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The Jewish Sport Report: All the Jewish players to watch in the 2023 Australian Open
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Happy Friday the 13th!
Sports fans are among the most superstitious folks out there. Do you have a game day ritual, a lucky jersey, or some other inexplicable tradition that your team can’t win without? Let us know by replying to this email.
And if there’s any masked Jason we should be afraid of, it’s Pittsburgh Penguins left winger Jason Zucker, who is putting together his best season since he was traded to Pittsburgh three years ago.
A Jewish guide to the Australian Open
Diego Schwartzman shown during his match against Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic at the 2020 Australian Open, which Schwartzman won in straight sets, Jan. 24, 2020. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images)
The first major international sports tournament of the year is upon us, as tennis stars from around the world descend upon Melbourne for the Australian Open, which begins Monday.
Before we get into this year’s tournament, we remember Jewish tennis legend Dick Savitt, who died Jan. 6 at 95. Savitt won the 1951 Australian Open and Wimbledon Grand Slams, becoming the first Jewish player to win either tournament. May his memory be a blessing.
Now here are the Jewish stories to watch at the 2023 Grand Slam down under:
Madison Brengle
The 32-year-old Delaware native is ranked 62nd in women’s singles and looks to make it past the second round for the first time since 2016.
Taylor Fritz
Fritz does not identify as Jewish, but his maternal grandfather was Jewish, and his great-great-grandfather was David May, the German-Jewish immigrant who founded Macy’s. Fritz is the best player of this bunch, entering the Australian Open as the 8th seed on the men’s side, with a men’s singles world ranking of 9. Fritz made it to the fourth round last year.
Camila Giorgi
The Italian star, who has said her favorite book is “The Diary of Anne Frank,” is ranked 69th in women’s singles and reached the third round last year.
Aslan Karatsev
Karatsev was born in Russia, but moved to Israel at 3 years old and has said the country still feels like home. He’s currently ranked 52 in men’s singles, two years after reaching the semifinal in a Cinderella run in 2021.
Diego Schwartzman
Ranked 25th in men’s singles, Schwartzman got his start at his local Jewish sports club in Argentina. He made it to the second round in last year’s Australian Open.
Denis Shapovalov
Shapovalov, ranked 22nd in men’s singles, was born in Tel Aviv to a Ukrainian Jewish mom and Russian Orthodox Christian dad. He often wears a cross when he plays, but his mom considers him Jewish. He reached the quarterfinal last year.
* One last Jewish tennis note: Elina Svitolina, the Jewish Ukrainian athlete who had taken a break from playing due to the war in her home country — and the birth of her first child last fall — has announced that she will return to playing this year.
Halftime report
KEN-GRATULATIONS. Veteran baseball reporter Ken Rosenthal has been named a co-winner of the National Sports Media Association’s 2022 sportswriter of the year award. In addition to his TV work for Fox Sports, Rosenthal has written for The Athletic since 2017.
NEVER FORGET. A Jewish community center in Boca Raton, Florida, is currently featuring an exhibit with rare Holocaust sports memorabilia from Jewish historian Neil Keller. The collection includes more than 100 items from Keller’s personal collection, including an autographed family photo that belonged to Victor “Young” Perez, a World Champion boxer who was killed during the Holocaust.
NOMINATED. High school basketball players Noam Mayouhas and Johny Dan, who play at the Los Angeles Jewish day school Valley Torah (Ryan Turell’s alma mater), were nominated for the 2023 McDonald’s All American West team for the annual high school all-star game.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN FOOTBALL…
The NFL playoffs begin this weekend with the Wild Card round, and two Jewish players remain: Jake Curhan of the Seattle Seahawks and Greg Joseph of the Minnesota Vikings. The Seahawks face the San Francisco 49ers on Saturday, while the Vikings host the New York Giants on Sunday. Both games are at 4:30 p.m. ET on FOX.
IN BASKETBALL…
Deni Avdija and the Washington Wizards host the New York Knicks tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Ryan Turell and the Motor City Cruise play the Ontario Clippers Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
IN HOCKEY…
Jason Zucker and the Pittsburgh Penguins play the Winnipeg Jets tonight and the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday, both at 7 p.m. ET. (Mark Friedman was sent back down to the AHL this week.) On Sunday, each of the NHL’s three games feature a Jewish player: Adam Fox and the New York Rangers play Montreal, Quinn Hughes and the Vancouver Canucks face Carolina, and Jakob Chychrun and the Arizona Coyotes play the Jets.
IN TENNIS…
The Australian Open begins Monday. The daily match schedule is released the prior day, so check here on Sunday afternoon.
The Strug-gle is real
Has Carlos Correa surpassed Jewish gymnast Kerri Strug for the most famous ankle in sports?
One Twitter user posed the question this week after the star shortstop finalized his free-agent contract with the Minnesota Twins — after two $300+ million deals fell through over concerns about his ankle. Strug, of course, fought through a serious ankle injury to clinch the gold medal for the United States at the 1996 Olympics.
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: All the Jewish players to watch in the 2023 Australian Open appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Phyllis Pollock died at home Sunday September 3, 2023 in Winnipeg, after a courageous lifetime battle with cancer.
Phyllis was a mother of four: Gary (Laura), daughter Randi, Steven (deceased in 2010) (Karen), and Robert. Phyllis also had two grandchildren: Lauren and Quinn.
Born in Fort Frances, Ontario on February 7, 1939, Phyllis was an only child to Ruby and Alex Lerman. After graduating high school, Phyllis moved to Winnipeg where she married and later divorced Danny Pollock, the father of her children. She moved to Beverly Hills in 1971, where she raised her children.
Phyllis had a busy social life and lucrative real estate career that spanned over 50 years, including new home sales with CoastCo. Phyllis was the original sales agent for three buildings in Santa Monica, oceanfront: Sea Colony I, Sea Colony II, and Sea Colony. She was known as the Sea Colony Queen. She worked side by side with her daughter Randi for about 25 years – handling over 600 transactions, including sales and leases within the three phases of Sea Colony alone.
Phyllis had more energy than most people half her age. She loved entertaining, working in the real estate field, meeting new and interesting people everyday no matter where she went, and thrived on making new lifelong friends. Phyllis eventually moved to the Sea Colony in Santa Monica where she lived for many years before moving to Palm Desert, then Winnipeg.
After battling breast cancer four times in approximately 20 years, she developed metastatic Stage 4 lung cancer. Her long-time domestic partner of 27 years, Joseph Wilder, K.C., was the love of her life. They were never far apart. They traveled the world and went on many adventures during their relationship. During her treatment, Phyllis would say how much she missed work and seeing her clients. Joey demonstrated amazing strength, love, care, and compassion for Phyllis as her condition progressed. He was her rock and was by her side 24/7, making sure she had the best possible care. Joey’s son David was always there to support Phyllis and to make her smile. Joey’s other children, Sheri, Kenny, Joshua and wife Davina, were also a part of her life. His kids would Facetime Phyllis and include her during any of their important functions. Phyllis loved Joey’s children as if they were her own.
Thank you to all of her friends and family who were there to support her during these difficult times. Phyllis is now, finally, pain free and in a better place. She was loved dearly and will be greatly missed. Interment took place in Los Angeles.
By BERNIE BELLAN Over 100 individuals gathered at the Gwen Secter Centre on Tuesday evening, July 18 – under the big top that serves as the venue for the summer series of outdoor concerts that is now in its third year at the centre.
The occasion was the celebration of the Gwen Secter Centre’s 35th anniversary. It was also an opportunity to honour the memory of Sophie Shinewald, who passed away at the age of 106 in 2019, but who, as recently as 2018, was still a regular attendee at the Gwen Secter Centre.
As Gwen Secter Executive Director Becky Chisick noted in her remarks to the audience, Sophie had been volunteering at the Gwen Secter Centre for years – answering the phone among other duties. Becky remarked that Sophie’s son, Ed Shinewald, had the phone number for the Gwen Secter Centre stored in his phone as “Mum’s work.”
Remarks were also delivered by Raquel Dancho, Member of Parliament for Kildonan-St. Paul, who was the only representative of any level of government in attendance. (How times have changed: I remember well the steadfast support the former Member of the Legislature for St. John’s, Gord Mackintosh, showed the Gwen Secter Centre when it was perilously close to being closed down. And, of course, for years, the area in which the Gwen Secter Centre is situated was represented by the late Saul Cherniack.)
Sophie Shinewald’s granddaughter, Alix (who flew in from Chicago), represented the Shinewald family at the event. (Her brother, Benjamin, who lives in Ottawa, wasn’t able to attend, but he sent a pre-recorded audio message that was played for the audience.)
Musical entertainment for the evening was provided by a group of talented singers, led by Julia Kroft. Following the concert, attendees headed inside to partake of a sumptuous assortment of pastries, all prepared by the Gwen Secter culinary staff. (And, despite my asking whether I could take a doggy bag home, I was turned down.)
This is a developing story.
(JTA) — Palestinian gunmen killed four people and wounded four in a terror attack at a gas station near the West Bank settlement of Eli, the Israeli army reported.
An Israeli civilian returning fire at the scene of the attack on Tuesday killed one of the attackers, who emerged from a vehicle, and two others fled.
Kan, Israel’s public broadcaster, said one of those wounded was in serious condition. The gunmen, while in the vehicle, shot at a guard post at the entry to the settlement, and then continued to the gas station which is also the site of a snack bar. A nearby yeshiva went into lockdown.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant announced plans to convene a briefing with top security officials within hours of the attack. Kan reported that there were celebrations of the killing in major West Bank cities and in the Gaza Strip, initiated by terrorist groups Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Hamas said the shooting attack Tuesday was triggered by the Jenin raid.
The shooting comes as tensions intensify in the West Bank. A day earlier, Israeli troops raiding the city of Jenin to arrest accused terrorists killed five people.
The Biden administration spoke out over the weekend against Israel’s plans to build 4,000 new housing units for Jewish settlers in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also finalized plans to transfer West Bank building decisions to Bezalel Smotrich, the extremist who is the finance minister. Smotrich has said he wants to limit Palestinian building and expand settlement building.
Kan reported that the dead terrorist was a resident of a village, Urif, close to Huwara, the Palestinian town where terrorists killed two Israeli brothers driving through in February. Settlers retaliated by raiding the village and burning cars and buildings.
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The post Palestinian gunmen kill 4 Israelis in West Bank gas station appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
