Day 14 - Tuesday, July 21st

Left for the airport early in the morning for the airport to catch the 11:40am flight home. It's a 12 hour flight on the return and I'm stuck with a middle seat. At least one of the people next to me is one of my teammates, so if I need to snuggle, it won't be so awkward. We have about 6 of us on this flight home and there are athletes from some other sports, so it's easy to get up and walk around and find people to talk to to pass the time.

It was nice to return home. What a surprise, it was raining. Although after being in the blazing sun for 2 weeks, a little cloud cover and rain felt good. As I think back about the trip, I want to thank all the guys for continuing to make the Maccabiah Games a special experience. Sure, playing soccer every day, travel to foreign locales, pretending to be a “real” athlete for 2 weeks is all great. But making new teammates and friends and getting reacquainted with the old ones is what it’s all about.

Thanks to my wife for letting me participate in this experience yet again. I have the best wife in the world!

Now, about those Games in Brazil in 2011...

Day 13 - Monday, July 14th

A bunch of us used this day to travel down to Tel Aviv for a little shopping and last day relaxing. Since we aren't playing in the medal round on Tuesday, many of us are going to return home early. It's kind of hard to present a good case to our wives for why we need to remain in Israel for 4 more days if we aren't playing any more matches.



So a little lunch, a little sun, a little shopping and back to Haifa to pack. However, our work was not done. A big last minute trading bazaar opened up in our hotel lobby with guys from England, Mexico and South Africa showing their wares. Got some good last minute trades in before the deadline.

Day 12 - Sunday, July 19th

Last game vs Brazil today. We have to win in order to advance to the bronze medal game. Otherwise, we are done playing. We begin with the walk out to midfield, give a wave to the fans and then shake hands with the other team. We start the game playing with confidence and are passing the ball around pretty well. I've moved into a center midfield position to try and match up with one of their two best players and to also give a little more offensive boost to the team. About 25 minutes into the game they are awarded a penalty kick. Our keeper almost saves it, but they go up 1-0. For the rest of the 2nd half the play is in their half. I don't think they had a corner kick all game and our keeper rarely touched the ball the entire 2nd half. We kept putting the ball into the box with a number of close calls. But it just wouldn't drop in for us. Our best game overall by far, but we lost 1-0. Even though things got heated towards the latter parts of the game, once it's over, it's over with both teams joining in post-game photos.

The rest of the day was spent at the pool, dinner and an evening at our hangout, the Bear Pub. We did leave our mark with our team badge forever hanging up in the rafters with other famous soccer clubs who have visited Haifa.

Day 11 - Saturday, July 18th

We had the day off today since it was Shabbat and the fields were going to be closed. We also didn't feel like hopping some fences again. We traveled up North towards the Lebanon border. We went to a place called Rosh Hanikra which is on the coast right on the border between Israel and Lebanon.

It's heavily guarded with radar towers, Coast Guard vessels cruising the waters and water buoys marking the territorial waters of Israel.

There is also a series of caves that are naturally built into the limestone cliffs.

We stopped for lunch and a dip in the Mediterranean on the drive back. You can see the Rosh Hankira in the background with the radar towers on top of the white cliffs.

We also stopped at the Crusader city Akko on the return. This was a city that was built by the Crusaders and then conquered by the Ottomans who built their city right on top of it. Today it's primarily an Arab city with people still living within the narrow streets of this old fortress.

Day 10 - Friday, July 17th

We had our 3rd game against Argentina today. It was played on turf at 11am so you can imagine how hot that was. We lost again, but this time it was just 1-0. It was a close game and we had our best game so far. I almost scored twice and I had a lot of really good crosses into the area that other guys almost put in. But we just couldn't find the net. Oh well. I guess that's the way the ball bounces. We have one more game definitely on Sunday against Brazil. If we win, then we play in the Bronze Medal match. If we lose or tie then we are done playing.

After the game we all just hung around the pool. We went out for dinner and then to the Bear Pub up the street for a while. A familiar scene.

Day 9 - Thursday, July 16th

We planned a team trip down to Jerusalem today. We had a bus take us with a tour guide who was a Professor of History. Jerusalem was really interesting. Our first stop was Yad Vashem which is the Holocaust Museum. It's a must see for anyone who visits Jerusalem, Jewish or otherwise. It is a solemn place which really helps you understand the Holocaust and the atrocities that were committed during WWII. Some of the memorials and exhibits they have are just beyond words. It's a shame you can't take pictures throughout the museum.

We then went to the Old City area of Jerusalem where some of the most holiest sites for Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are located. For Islam it's the Dome of the Rock, the golden domed mosque. For Jews it's the Western Wall which is the last remnant of the Great 2nd Temple.

At the Western or Wailing Wall as it's also called, Jews place a piece of paper in the cracks of the stones and say a prayer. It was interesting to hear the 6pm call to

prayers coming from the loudspeaker from the Mosque while we were standing there at the wall.

We also walked through the Jewish Quarter section of the Old City and saw some of the different ruins that are there. People still live and play amongst these ancient walls. You can also still see the remnants of the modern day fighting that took place with the bullet holes still lodged in the walls. And, you never know when a soccer game may break out.

Tomorrow we have our 3rd game against Argentina.

Day 8 - Wednesday, July 15th

We had our second game this morning. Pregame breakfast in the hotel and then some stretching before hopping onto the bus for the 15 minute trek down to the fields.

We lost to England 3-0. It was a closer game than the score would indicate. We had some really good chances to score but just couldn't get the ball in the net. I almost scored twice on two free kicks that we had. On one of them I was able to bend the ball around the wall they set up. Beckham would have been jealous. It would have been spectacular if the goalie didn't make a diving save.

After the game we just chilled by the pool for a while. Playing at 11am in that sun is just draining. There is absolutely no shade anywhere around the fields. We went to check out the Women's USA team play England later in the day. The US women were fantastic. They have a few players who are in the mix for the US National team. We went for dinner in this area of Haifa called the German Colony. Lots of open air restaurants down at the bottom of the mountain. Haifa is a lot like San Francisco. Our hotel is at the top of the mountain with all these windy roads that lead down to the water of the Mediterranean Sea. This is the view from my hotel room with the Mediterranean Sea in the background. After dinner I went back to the hotel and got to call Chelsea at camp for her birthday which was nice.