Jewish Jocks: An Unorthodox Hall of Fame

by Franklin Foer (Editor), Marc Tracy (Editor)

JEWISH JOCKS: AN UNORTHODOX HALL OF FAME is a timeless collection of biographical musings, sociological riffs about assimilation, first-person reflections, and, above all, great writing on some of the most influential and unexpected pioneers in the world of sports. Featuring work by today’s preeminent writers, these essays explore significant Jewish athletes, coaches, broadcasters, trainers, and even team owners (in the finite universe of Jewish Jocks, they count!).

Contributors include some of today’s most celebrated writers covering a vast assortment of topics, including David Remnick on the biggest mouth in sports, Howard Cosell; Jonathan Safran Foer on the prodigious and pugnacious Bobby Fischer; Man Booker Prize–winner Howard Jacobson writing elegantly on Marty Reisman, America’s greatest ping-pong player and the sport’s ultimate showman. Deborah Lipstadt examines the continuing legacy of the Munich Massacre, the fortieth anniversary of which coincided with the 2012 London Olympics. Jane Leavy reveals why Sandy Koufax agreed to attend her daughter’s bat mitzvah. And we learn how Don Lerman single-handedly thrust competitive eating into the public eye with three pounds of butter and 120 jalapeño peppers. These essays are supplemented by a cover design and illustrations throughout by Mark Ulriksen.

From settlement houses to stadiums and everywhere in between, JEWISH JOCKS features men and women who do not always fit the standard athletic mold. Rather, they utilized talents long prized by a people of the book (and a people of commerce) to game these games to their advantage, in turn forcing the rest of the world to either copy their methods—or be left in their dust.

Genres: Sports, Jewish, Nonfiction, Essays

304 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Franklin Foer was the editor of The New Republic (2006-10, 2012-14)and has written for Slate , New York magazine., and The Atlantic.
He has published several nonfitction books dealing with sports, technology, and globalism. Foer, who lives in Washington, D.C., is older brother of novelist Jonathan Safran Foer and freelance journalist Joshua Foer.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Rich · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reading of the 50 essays in the recent book, Jewish Jocks, edited by Franklin Foer (brother of novelist Jonathan Safran Foer) and Marc Tracy, leads me to a few conclusions. One, that most Jewish sports figures are short. Really short. Like 5’7” and shorter, with a few exceptions that prove the rule. Second, that the kind of Jewishness that binds them all together is a kind of Jewishness of character: more often brainy than brawny; more strategic than strapping; more thoughtful than thuggish. I’m not sure this is enough to dredge Jewishness out of the motley but engaging crew that comprises these variegated portraits—on this counting, they all might as well be Asian. But hey, they are all members of the tribe.

“Sports” is a broad category in this book. The American trinity of baseball, basketball and football is well represented; so is competitive eating, which is at best an anti-sport, an imperfect duplicate of an athletic event from the Bizarro planet. The personalities range wide too, from the endearingly abrasive (Howard Cosell) to those whose lives ended far too soon (the massacred Israeli team at Munich), and includes sports practitioners as well as commentators. One surprising omission is Dmitry Salita, the Orthodox Jewish boxer.

Like they did for me, many of the vignettes may have you going to Wikipedia to learn more. All in all, a collection that brings our heroes down from the pedestal into the stickball streets, honored but not idolized. Athletes, machers, pioneers, nut cases — welcome to the wide world of the Jewish jock.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun selection of essays, great reading that both my son and I enjoyed reading together.

[RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN · Rating 5 out of 5]

RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “THE BIG LEBOWSKI: 3,000 YEARS OF BEAUTIFUL TRADITION: FROM MOSES TO SANDY KOUFAX”
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“Jewish Jocks” is the perfect formula for all that is special in modern Jewish literature… history past and present… more sorrow than any one people deserve to be burdened with… denigration that many don’t… won’t… and shouldn’t put up with… writing that from paragraph to paragraph can range from poetic… to humorous… to agonizingly emotional if you are a true member of the tribe… role models in areas you may not have thought to look for them in… and the beautiful sense of family and pride over the centuries… and yes… more and more Jewish idols and role models in sports!

The very short stories that range from Sid Luckman to Sandy Koufax… and from Mose Soloman (whose signing by John McGraw and the Giants led to the following headline in the Sporting News: “McGRAW PAYS 50K FOR ONLY JEWISH BALLPLAYER IN CAPTIVITY.”) to boxing champion Barney Ross whose story written by Buzz Bissinger is probably the most powerful six page story you’ll read in many a year!

The multiplicity of authors with subjects ranging from boxers from over 250 years ago to ping pong players to a basketball coach named Auerbach who never paid “retail” for the stars he acquired through trades, in what history has proven to be almost always one-sided in *THE-RED*… also include members of the tribe of Israel that are infamous as well. Including Arnold Rothstein who was part of the throwing of the 1919 World Series as well as Jack Molinas who helped throw basketball games from all sides of the court. What makes each short story provide a larger impact to the reader than the mere total of the pages… is that you can feel the personal heartfelt feelings in almost every writer’s story.

In my opinion this book is not unlike a top athlete who can hit, field, run, throw and hit with power. This book can make you laugh… and make you want to cry. You are reminded of the Holocaust… and really what human being should ever forget that… with facts such as: “Three quarters of Dutch Jewry was murdered in the Holocaust, a higher proportion than anywhere else in western Europe”… it motivates you when the great Hank Greenberg said about all the anti-Semitic attacks: “IT DROVE ME TO DO BETTER, TO PROVE THAT A JEW COULD BE A BALLPLAYER.” And the humor… “G-d made the Gentiles because someone had to buy retail.”

There are so many great stories in this one book… and I’d be amiss to not make note of the one on the great prideful Al Rosen who fought back on and off the baseball field against the despicable anti-Semitism he faced and it “only intensified Rosen’s Jewish identity.”

There’s a lot to be learned for both Jews and Gentiles in this book… from the fact “Between the two world wars, there were twenty-six Jewish boxing champions, including two of the greatest fighters of the era, Benny Leonard and Barney Ross”… to the tough as nails Jewish quarterback who changed the game by the name of Sid Luckman… “Sid (changing yet another stereotype) is remembered less for his brain than for his brawn. It was impossible to keep Sid Luckman out of a crucial contest. Like Moshe Dayan or Bugsy Siegel, he was the big Yid who tells the world, “YOU THINK YOU KNOW US, BUT YOU’RE WRONG.”

P.S. And a little humor for the road: “Arnold Rothstein is the price we pay for Albert Einstein

[Roger Smitter · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun -- and sometimes informative -- book. The authors, Franklin Foer and March Tracy, call themselves editors but they have made a statement of importance. We learn about well known players but but the power of the book comes from the wide territory the authors handle. Hardly a great book but a fun read.

[Adam Jacques · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jewish Jocks: An Unorthodox Hall of Fame Is a collection of short memoirs and/or biographies. The men and women featured in this book range from Sandy Koufax to Mark Spitz to Howard Cosell. These guys and girls didn't necessarily know how to run the bases, shoot hoops, or battle it out in the ring but they were deemed as Jewish Jocks. Some were T.V. reporters others General managers for baseball teams. One even helped fix the 1919 famous "Black Sox Scandal" These are the Jocks that happen to be Jewish in this book.

I would recommend this book as a coffee table read in the sense that you see a name that you know or like and you read their story and skip around to different ones. I wouldn't recommend sitting down and reading each story cover to cover (I learned this the hard way).
Otherwise it is a good book that people of all religions will like but the Jewish readers will find it more entertaining.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid selection of essays about Jewish sports heroes, non-heroes, sports journalists, and villains linked to sports by writers including Simon Schama, David Brooks, Ira Berkow, and Buzz Bissinger. Where you might find yourself wanting more Hank Greenberg or Sandy Koufax, it's important to remember that you can easily find whole books about these titans elsewhere. Where this collection shines is when you read about someone new, someone influential about who you know little or nothing, such as 19th c. British boxing champ Daniel Mendoza and American boxing champ Benny Leonard. This not to mention Sid Luckman, Ron Mix, and Bill Goldberg.

It's a quick read, and its format makes it perfect reading for trips or the bathroom.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a lot reading this book. Stories I'd never heard, angles I didn't know. (Mark Cuban is Jewish?)

Many stories left me wanting more, which is good and bad. Good because that meant they were interesting, bad because so many seemed more like ideas for profiles than actual profiles. (And, let's face it, many talked about the exact same stereotypes in very similar language.) A bit disappoint in Dahlia Lithwick's piece; very standard piece for someone who writes so brilliantly about the Supreme Court.

Thanks to Bryan for sending this to me.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jewish Jocks tells the life stories of many famous Jewish athletes. Some of them have revolutionized their respective sports while other are just stand out athletes. Some of the people in the book are predictable, like Hank Greenberg or Mark Spitz, while others, like Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, are not always easily identifiable as Jewish. It is surprising how many seemingly unknown Jews play such huge roles in developing modern sports. All in all, I learned many things and was very entertained by Jewish Jocks.

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting information, but it feels like a rush job. They picked too many people to write about whom I would have left out. Plus, I'd have liked to know more about some whose stories only got a page or two. Too many like Bud Selig are not jocks. It demonstrates the problem of putting a label on a group of people based on their race, religion or ethnic background. It tries to make a connection where in many cases none exists.

[K C · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow never got into this book. The essays were very well written and some were even entertaining, but mostly I found it a slog to get through them all. Too many about jocks I really didn't care about and not enough about those I did.

[Gail Richardson · Rating 2 out of 5]

RECEIVED BOOK FREE THROUGH GOODREADS FIRST READS. Not really a sports fan, but, found stories to be insight and some humorous. It delves into the lives of some famous sports figures. If you are a fan, you'll enjoy this read.

[Tobias · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review forthcoming.

[Sam Allard · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 /5)

Review published in Cleveland Plain Dealer:
http://www.cleveland.com/books/index....

[Elliot Chalom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. Could have been so much better.

My full take on this book over at http://2bitmonkey.wordpress.com/2013/...

[Joseph · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, whatever. Some interesting anecdotes, but reads like a Buzzfeed article.

[Toby · Rating 4 out of 5]

first reads giveaway