For D1 basketball, games are broadcast on network TV, with great announcers and fancy camera angles. Though D3 basketball can be just as exciting, there is less public interest. You can still watch most of the games online, with aspiring broadcasters providing play-by-play. So on the first day of the NCAA tournament, I was tuned in to watch our League Champions, Stevens University. I went online a little early, and that's how I stumbled onto Yeshiva.
They were destroying Worcester Polyech at an empty Johns Hopkins basketball court. I was amused to see that most (if not all) of the players sported yarmulkas, which I believe are more correctly described as kippot. That was only part of the story. I was enlightened to the rest in a great recap written by Chuck Culpepper for the Washington Post.
This game was played in an empty basketball court because earlier that week, a student tested positive for Covid-19. The hotel the team had reserved refused to let them stay there. The game was delayed about 1 1/2 hours to determine if Worcester Polytech should even play.
Worcester got a green light, but now the pressure was on Yeshiva. Not to win, but to finish before sundown. You see, this is a team of Orthodox Jews, and Sabbath would start at 6:04 pm.
Well, the Maccabees easily prevailed, but they now had another problem. They were set to face Penn State-Harrisburg the very next night at 8:45 pm. This would be after sundown, but they would be unable to do any preparation during the Sabbath.
"The ancient texts, as it happens, don’t seem to allow Shabbat exceptions for March Madness," wryly observed Culpepper.
I was tuned in and watched the Maccabees stick it to PSU-Harrisburg, 102-83. It might not have been like the miracle with the menorah staying lit for eight days, but it was still exciting.
Yeshiva was set to play #3 Randolph-Macon today at 2 pm, but we'll never know whether they could defeat the Yellow Jackets. The NCAA has ended March Madness, at least on the basketball courts.
Update (8:35 am) - Basketball owes much of its popularity to the Jews, believe it or not!
3 comments:
Great story. Thanks for sharing. Reminds a bit of Sandy Koufax in '65. Playing CYO baseball, we weren't permitted to practice after noon on Good Friday until Monday, as it was disrespectful to play during the time commemorating Jesus' crucifixion and time in the tomb.
There was a time when baseball was illegal on Sundays. I read some old stories in the Express Times archives about that situation. We certainly have changed.
I enjoyed yeshiva. I told Dat there was no way they would win that second game bc they would be unable to prepare. Boy, was I wrong. They played and beat Moravian earlier in the season. If they play locally next year, I will try to be there.
For more about kippot:
https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/kippah
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