New top story from Time: How Israel’s Baseball Team Made It to the Tokyo Olympics

https://ift.tt/3llifl1

Six countries are competing for gold in baseball at the Tokyo Olympics—and five of them should come as little to surprise to fans of the sport: Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the Dominican Republic and the United States all have rich baseball traditions and have produced top Major League players. The sixth? Israel, a country which little baseball heritage that hasn’t made the Summer Games in a team sport in more than 40 years.

Israel’s unlikely baseball success dates partly to late 2016, when Peter Kurz, president of the Israel Association of Baseball, set up a meeting with Eric Holtz, owner of a baseball training facility in suburban New York City. Holtz had coached the U.S. baseball team at the Maccabiah Games, a quadrennial multi-sport competition in Israel featuring top Jewish athletes from around the world. Kurz offered Holtz a chance to take over Israel’s senior national team. “He basically said, ‘if we can do this, this, this, this and this,’ we’d have a chance to go to the Olympics,” Holtz tells TIME. “And I looked at him, and I was like, are you f–king nuts?”
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

Holtz accepted anyway, and Israel took care of that daunting checklist to make it to Tokyo: recruiting U.S.-based Jewish players with college and minor league experience, assisting them in making aliyah, or pilgrimage to Israel, to become Israeli citizens, and winning a gauntlet of Olympic qualifying games. Israel has only a smattering of baseball fields, and some of the players on the squad hold day jobs. Shlomo Lipetz, a 42-year-old pitcher and one of four Israeli natives on the 24-man team, also books music acts for the concert and event venue chain City Winery.

The last time an Israeli team sport qualified for the Olympics was 1976, when men’s soccer played in Montreal. It helps that eight players on the team in Tokyo have major league experience, including four-time All-Star Ian Kinsler and Danny Valencia, who played nine years in the big leagues from 2010-2018. Still, Israel, which opens up its tournament on Thursday against South Korea in Yokohama and plays Team USA on Friday, will face nations with much bluer baseball blood. The hope: a high-profile Olympic run will help Israel establish a tradition of its own.

“We’ve been compared to the Jamaican bobsled team,” says Holtz. “I love it. Because two years ago, nobody took us seriously. And all we did was go 17-4 in European qualifying tournaments. I hope that never changes. Let them pay more attention to the big-name teams, the big-country teams. Let them not worry about us. And we’ll just show up and play.”

Lipetz, the team’s veteran right-hander from Tel Aviv, first caught the baseball bug on a trip to New York when he was 7; his uncle took him to see the 1986 New York Mets, a character-filled team that went on to win the World Series. But when he got back home to Israel, he found few kids who shared his newfound passion. “You really had to dig hard to find someone playing baseball in Israel,” says Lipetz. Those who did used oversized gloves and undersized bats and played on soccer fields, with soccer cleats. Lipetz played for a ragtag local youth team that managed to make a Little League World Series qualifier. “We lost 41-0 to Saudi Arabia,” he says. (The Saudi team typically consists of children of the American ex-pats living in the country).

He stuck with it, however. After completing his compulsory military service, Lipetz played college ball for San Diego Mesa College and UC San Diego. Now, he’s almost certainly the only athlete at the Games balancing Olympic baseball with booking touring musicians.

“I work hard, I put in long hours, but then I also get to turn off my phone and play a kid’s game,” says Lipetz. “I mean, most 42-year-olds have a family of two and a beer belly and the most baseball they have is playing with their kids or watching on TV. And I’m still playing baseball. In the Olympics.”

But Team Israel’s story isn’t immune to the real world: with the recent 11-day war between Israel and Hamas and rising Middle East tensions, the team heightened its security during a pre-Olympic barnstorming exhibition tour along the East Coast. But while many athletes around the world continue to speak out about important world issues, Holtz hopes his team actually keeps focused on the field. “All we’re doing is playing baseball, dude,” says Holtz. “We’re representing a country. We’re not into the day-to-day political s–t.”

The tensions in the world beyond the diamond have sparked constructive locker room conversations. “It’s an opportunity to educate or to give folks on the team a slightly different perspective, whether it’d be the Israeli-Arab situation, or religious versus secular Jews,” says Lipetz. “It’s really just an opportunity for dialogue, and that’s a big part of our gel, is this real interest and curiosity of players.”

On the field, team confidence has grown thanks to the presence of the ex-major leaguers; Lipetz singles out Valencia as a spark. “He brings just a whole new layer of just swagger,” says Lipetz. “And has been a big, big piece in changing people’s mindset in Israeli baseball. Not only from players but also from coaches and administrators. Saying hey, guys, f–k underdog s–t. We’re going to win a medal.”

Valencia’s swagger, it seems, has rubbed off. “You’re going to see a bunch of guys that are in different places in life all coming together for a common goal,” says Lipetz. “We truly believe we belong. We’re not just here to be pretty. We really feel like we have a chance to win.”

Comments

Soldier killed in encounter with terrorists in J-K's Pulwama https://ift.tt/2XGQfvf

A soldier was killed in an encounter with terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district on Wednesday. After receiving information about the presence of terrorists, security forces launched a search operation in an orchard in Kamrazipora village of Pulwama in the early hours of the day.

New top story from Time: R. Kelly Found Guilty in Sex Trafficking Trial

https://ift.tt/3kMSmKc (NEW YORK) — The R&B superstar R. Kelly was convicted Monday in a sex trafficking trial after decades of avoiding criminal responsibility for numerous allegations of misconduct with young women and children. A jury of seven men and five women found Kelly guilty of racketeering on their second day of deliberations. The charges were based on an argument that the entourage of managers and aides who helped the singer meet girls—and keep them obedient and quiet—amounted to a criminal enterprise. Read more: A Full Timeline of Sexual Abuse Allegations Against R. Kelly [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Several accusers testified in lurid detail during the trial, alleging that Kelly subjected them to perverse and sadistic whims when they were underage. For years, the public and news media seemed to be more amused than horrified by allegations of inappropriate relationships with minors, starting with Kelly’s illegal marriage to the R&B phenom Aaliya...

How Muni is Tackling the 10 Worst Delay Hot Spots Across SF

How Muni is Tackling the 10 Worst Delay Hot Spots Across SF By Cassie Halls The SFMTA has had its fair share of ribbon-cutting ceremonies over the last two years. These celebrations draw attention to some of our biggest projects. Also attention-worthy are some of the more incremental efforts happening at the agency. One such effort led by the Muni Forward team is the Transit Delay Hot Spots Program , launched in February 2020 . Muni Forward is known for corridor projects such as the L Taraval Improvement Project , 16 th Street Improvement Project , and M Oceanview Transit and Safety Project . These efforts are increasing the already sizeable 80 miles of transit reliability upgrades since 2014. There are also other ways we’re working to slash travel times and improve reliability across the Muni network. The Transit Delay Hot Spots Program aims to tackle the 10 worst “delay hot spots” each year, where buses crawl between stops at four miles an hour or less. We’re looking cl...

Bus Testing on the New Van Ness BRT Corridor a Success

Bus Testing on the New Van Ness BRT Corridor a Success By Nehama Rogozen Muni and Golden Gate Transit staff recently conducted important bus operations testing that is an important step towards the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor opening this spring. This testing included emergency turns and maneuvers, repositioning buses, verifying signals are working, clearances between passing buses and safe turns while bike racks are deployed. The training also included several staff. Traffic engineers made sure traffic and transit signals were working and reviewed street markings. Transportation planners coordinated closely with operations, training, engineering and construction staff to make necessary adjustments. Outreach staff and ambassadors answered questions and made sure customers knew testing was taking place. Field manager...

New top story from Time: Germany Has Officially Recognized Colonial-Era Atrocities in Namibia. But For Some, Reconciliation Is a Long Way Off

https://ift.tt/3fVRkaO The German government formally recognized colonial-era atrocities against the Herero and Nama people in modern-day Namibia for the first time, referring to the early 20th century massacres as “genocide” on Friday and pledging to pay a “ gesture to recognize the immense suffering inflicted.” “In light of the historical and moral responsibility of Germany, we will ask Namibia and the descendants of the victims for forgiveness,” said German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in a statement , adding that the German government will fund projects related to “reconstruction and the development” of Namibia amounting to €1.1 billion ($1.3 billion). The sum will be paid out over 30 years and must primarily benefit the descendants of the Herero and Nama, Agence France-Presse reported . [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Although it’s a significant step for a once colonial power to agree such a deal with a former colony, there’s skepticism among some experts and ob...

New top story from Time: A Conversation with Filmmaker Adam Curtis on Power, Technology and How Ideas Get Into People’s Heads

https://ift.tt/2NQRzcY The British filmmaker Adam Curtis may work for the BBC, a bastion of the British elite, but over a decades-long career, he has cemented himself as a cult favorite. He is best known as the pioneer of a radical and unique style of filmmaking, combining reels of unseen archive footage, evocative music, and winding narratives to tell sweeping stories of 20th and 21st century history that challenge the conventional wisdom. “I’ve never thought of myself as a documentary maker,” he says. “I’m a journalist.” On Feb. 11, Curtis dropped his latest epic: Can’t Get You Out of My Head , an eight hour history of individualism, split up over six episodes. Subtitled “An emotional history of the modern world,” the goal of the series, Curtis says, was to unpack how we came to live in a society designed around the individual, but where people increasingly feel anxious and uncertain. It’s a big question, and Curtis attempts to answer it by taking us on a winding journ...

New top story from Time: America’s War in Afghanistan Is Over. But in the Horn of Africa, its War On Terror Rages On

https://ift.tt/2ZEtko9 In a remote corner of eastern Africa, behind tiers of razor wire and concrete blast walls, it’s possible to get a glimpse of America’s unending war on terrorism. Camp Lemonnier, a 550-acre military base, houses U.S. special-operations teams tasked with fighting the world’s most powerful al-Qaeda affiliates. Unfolding over miles of sun-scorched desert and volcanic rock inside the tiny country of Djibouti, the base looks—the troops stationed here will tell you—like a sand-colored prison fortress. Inside, two subcamps sit behind opaque 20-ft. fences ringed with yet more razor wire. The commando teams emerge anonymously from behind the gates and board lumbering cargo planes to fly across Djibouti’s southern border with Somalia for what they call “episodic engagements” with local forces fighting al-Shabab , al-Qaeda’s largest offshoot. General Stephen Townsend, commander of military operations in Africa, describes it as “commuting to work.” The Pentagon has ...

New top story from Time: In New Zealand, ‘Hello’ Has Become ‘Kia Ora.’ Will That Save the Māori Language?

https://ift.tt/2LMKZ6a Kenny Williams began to study the Māori language during his second COVID-19 lockdown . Williams, 36, lives alone and the isolation made him yearn to feel closer to his identity as an indigenous New Zealander—an identity he had spent most of his childhood trying to hide. After he ordered some Māori language books, he found his studies helped him build a connection to his Māori history. “I didn’t know it was a gap that was missing in my life,” he says. It’s not just lockdown isolation—New Zealanders of all stripes are signing up to learn the language of the Māori people, New Zealand’s original inhabitants—“te reo Māori,” as it is widely called. But COVID-19 may have provided a boost: One university reported that 7,000 people accessed a free online Māori language and culture course in a 10-day period during lockdown. The New Zealand government has pledged to ensure 1 million residents are able to speak basic Māori by 2040—an effort to revive a langu...

Take Muni’s Safety Survey!

Take Muni’s Safety Survey! By Greer Cowan Everyone should feel safe on Muni. Help make Muni safer by taking the SFMTA’s survey about personal safety and harassment in the Muni system. As part of the MuniSafe Safety Equity Initiative launched in August 2022, the SFMTA has partnered with the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies to better understand Muni riders’ experiences and develop safety recommendations, tools and policies aimed at preventing harassment and assault on Muni. Take the 5-minute survey Survey information will also help the SFMTA understand Muni customers’ specific safety needs and challenges, and help us identify valuable trends and patterns so we know where, when and how harassment shows up in the Muni system. Incidents often go unreported, but the SFMTA is working to change that with new reporting options. As of October 2022, Muni customers can report incidents of harassment by calling 311, using the 311 mobile app or using t...

Better Connections from Bayview and Hunters Point to Downtown

Better Connections from Bayview and Hunters Point to Downtown By Enrique Aguilar To better connect southeast San Franciscans with downtown, the SFMTA debuted the 15 Bayview Hunters-Point Express in late January, coinciding with the return of T Third train service. Within weeks, average daily boardings reached 1,000 customers on this new service. The 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express We added this route based on community feedback from the Southeast Muni Expansion Project in 2018, which prioritized a more direct trip to downtown from the Bayview. With the sudden rise of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impacts on communities in the Bayview and Hunters Point, fast-tracking the project became critical to our transit planning. Adding service capacity and a direct connection between these neighborhoods and downtown is a crucial step in supporting the City’s economic recovery and increasing job access for essential workers using transit. Using data from the SFMTA Equ...

My precise view

Search This Blog