Pardon My Interruption: Craig's Thoughts About This And That
The Maccabiah opened yesterday with us playing Canada. Unfortunately, we lost 7-3, but we are still very much in the mix and have no reason to hang our heads.
Today, we play Mexico and then have the official opening ceremony. We’ll march into Ramat Gan stadium with over 6,000 other athletes to the thunderous applause of more than 40,000 people. I’m excited about both events.
I saw this poster along the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway.
In Israel, it has become common to Photoshop a traditional Arab head covering on political opponents who are not Arabs. Here, the words are as telling as the photo.
The Maccabiah is a quadrennial sports competition modeled after the Olympic Games. The difference is that the Maccabiah is for Jewish athletes.
This year, almost 8,000 athletes from 52 nations will compete in 31 different sports. I have the privilege of coaching the Israel national baseball team that will compete in these games.
In the round robin section of the baseball tournament each of the four teams – Israel, Mexico, USA, and Canada – will play the other teams twice each.
After the round robin, the teams will be seeded 1 through 4 based on the outcome of the round robin preliminary. Seed 1 will play 4, and 2 will play 3. The winners of those games will then play for Gold and Silver, while the losers will play for Bronze and consolation.
You can follow the games – whether your interest is swimming, gymnastics, soccer, bowling, basketball, tennis, squash, baseball, or something else – at the Maccabiah 18 website.
