Why Do Jews Suck at Sports?
It’s Passover, so…uh….L’Chaim? I am not a very good jew. This is evidenced by the fact that I spent the first night of Passover playing bocce ball in a bar with my friends and drinking cider instead of sitting at a sedar drinking kosher wine eating Matzoh ball soup. But, because it’s Passover, I find myself thinking, why is it that Jews are not so good at sports? Don’t get me wrong, we’re good at being fans. We can manage some fantasy teams, bet some games, and remain grateful NFL games are on Sundays. Not to mention, Al Davis has clearly set the bar going forward for professional team ownership but, every time Jewish people playing professional sports gets discussed at any family dinner, and if you’re Jewish or have been to a Jewish family holiday dinner, you know what I’m talking about, inevitably, Sandy Koufax is brought up. Usually right before or right after someone complains about the Brooklyn Dodgers. (As an aside, and completely off topic, I am convinced the Brooklyn Dodgers logo, the B, is the reason bitter Brooklyn Dodgers turned Yankees fans, started hating the Red Sox, but not really). Back to the point though, it’s like Sandy Koufax is the “you can do it” for every Jewish kid who plays a sport from birth until about 16. That is, of course, because at 16 his or her dad starts to pressure him, or her, to try to get into med school, law school, or become a CPA.
Oh wait, it’s really because all we have is Sandy Koufax… and a few others that me, my dad, and the other Jews reading this know of. It seems Jews can make some movies, balance some budgets, and represent players in their contract negotiations but, Jewish people seem to be lacking in the throwing, catching, running, tackling, dunking department.
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Two words: Ryan Braun
You are a fucking idiot, you are bashing your own people. You clearly don’t know jack about your own culture or history, are you sure you are Jewish or are you just saying that so you can write this lame article.
But as short sighted as you seem, let me fill you in on some star Jewish athletes that you fail to acknowledge or don’t even know about. Lets see, for baseball, Ryan Braun; swimming there is Mark Spitz; Gymnastics, Kerri Strug; Skating, Sarah Huges and Sasha Cohe; Football, Jay Feidler and Sage Rosenfels; Basketball, Red Auerbach and Larry Brown; Fencing, Norman Armitage, I mean I can go on and on, but I figure your brain capacity would not comprehend anyway. I refuse to read anymore of your crappy stories. Happy Passover dick-wad.
Deuce of Davenport, where did you find this guy?
Think about this, there are over 300,000,000 people living in the US and only about 5,000,000 Jews are living here, so do the math stat boy, it’s a good representation.
I guess ignorance is bliss. The author “claims” to be Jewish. My guess is that it’s some schlep who’s saying it to have a free pass at making anti-semitic statements. You’re cool internet toughguy keyboard warrior. It must feel real good sitting at home in your mommy’s basement using her internet to post on your blog. You’re a bigot and a joke, get lost!
First and foremost, it was not meant to offend anyone so, my apologies for that. Really, it wasn’t meant to recognize the achievements of those professional athletes we all know and have celebrated over the years. Second, I am aware of those and others…Kevin Youkilis and Ken Holtzman to name two pretty famous athletes you didn’t mention. But, that wasn’t really the point. The point was really that, for whatever reason, there aren’t many professional Jewish athletes. And seriously, there really aren’t. Think about it-how many are playing right now? That’s just fact. Also, for whatever reason, at every Jewish function I have ever been to where sports comes up, Sandy Koufax is inevitably mentioned, reminisced about, and spoken of as a god-like being by everyone in the vicinity. I did not take away a single achievement gained by those athletes nor bash my culture or history. I simply wish there were more professional Jewish athletes in sports. It really is that simple. But lastly, fucking idiot and dick-wad? Very mature. Also, thanks for assuming I am a guy by the way.
Ahh, your first comment flame war. Its like popping your blogger cherry.
American Jewish boxers dominated the sport between WWI and WWII.
Look it up.
Fred
Mr. Mpadula,
You obviously dont know s*it about your people either. The football players you named are terrible, the basketball players you named are coaches, Mark Spitz was a good swimmer but couldn’t make a layup, and skating, gymnastics and fencing don’t count. I respect the author for his comic relief and knowledge of the situation, and I for one, think Jews are very funny people. Jerry Seinfeld, Mel Brooks, and Larry David are all funny dudes. Even Georges Mom is funny, and i think shes Jewish too. Well, Happy Hannukah everyone, and God Bless America.
Jews and sports lol, its like an oxymoron. Sure, there are exceptions here and there, but by and large the stereotype stands. This is not to say that the steretype can predict individual Jewish performance, but by and large it describes Jews as a group rather well. Jews are under represented in sports (perhaps the most meritocratic activity we have today) just as much as Rastafarians are under represented in say…..astro physics. Sure, this isn’t a nice set of facts, but there facts nevertheless and the author is correct in hinting at them.