Jewish Jocks: An Unorthodox Hall of Fame [Hardcover]

Franklin Foer (Editor), Marc Tracy (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2012

2012 National Jewish Book Award Winner

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.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Marc Tracy and Franklin Foer have compiled JEWISH JOCKS: An Unorthodox Hall of Fame, essays on 'the most influential Jews in sports,' from athletes, coaches, and owners to broadcasters and statisticians. David Remnick, David Brooks, Jonathan Safran Foer, Jane Leavy, and Steven Pinker are among the heavyweight contributors. You'll laugh, you'll cry." (Publishers Weekly, Top 10 Sports Books Fall 2012 )

Editor's Choice: "Fifty well-written brief portraits." (The New York Times Book Review )

"Jewish Jocks' ends up convincing you of its theme: The history of Jews in sports is, in important ways, the history of sports." (Wall Street Journal Will Leitch )

"A must for the bookshelf of any Jewish sports fan." ( Kirkus Reviews )

"Belies the cheap punch line [to] prove that the Jewish sporting tradition is as rich as it is varied. Jewish Jocks features notable writers in peak form." (Sports Illustrated )

"A skillful collection... through its sheer comprehensiveness, JEWISH JOCKS also makes the argument that the Jewish athlete isn't an anomaly." (Los Angeles Times )

About the Author

Franklin Foer is editor of the New Republic and a Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation. He is the author of How Soccer Explains the World: An Unlikely Theory of Globalization.

Marc Tracy is a staff writer at the New Republic. Previously, he was a staff writer at Tablet magazine; the blog he edited there, The Scroll, won the 2011 National Magazine Award.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Twelve (October 30, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1455516139
• ISBN-13: 978-1455516131
• Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 6 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,220 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #16 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Humor > Sports
  • #27 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Miscellaneous > Essays

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "THE BIG LEBOWSKI: 3,000 YEARS OF BEAUTIFUL TRADITION: FROM MOSES TO SANDY KOUFAX" November 14, 2012

By Rick Shaq Goldstein

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

"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."

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Good book for Jewish sports-junkies... November 5, 2012

By Jill Meyer TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

"Jewish Jocks" is a compilation of short essays about Jews in the sports world. While the famous athletes - Sandy Koufax, Hank Greenberg, Mark Spitz - are accounted for in the book, editors Franklin Foer and Marc Tracy add many less acknowledged Jewish sportspeople, including gambler Arnold Rothstein, fantasy-baseball founder Daniel Okrent, and Jack Molinas, a basketball "point-shaver" from the early 1950's.

Each of the 50 or so essays highlight a part of the subject's life. Most are based on their careers in sports or collateral industries, but a few concentrate on their lives outside sports. All the essays tie their subjects to their religion. The writing is uniformly good throughout; the only exception was Buzz Bissinger's essay on boxer Barney Ross. He writes in a stream-of-concienceness way, which may be how he normally writes. I don't know but I found it basically unreadable. Many of the authors have personal ties to the subject they're writing about; Jane Leavy writes about inviting Sandy Koufax to her daughter's bat mitzvah, for instance.

"Jewish Jocks" is basically a thought-provoking look at many Jewish sportspeople. I was prompted to look up many of the subjects to find out more about them. And, in a few cases, I looked on them in a different light than before I read the book.

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for sports fans (or Jews) October 25, 2012

By diamonddon

Format:Hardcover

A quick and delightful read. Well written pieces by top notch and interesting writers, many with a new perspective. I.e. Bobby Fischer by Jonathan Safran Foer, Jane Leavy on Sandy Koufax coming to her daughter's bat mitzvah, Olympians Kerry Strug, Mark Spitz, and, by Deborah Lipstadt: one of the Munich wrestlers.