This blog was a labor of love and hopefully a lasting memory to an incredible three weeks in Israel coaching the greatest game in the world. While I have done my best to insure all the links work and the videos play, Blogger does have some bugs and I will continue to try and fix some of the videos that don't always play on every browser interface.
It seems to work best on phones and tablets, but if you encounter something , notify me by email. I am most interested in feedback,positive and negative. I will continue to add,subtract and fix wherever I can. If you were on this adventure with me and have pictures or videos to contribute , I will always consider them,
It's finally done!!!! Version 1.0
David Lazarus
Fanwood, NJ
7/8/2017 - I love using the international date format to make August 7 into one of my two favorite days of the year.
Sleep will be a major casualty as we head back home. For those in the Eastern time zone, it means a 31 hour day. Bus loading is at 5:45 am, breakfast at 5:30. My late sleeping boys surprise me by being ready. They had talked about an all nighter which I agreed with. A final hasty breakfast and last goodbyes and we're loading the bus. Five of my six juniors are all aboard and we're off to Tel Aviv-Yafo airport. Traffic is generally light as we leave the highway for the airport.
The lateness of the closing ceremonies combined with a long bus ride home, gave us precious little sleep time. On my El Al flight home nearly all Maccabiah participants were sleeping for much of the first half of the 12 hour flight. Conversations were scarce but I managed to meet some wrestlers and other open athletes. Other than chess, this is not a flight for juniors in Haifa.
With all the new friendships formed, flight seats are swapped like clothing was the night before, so I move my seat to allow two golf team members 12 more hours to talk. I wind up seated between the gymnastics coach Daniel Ribeiro of Illinois, who has a major sleep deficit and works on it aggressively. I impress everyone with my ability to hoist myself over him and into the aisle without disturbing him.
My window neighbor is an interesting young open gymnast Cobey Pava. His biography page to the right of his picture:
I am Cobey Pava. As you can see, I am African American; less obvious is I am also Jewish. I am a student. I will be graduating from Wolcott School in June, 2017 and starting at the University of Illinois, Champaign, in the Fall where I will be part of the Fighting Illini Men’s Gymnastics Team. I am also a a gymnast. For those of you who know me, or even know a little bit about me, is that I identify most as a gymnast. There is one disruptive woman on flight who is yelling at just about everyone. She is temporarily restrained but fortunately she does not cause the plane to be turned around. We arrive at Kennedy without incident. An agonizingly slow luggage return extends our trip until we all go our separate ways back to normalcy.
The competitive part of the games ended yesterday with tremendous US success in the team sports. But there is one more chapter and it played out tonight with a rousing closing ceremonies at Latrun, the Military Museum.
Our final full day in Israel was packed with a final trip to Jerusalem, where we stopped by the Knesset. I pose with our tour guide Tal.
After a quick lunch it's off to Machane Yehuda Market aka “the shuk” and is Jerusalem's most famous market.
My shopping goals include chocolate,t-shirts and jewelry. Chocolate is easily procured and I find a screen t-shirt shop that makes you whatever you want. Trying to bargain is challenging when your Hebrew is so weak,but I enlisted a woman from New Jersey, who helped me save quite a lot. Her name is Leah and she is pictured here:
I am unable to get any high quality jewelry but my shopping excursion was mainly a success. It is now back to Latrun for the final ceremonies. Unlike our previous trip on July 1 and the opening ceremonies on July 6, this is all about partying with the other athletes from around the world and trading our merchandise for the best foreign clothing we can get.
This is emblematic of what was for sale. This guy had everything.
I realize that the US backup is in high demand and will fetch a kings' ransom in return. So I let the offers increase until I trade. One guy is offering his right kidney but I take his bag, two unworn Germany shirts and an unused Australia shirt in return. I make a few more trades, getting rid of some extra non Maccabiah shirts and getting things from every continent.
I meet Lithuanians for the first time at the games and decide to snap a picture.
The master of ceremonies is the elegant Israeli actress and supermodel Bar Refaeli. The show combines numerous athletic stalwarts, with entertainers and the true heroes from the IDF.
Looking for a place to sit in the crowded amphitheater, I wind up next to a young American woman, who turns out to be the 10K gold medalist. It turns out she is from Millburn and her mother is dating a Scotch Plains person.
With the chess competition 48 hours in the rear view mirror it is now time to continue support of other teams. The chess juniors are scheduled to go to the first soccer game where we are supposed to participate in the Lev'lev charity. I have breakfast with some of my favorite coaches-including the inimitableMike Schiesel of Water Polo and Joe the volleyball coach.
Breakfast was probably my favorite meal of the day in Israel. Plentiful Makyato, salads, omelettes and fish.
Of course I also had many dates in Israel
The first game featured the boys junior team against the gold standard of soccer-Brazil.
The boys scored first on an amazing bicycle kick by Jackson. they scored a second goal but Brazil came roaring back to score twice and tie the game before half time.
As the second half wore on, the boys lost the girls from their cheering section as they had to get ready for their game with Israel. The game remained tied through regulation and the first overtime. With penalty kicks looming the US scored with three minutes left to take the lead. But Brazil came right back down the field and beat the goalie with a shot towards the corner,but David, the amazing number 8 headed the ball out of the goal!
I spend an enjoyable afternoon with some of the indispensable Maccabi leadership team. Midway through the girls game they leave to attend the boy's basketball final 30 minutes away. It was nice to see the management team relaxing because I honestly have no idea when these people ever slept, especially Leon, who always kept us one step ahead with his daily email updates.
The girls game is not nearly as suspenseful. Two early goals are never answered by Israel. The girls dominate possession and win 2-0. It is happy bus ride back to Haifa. We attend our final coach's meeting at 10:30 that night in the 21st floor training room. It is a chance for many celebrations from goldmedal winning coaches. We are given our final set of instructions regarding the closing ceremonies and departure day on Tuesday. Sleep will be a scarce commodity once again.
It was a picture perfect Haifa summer afternoon and a chance to enjoy the Mediterranean once more.
No recap of Israel is complete without a stray cat. This one loved to hang out on the balcony when we ate.
This was a Sabbath to treasure. No more chess games and a day of leisure until we bus to the open hockey finals tonight. I meet a hotel guest and his lovely wife sunning by the pool. My camera caught more of her than him-just an accident..
The afternoon was spent enjoying the Mediterranean and playing water games like frisbee. The night trip to the hockey finals was long and we missed the start of the game,coming in mid first period with Canada ahead 2-1. That was as close as the US would get. The Americans were game but outgunned.
I spent an enjoyable time at the game with my roommate Mike.
The Canadian fans among the 8,000 in attendance showered the ice with hats after one of their players scored their third goal.
The scoreboard told the story:
Unfortunately, we were unable to get back to Jerusalem the following night to see the Juniors avenge the defeat.
It is important to get such a busy day off to a healthy start. Breakfast is always good.
Omelettes with blintzes,herring and latte
Gefilte fish with Horse Radish would made my wife happy
Halivah always in plentiful supply
The day starts early for me with a busride to the Hub to watch the junior boys soccer semi finals against Canada. I ride over with the junior girls soccer team who watch the scoreless first half and then exit for their final practice before Sunday's final against Israel.
The boys have their hands full with an aggressive Canadian team, which has the majority of the fans since they are hoteled at The Hub. As the tension mounts deep into the second half, I have to leave to take the walk up for the final round of the chess tournament. For good luck, I take some pieces out of my set and put them on the life size chessboard.
I arrive at the playing hall and
Zeltsan efficiently dispatches his Israeli opponent to clinch first place and the gold medal. The news is not as good from Jerusalem where Wyde loses to Moshe Gal of Israel and falls completely out of the medals race.
The final printout shows all the results. The US finished first overall and also had the top women's finisher.
Before we all broke up we took this great picture:
After a morning run and breakfast it was time to enjoy one of the advantages of a hotel on the beach. The Maccabiah Beach Volleyball competition was held on the beach right outside our hotel.
I made a new friend from Mexico-Miguel.I seem to be meeting Mikes all over the place.
It was time to locate the chess juniors and get them ready for an important round of the tournament. With one round to go in each tournament,Americans are atop the leaderboard with a chance to sweep the gold medals. Make it 6 in a row for red hot David Wyde as the Austin Assassin takes Jerusalem by storm. He is now tied for first with Moshe Gal at 7 points.
Joseph Zeltsan continued to dominate the Juniors with another win over teammate Kevin Ordet and leads Ezra Chambers by 1/2 point. "It wasn't easy for us to play since we are roommates and have played so many games this week," said Zeltsan. the Juniors tournament had Israeli grandmaster Evgeny Postny as a guest.
The tournament organizers spoke almost no English.
Back at the hotel, the boys prepared for another chess filled night in their room with members of the squash team that included Ryan and Nathan.
