May 19, 2010 | 10:45 pm

Wayne Odesnik Gets a 2 Year Ban

Posted by Jeremy Fine

Follow me on

The Great Rabbino doesn’t cover too much Tennis. We did post an interview with Paul Goldstein, but really we have not done too much. The reality is while there are a bunch of good Jewish players, rarely do they make headlines. Shahar Pe’er occasionally is in the news and Andy Ram has been a successful doubles player. But this time its Wayne Odesnik made the headlines.

Who you ask? Odesnik is currently ranked 111th in the world and hasn’t reached higher than 77th. He has played in 6 majors. His biggest wins came against Ivan Ljubicic in 2007 and in 2009 he beat Igor Kunitsyn. Nothing too substantial and he has never really been in the spotlight until now.

Odesnik recently received a two year ban from the International Tennis Federation because of importing Human Growth Hormones from Australia. Two months ago he pleaded guilty to the charges. Odesnik denied allegations of ever using HGH and has never tested positive for the substance. The ITF said, “Mr. Odesnik did not in fact obtain or apply for a therapeutic use exemption ... prior to obtaining it,” the ITF said in a statement. “Accordingly, Mr. Odesnik’s possession of the human growth hormone is an anti-doping rule violation.”

While this might not be a major blow to the tennis world, it is certainly a blow to the Jewish tennis world. Odesnik officially began his suspension on December 29th 2009. The story has just recently gone public. For more on Odesnik’s situation check out www.cbssports.com/tennis/story/13411923/american-odesnik-gets-twoyear-ban-for-doping?tag=globalNav.tennis;headlines.

And Let Us Say…Amen.
-Jeremy Fine
For More On Jewish Sports Check Out WWW.THEGREATRABBINO.COM

0 Comments — Leave your comment

Share this post: del.icio.us Digg Facebook Google Reddit StumbleUpon Technorati YahooMyWeb

May 17, 2010 | 3:01 am

Coaches Wanted?

Posted by Jeremy Fine

Every offseason there is what sports fans call a coaching carousel. It mainly happens in college sports when a team did well and a better college program snatches away their coach. In the NBA teams usually look for one of four categories; coach with experience, coach who was a former player/leader on the court, an assistant coach, or a successful college coach.

The Jewish coach that has the most experience is Larry Brown. While he currently has a job with the Charlotte Bobcats and his former phenom Michael Jordan, there are rumors circulating that Brown has interest of heading back to the Philadelphia 76ers. A few weeks back Brown said that Charlotte would be his last stop, but it seems a potential Iverson-less 76er team is intriguing. While Brown has denied the rumors, the 76ers seem to be interested. To read more check out http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/21324739?tag=comBlogEntryListCnt;entry21324739.

Another coach of Jewish interest is Lawrence Frank. Frank most recently coached the New Jersey Nets but was fired mid-season after a horrendous start. The New Orleans Hornets had Frank in for an interview last week. The Hornets have a long list of candidates but Frank seems to have as much a chance as anybody. The Nets did have a horrible season but the team he had to work with was pathetic to watch all season long, with or without Frank as their leader. With the Hornets he would inherit a solid foundation with All Stars Chris Paul and David West. Read more at www.cbssports.com/nba/story/13378527/hornets-add-to-list-of-candidates-interview-frank-williams?tag=headlines;headlines.

The last coach to watch out for is Bruce Pearl. Yes, Bruce Pearl. While he won’t be joining the professional ranks (I don’t believe so), there is rumor that John Callipari might be headed to coach in the NBA either in Chicago or New Jersey. Callipari has repeatedly denied these rumors, but I am not sure he is such a trustworthy guy in situations where money is involved. If Callipari was to jump back into the NBA, Pearl would probably become the number candidate for the Kentucky job. After an Elite Eight appearance Pearl seems to be a likely candidate. Pearl was heavily rumored to be heading to Kentucky a few years back, but said to have never wanted to leave Tennessee. But if the price was right you never know what might happen.

This summer the world will be watching Lebron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, and others. But do not forget about the (Jewish) guys who coach them.

And Let Us Say…Amen.
-Jeremy Fine
For More Information On Jews and Sports Check Out WWW.THEGREATRABBINO.COM

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 13, 2010 | 9:35 pm

LPGA Golfer Blasberg Found Dead at 25

Posted by Jeremy Fine

Before Monday few people outside of the LPGA tour knew of Erica Blasberg. It is sad that it took such an unfortunate event to learn about her story. Blasberg was a successful collegiate golfer. She has been a professional golfer since 2004. Monday, Blasberg was found dead at her home in Henderson Nevada at the young age of 25.

Blasberg was a professional golfer on the LPGA tour. Before Blasberg turned pro she attended Arizona University where she was ranked #1 in the country as freshman. Soon after her sophomore year she decided to take her game to the next level. She turned pro in 2004 and quickly won the Laconia Savings Bank Golf Classic. By 2005 she was on the circuit but did not experience too much success. Early on she struggled to make cuts and rarely finished near the top. From 2006 -2008 she finished near the bottom on the annual money lists. In 2009 she attempted to put her professional life back on track, but never really got started. In 2010 her playing opportunities were limited. She did play in one tournament, the Tres Marias Championship in Mexico, where she finished 44th.

Her connection to Judaism was not particularly strong. Recently, a fan asked on her website about her connection to Judaism. She responded by saying she was Christian, Catholic, and Jewish but not particularly religious. She has also been seen in pictures wearing a Cross. Currently, her website www.EricaBlasberg.com is down out of respect for Blasberg’s memory. Her webpage reads, “Out of respect for the Blasberg family and due to the overwhelming inquiries relating to Erica’s untimely and tragic death, EricaBlasberg.com is currently offline until further notice. A memorial service for Erica Blasberg will be held on May 19th at 11:00am at Eagle Glen Golf Club in Corona (CA). The service is open to the public. Those who wish to send flowers can deliver arrangements to the Eagle Glen Golf Club and cards and letters can be sent for the Blasberg family to REP 1 Sports Group or can be emailed to chase@rep1sports.com. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time.”

Her father, Mel, found Erica’s body and immediately called 9-1-1. He thought originally that it was suicide but then recanted his statement. There is currently an ongoing investigation into the Blasberg case. Erica Blasberg seemed to be a wonderful human being who never gave up on her dream. We wish her family our condolences and may her memory be for a blessing.

And Let Us Say…Amen.

For More Information on Jews in Sports please check out www.TheGreatRabbino.com.

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 12, 2010 | 9:41 pm

TGR Fantasy Baseball Team

Posted by Jeremy Fine

I have decided to reach out to the fans of TGR and find out how they think I am doing in fantasy baseball. I have made a bunch of moves already this season. My league had some scheduling issues and we ended up with a auto-draft. This put me into a bit of a whole since it auto-drafted me Javier Vazquez, Carlos Lee, and Derek Lee. So I have been active making two trades and 15 transactions. I started with my four keepers (Joe Mauer, Miguel Cabrera, Matt Holliday, and Jonanthan Broxton). Here is how the rest of my team filled out via the auto draft.

1. (6) Joe Mauer C
2. (15) Miguel Cabrera 1B
3. (26) Matt Holliday OF
4. (35) Jonathan Broxton RP
5. (46) Jacoby Ellsbury OF
6. (55) Brandon Phillips 2B
7. (66) Derrek Lee 1B
8. (75) Carlos Lee OF
9. (86) Javier Vázquez SP
10. (95) Ricky Nolasco SP
11. (106) Rickie Weeks 2B
12. (115) Jason Bartlett SS
13. (126) Brett Anderson SP
14. (135) Chipper Jones 3B
15. (146) Kevin Correia SP
16. (155) Alfredo Aceves RP
17. (166) Frank Francisco RP
18. (175) Vladimir Guerrero Util
19. (186) Casey Blake 3B
20. (195) Juan Rivera OF
21. (206) Jonathan Sánchez SP
22. (215)  Erik Bedard SP

So that was the team dealt to me. I have definitely made some poor decisions but I think some good ones as well. Probably shouldn’t have dropped Weeks and Sanchez but I think Heyward, Braden, and Hughes were great pickups. Help judge my moves below and maybe some advice on where I need to go from here:

1. Dropped Rickie Weeks
Added Magglio Ordonez

2. Dropped Alfredo Aceves
Added Franklin Gutierrez

3. Dropped Erik Bedard
Added Johnny Cueto

4. Dropped Jonathan Sanchez
Added Cole Hamels

5. Dropped Johnny Cueto
Added Jason Heyward

6. Dropped Casey Blake
Added Fausto Carmona

7. Dropped Juan Rivera
Added Erik Bedard (place on DL)

8. Added Chris Young

9. Traded Kevin Correia for Miguel Tejada (received Tejada)

10. Dropped Chris Young
Added Matt Capps

11. Dropped Frank Francisco
Added Ricky Romero

12. Dropped Erik Bedard (place Jacoby Ellsbury on DL)
Added Chase Headley

13. Dropped Cole Hamels
Added Dallas Braden

14. Dropped Brett Anderson
Added Phil Hughes

15. Dropped Chipper Jones
Added Brett Gardner

16. Traded Matt Holliday and Javier Vazquez for Ian Kinsler and Roy Oswalt

And Let Us Say…Amen.
-Jeremy Fine
For More Jewish in Sports Check Out WWW.THEGREATRABBINO.COM

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 11, 2010 | 9:54 pm

Milwaukee’s Manic Monday

Posted by Jeremy Fine

It was an up and down day for Jewish baseball in Milwaukee.

Monday Night the Milwaukee Brewers placed Carlos Gomez (not Jewish) on the DL which made room for Adam Stern (Jewish) to become a reserve outfielder. This is Stern’s third stint in the major leagues. He was first called up with the Boston Red Sox in 2005 where he played with Craig Breslow, Kevin Youkilis, and Gabe Kapler. There is had 35 ABs and batted .143. And in 2007 he got called up by the Baltimore Orioles but did not have an AB.

Stern has been solid in the minor leagues batting .346 with 1HR and an OBP of .429. Don’t expect Stern to be in the majors too long, as Gomez is one of the young players the Brewers are counting on and his injury does not appear to be serious.

On the negative note, Ryan Braun who has been awesome all season long was hit by a pitch Monday night. The pitch came in the fourth inning when Tommy Hanson’s fastball struck Braun’s elbow. Braun is listed as day to day.

And Let Us Say…Amen.
-Jeremy Fine
For more Jewish in Sports check out WWW.THEGREATRABBINO.OM

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 10, 2010 | 10:49 pm

Landesberg Joins Scheyer

Posted by Jeremy Fine

May 8th has passed and Sylven Landesberg has decided to remain in the NBA draft and end his college career at Virginia. Landesberg has been a solid player over his two seasons for Virginia. While his team struggled Landesberg excelled by averaging 16.6 ppg his freshman season. He followed that up with 17.3 ppg in his sophomore campaign. This past season he also grabbed 4.9 rpg and dished out 2.9 apg.

Landesberg was missing in the discussion of top NCAA players all season long because he played for a sub-par team. But he made national headlines when he struggled academically and was benched for his final ACC tournament. His negative publicity forced his hand to enter the draft. Now Landesberg will join Jon Scheyer with the hopes of getting drafted this summer. This could mean, if both players get drafted, that the amount of Jewish NBA players will double to four. Landesberg and Scheyer hope to have the same kind of success Omri Casspi enjoyed in his rookie season.

Keep an eye on both of them during the up coming draft.

With Jewish basketball on the mind I wanted to announce that for TGR’s one year anniversary we will be releasing our exclusive interview with NBA Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes on July 8th. Check it out at WWW.THEGREATRABBINO.COM.

And Let Us Say..Amen.
-Jeremy Fine

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 9, 2010 | 10:54 pm

2010 Baseball Update

Posted by Jeremy Fine

We thought now would be a good chance to catch up with how our Jewish Major Leaguers have performed this year. There has been some good and some bad, but overall the positives of Ryan Braun and Ike Davis outweigh the negatives. We could be witnessing a MVP and RoY in the same season. Below is how all the players have played up until this point.

Brad Ausmus (C), Los Angeles Dodgers (on disabled list) - Ausmus has basically spent the entire season of the DL. Its hard to judge him to this point since he only had 4 ABs. He might miss the entire season.

Craig Breslow (P), Oakland A’s - Breslow has struggled with elbow tendinitis. But he still has managed 11.1 innings and his era is under 4.00. He has 13 Ks in those 11 innings.

Ryan Braun (LF), Milwaukee Brewers - What can we say about Braun. He is right now one of the front runners for NL MVP. He is batting .364 with 6 HRs and 28 RBIs. He has posted a .447 OBP and .612 SLG. It will be awesome to see Braun continue his hot streak. Mind you he is doing all this without protection from Prince Fielder who has been in a slump all season long.

Ike Davis (1B), New York Mets - Since Davis has been in the majors he has helped the Mets turn their season around. He is hitting .296, with 3 HRs. He might be joining Braun with some end of the season hardware. Rookie of the Year?

Scott Feldman (P), Texas Rangers - Feldman has struggled. He is 1-3 with a 5.45 era. TGR had high hopes for Feldman this season. Hopefully he can find his stuff.

John Grabow (P), Chicago Cubs - Grabow has had the unfortunate experience of playing with losing teams throughout his career. But this season Grabow has been part of the problem. His era is 9.26 and his record is 0-2.

Gabe Kapler (RF), Tampa Bay Ray - Kapler is a bench player and has only had 38 ABs. He does have a home run and 6 RBIs in his limited role.

Ian Kinsler (2B), Texas Rangers - Since coming off the DL Kinsler has batted .343 with 4 runs. Expect his home runs and steals to pick up once he gets into a groove.

Jason Marquis (P), Washington Nationals (on disabled list) - Marquis was awful at the start of the season. In 3 starts he lasted a total of 8.1 innings and posted an ERA over 20. He landed on the DL with elbow trouble and hopefully he can come back and regain his 2009 form.

Scott Schoeneweis (P), Boston Red Sox - Schoeneweis has already pitched 12.1 innings for the BoSox. Yes, his era is over 8 but Boston continues to put him in games and eat up innings. He is 1-0 with 11 Ks.

Kevin Youkilis (1B), Boston Red Sox - Youkilis had a rough start to the season, but has been a monster as of late. He has upped his average to .306 with 5 HRs and 15 RBIs. He also has a solid 24 Runs.

Braun, Davis, and Youkilis have been great. Feldman, Grabow, and Marquis not so much. Kinsler and Breslow need to get over some injuries and should go back to 2009 form.

For more information I encourage people to check out www.jewsinbaseball.blogspot.com.

Below is the Jewish Baseball play of the year and video of the week courtesy of Ike Davis. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r3MRaG9i54

And Let Us Say…Amen.
-Jeremy Fine
For More On Jewish Sports Check Out WWW.THEGREATRABBINO.COM

0 Comments — Leave your comment

May 9, 2010 | 6:30 am

Al Davis’ Big(ger) Bust

Posted by Jeremy Fine

As a Bears fan I know all about bad quarterbacks. In 1997 the Bears traded the 7th overall pick for an unproven Rick Mirer. In 1999 we had the unfortunate experience of drafting Cade McNown. We also experimented with Kordell Stewart and Henry Burris. But none of this compares to Al Davis’ failure to make the right picks. Last year’s pick of Darrius Heyward-Bay over Michael Crabtree looks to be just another pick in a long line of blunders.

But the biggest bust of Al Davis’ ownership and maybe in the history of the NFL is JaMarcus Russell. With the number one pick in 2007 the Raiders thought they had found the future of their franchise. But once again Davis blew it. Russell has started 25 games over 3 years. Last year his job was taken away by nobodies after throwing 11 picks and only 3 TDs. Yikes.

Last week the Raiders let him go. The Raiders decided to part ways with the top pick in the 2007 draft a move that had to be done if the Raiders ever want to get back on track.

And now my bold statement.

I have been watching ESPN and reading online about who is the biggest bust of all time. Most, if not all, have chosen Ryan Leaf. And while the hype around Leaf was greater, I believe Russell is a bigger bust. I know Russell could still make it. He could sign on with another team and turn his fortune around. And if he does, props to him. But as of right now Russell is a bigger bust than Leaf. Why you ask? Well, on the surface Leaf went #2 and Russell went #1. The Chargers did not have a chance to take Peyton Manning. The Chargers took what fell to them. The Raiders chose Russell over everyone else. Over Calvin Johnson, over Adrian Peterson, and over Patrick Willis. Yes, the quarterback choices were horrible in 2007 (Trent Edwards, Brady Quinn, Tyler Thigpen and Kevin Kolb are the top QBs of that draft).

Since 1998 the list of number one draft picks include Peyton Manning, Tim Couch, Courtney Brown, Michael Vick, David Carr, Carson Palmer, Eli Manning, Alex Smith, Mario Williams, Jake Long, Matt Stafford, and Sam Bradford. The only players not to make a pro bowl are Couch, Brown, Carr, Smith, Stafford, and Bradford. Take Stafford and Bradford out of the equation because they are too young. Carr and Smith are still in the league and have lasted longer than Leaf and Russell. Brown got injured was forced to retire early so its hard to place him in same category. That leaves Couch, who by no standards had a successful career, as the only player left. Couch had one solid season in 2002. And that one season removes him from the conversation of BIGGEST bust.

Here is the list of number 2 picks since 1999 (‘98 was Leaf). Donavon McNabb, LaVarr Arrington, Leonard Davis, Julius Peppers, Charles Rogers, Robert Gallery, Ronnie Brown, Reggie Bush, Calvin Johnson, and Jason Smith. Just the sight of Rogers and Gallery make me cringe. Gallery is still in the league, but like Rogers really never lived up to his potential. Both are in the conversation of BIGGEST BUST.

The point of the comparison is that since 1998 far more number 1s have had real success than the number twos. 16 pro bowls for the #2s and 19 for the #1s.

The Leaf to Russell comparison does not stop at where they were picked. As I noted before in Russell’s last season (Russell’s most important season) he threw 3 TDs and 11INTs. Leaf, while he had more picks, threw for 11 TDs in his best season. He also got to play for a second team, a fate that Russell may or may not have. Even if he signs with another NFL team, what is the likelihood he sees the field?

I will give the Leaf supporters this much. Leaf, even though years away from the game, continues to sink further and further. Making negative headlines all the time.

I suggest that unless Russell wants to remain in such an elite category of failures, he get his act together and figure out how to win. And for Al Davis, its time to hire people who can scout talent. Stop taking risks. Stop betting on potential. Take the best player available.

And Let Us Say…Amen.
-Jeremy Fine
For More On Jewish Sports Check Out WWW.THEGREATRABBINO.COM
Picture by: BrokenSphere

2 Comments — Leave your comment