Comments on: The BT and the SuperBowl http://www.beyondbt.com/2010/02/08/the-bt-and-the-superbowl/ Baalei Teshuva / Baalei Teshuvah and Other Growth Oriented Jews Fri, 30 Jul 2010 01:49:02 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Charlie Hall http://www.beyondbt.com/2010/02/08/the-bt-and-the-superbowl/comment-page-1/#comment-397203 Charlie Hall Wed, 10 Feb 2010 13:33:15 +0000 http://www.beyondbt.com/?p=1811#comment-397203 I think that the spectacular popularity of American spectator sports is a relatively recent phenomenon. Yes, everyone know who Babe Ruth was, but actual attendance at games was low, player salaries weren't high enough to live on, and a lot of games weren't even broadcast on radio, much less television. And the "Super Bowl" didn't even exist when I was a child. My wife and I were married on Super Bowl Sunday five years ago. I guess it shows how disconnected I am to popular culture that I didn't even know that it was Super Bowl Sunday when we scheduled the wedding. We maintained our tradition of ignoring the Super Bowl this year. And I'm not sure the "stereotypical view of the Jew as egghead, nerd, weakling" was all that accurate. Jews played basketball in large numbers and some were very successful. For example, Dolph Schayes was the leading scorer in NBA history at the time of his retirement. There is even a recent documentary about Jews in basketball: http://www.thefirstbasket.com/ I have heard Rabbi Avi Weiss reminisce about his days on the basketball team of the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva; one of his teammates was Sheldon Silver, now the Speaker of the New York State Assembly. I think that the spectacular popularity of American spectator sports is a relatively recent phenomenon. Yes, everyone know who Babe Ruth was, but actual attendance at games was low, player salaries weren’t high enough to live on, and a lot of games weren’t even broadcast on radio, much less television. And the “Super Bowl” didn’t even exist when I was a child.

My wife and I were married on Super Bowl Sunday five years ago. I guess it shows how disconnected I am to popular culture that I didn’t even know that it was Super Bowl Sunday when we scheduled the wedding. We maintained our tradition of ignoring the Super Bowl this year.

And I’m not sure the “stereotypical view of the Jew as egghead, nerd, weakling” was all that accurate. Jews played basketball in large numbers and some were very successful. For example, Dolph Schayes was the leading scorer in NBA history at the time of his retirement. There is even a recent documentary about Jews in basketball:

http://www.thefirstbasket.com/

I have heard Rabbi Avi Weiss reminisce about his days on the basketball team of the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva; one of his teammates was Sheldon Silver, now the Speaker of the New York State Assembly.

]]> By: Nathan http://www.beyondbt.com/2010/02/08/the-bt-and-the-superbowl/comment-page-1/#comment-397045 Nathan Tue, 09 Feb 2010 03:10:02 +0000 http://www.beyondbt.com/?p=1811#comment-397045 Several years ago a friend asked me about the superbowl. I said to him: I don't watch football, it’s a waste of time. The Rabbi overheard me saying that, and requested that I say it again, but louder. Several years ago a friend asked me about the superbowl.

I said to him: I don’t watch football, it’s a waste of time.

The Rabbi overheard me saying that, and requested that I say it again, but louder.

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