israeli, Tamar Katz, a figure skater who lives and trains in nearby Rockland County, N.Y., is on the bubble. She has qualified for the Olympics, but the Israeli Olympic Committee is reluctant to send her to Vancouver unless she finishes in the top 10 at Tallinn.”

The observant (or conservative, or reform, or…)  listener will note that the music used in NBC’s commercial is by none other than Hasidic-Reggae star  Matisyahu (or course, it also says that in bold letters in the commercial).

Here’s the full song:

Here’s a story from the Jewish Tribune, which is based in Vancouver, site of the games, on how the local Jewish community is gearing up for the influx of visitors. And jWeekly, the San Francisco product, published this piece on Jewish Winter Olympians, past and current.

What?

Sasha Cohen? No “Baron”?

Oh. That makes more sense.

Never mind.

All most kidding aside, isn’t it sad to think of a 25-year-old as making a comeback? That’s what you get in a sport where you’re considered over the hill before you’re old enough to buy alcohol.

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?”