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28 November 2013 - 25 Kislev 5774
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Jewish Jocks Hanukah Edition by David Nachenberg
As we light the Hanukah candles, there have been many bright performances by Jewish sports stars this season.
Men's Basketball (NBA)--Omri Casspi scored 5 points and grabbed 5 rebounds
in 17 minutes off the bench as the Houston Rockets defeated Minnesota 112-
101 on Nov. 23. The Rockets' record is 9 wins and 5 losses through Nov. 23.
Omri Casspi has scored 103 points (7.9 average) and grabbed 53 rebounds
(average 4.1) in 13 games this season.
Women's Basketball--Naama Shafir, who was the star of the University of
Toledo (OH) basketball squad the past three seasons, is now playing
professionally for Elitzur Ramle, in the top women's league in Israel. The 5'7" guard has averaged 9.7 points, 4 assists and 3.3 rebounds in 21 minutes per
game for the first three games this season.
Ten pin Bowling--It was an all-Jewish final in the 49th Qubica AMF World Cup,
which was held in Siberia, Russia. Or Aviram of Israel and Guy Caminsky of South Africa squared off in the televised finals, on November 23, and the Israeli prevailed in the most prestigious amateur bowling championship in the World. Caminsky averaged 239.55 and Avriram averaged 239.13. Including the semi-fnals and finals, Caminsky bowled 42 out of his 43 games over 200, and Aviram topped the 200 mark in 41 out of 45 games. Along the way, Or pounded the pins with a barrage of strikes, and had two perfect 300 games (12 strikes in a row) and two games of 299, in which he rolled 11 in a row. In the first game of the best-of-three finals before a live audience of hundreds of specators and a World-wide television audience, Or started with a 4-bagger before leaving a 7-pin. He made the spare and then finished with 7 more strikes in a row, and defeated the South African 279-245. In that match, Caminsky started off with a strike, followed it up with a spare, and then a 6-bagger, before leaving a devastating 4-10 split. Two strikes and a 9-count in the final frame kept the match from getting too much out of hand. The second match belonged to Caminsky, who started the ball rolling with 7 strikes in a row, then made a spare in the 8th frame and struck out in the last two frames to roll a 277. Aviram struggled a bit, but made 6 strikes in a row at the end to bowl a 214. The third, and deciding game was all Aviram's as he defeated Caminsky 258-182 to capture the title. This was the first time that an Israeli bowler won the event, and may be the first time that two Jewish bowlers finished in 1st and 2nd place. A total of 74 bowlers competed in the men's division. In the women's division, Tali Itzhak of Israel finished in 29th place out of 64 competitors. She averaged 199.88 for her 24 games, with a high score of 238.
Women's Golf--As of Nov. 24, Morgan Pressel was ranked 46th in the World in
the LPGA. She has earnings of $504,188 and has made the cut in 18 of 24
events she has played in 2013. Her scoring average dropped to 71.70 for the
year because of the nice round in which she shot a 68 this past week.
Ice Hockey--Jewish hockey players have been enjoying success in various
professional leagues around the World. Carter Camper, playing in the AHL
for the Providence (RI) Bruins, has 14 points (2 goals and 12 assists) in 18
games this season. In the DEL in Germany, Evan Kaufmann has 18 points
(8 goals and 10 assists) in 18 games, with a +10 rating. Playing for Munich
EHC, Danny Richmond has 13 points (one goal and 12 assists), in 22 games,
with 46 penalty minutes. Brothers Adam and Michael Henrich have been a
dominating force on the ice in the British EIHL, playing for the Coventry Blaze.
Adam has scored 12 goals, and has a team-high 27 assists, and is leading
his team with 39 points in 23 games. In addition, he has shown his toughness by being assessed 58 penalty minutes. In 24 games, Michael has contributed
21 points (8 goals and 13 assists), good for 4th best on their team.
May they, and all the other "Modern Maccabees" of the sports playing fields
continue to be successful and make us proud of their accomplishments.
