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.

Day 7 - Tuesday, July 14th

Today we had a practice early in the morning. I still have a little spring to my step after 4 or 5 days of playing.

Then we had a tour bus take us on a tour of the Northern part of the country by the Sea of Galilee and the Golan Heights. It's right on the border between Israel and Jordan.

We also went to this hot mineral spring spa. Hot water comes up from under the ground and has all these minerals in it that are supposed to have these healing powers that make your muscles feel better and fix any cuts you have. It was like being in a huge giant hot tub. They have areas where you can lie down in the water, areas where the water pours over your head, areas where the water bubbles up from the floor or the wall. It was so relaxing. Just don't tell my wife about this because she'll get mad that I'm relaxing while she's working.

On our way back to Haifa we stopped at the the Jordan River at the place where it is believed that Jesus was baptised. Christians from all over the world come here to get baptised and bring back what is considered holy water.

Tomorrow we have our next game in the morning against England. We really need to win. The guys from the younger USA team are going to come watch us play and cheer us on. It'll be good to have some fans.

Day 6- Monday, July 13th - Part 2

Tonight were the Opening Ceremonies. These are held in Ramat Gan Stadium which is the national stadium in Israel. It was a sold out event (about 30,000 or so in the stands) and is similiar to what happens with the Olympics. It's shown live on TV with performances by all sorts of Israeli performers. Each country has a marching in uniform just like the Olympics. Ours were a khaki shorts, a blue bowling type of shirt with a fedora type hat.All of the athletes gather together in a big fenced in area about 4 hours or so before the Ceremonies begin. It's pretty neat so see all these Jewish athletes from all these countries from our the world. You have the big countries, USA, England, France, Australia, but then also athletes from Estonia, Peru, Romania, and even Palau. The different delegations are dancing and singing and just having a great time with each other.

About 8pm we marched into the packed stadium.

There was a big stage set up in the middle of the stadium for the performances. And then there is the lighting of the torch.

The big activity at Opening Ceremonies is the starting of the trading of clothes. Everyone looks to trade whatever they're wearing with athletes from other countries. Hats, t-shirts, pants, shorts, jackets, whatever. There are no limits. This activity continues throughout the Games. Whenever you may be walking around town and see another athlete, you look them up and down to see what they're wearing and whether it's worth trading for.

Day 6 - Monday, July 13th

Monday was a looong day. We had an early practice (8:30am) at our favorite Curly Krieger Stadium field. We didn't get kicked off this time and didn't need to perform any felonies in order to play. We try to take our training seriously. Some of us try and get inspired by wearing clothes that reflect the major soccer powers around the globe, as with my Brazilian look. Others, well, have a slightly different look.

Not that there's anything wrong with this. We're a very open team accepting of all backgrounds, personal politics, as well as styles of undergarments. After practice we went to scout out our next oppponent, England, as they were playing Israel. This game was played at 11am and was at a much slower pace. Both teams looked dead in the heat with Israel winning 2-0. So our result wasn't so bad. Got back to the hotel, grabbed some lunch and ran over to the Wash & Dry place to get some laundry taken care of. Then it was off to Opening Ceremonies which I'll continue with tomorrow.

Day 5 - Sunday, July 12th

Game Day vs Israel.

A lot of downtime until our game at 4pm. Had some breakfast, team meeting to discuss strategy, do laundry, lunch and getting dressed pretty much summed up the day. We got on the bus and went to the field at 2:30pm. Much to our surprise, it was still extremely hot in the late afternoon. Had to be in the mid-to-high 90's. Warming up was not a problem. You couldn't drink enough water. It came out of you as soon as it went in. Here's the squad at the field before the game in our game Blues.

Unfortunately it was not a good day for us. Israel came prepared for us this time around. They were still pissed that they lost to us 4 years ago and really stacked their team. They had 3 former Israeli National Team players and a couple of guys who played professionally. They scored two goals in the first half. A header that just slipped in under our keeper and a follow up tap in after our keeper made a save. The heat was really a problem for many of us. It just took the legs right out of you. In the 2nd half we played a little better and actually had some really good scoring opportunities. Their keeper made two great saves which would have put us right back into the game. They scored one more towards the end of the game. It was a good effort but they were clearly the better team.

We came back after the game wet and dejected. Some dinner and beers at the Bear Pub closed out the night.

Day 3 & 4 - Friday, July 10th & Saturday, July 11th

On Friday, we left Tel Aviv in the early morning and arrived in Haifa around 10am. We went straight to the practice field which was where we had practice 4 years ago. A bit of a deja vue for some of us who participated back in 2005 when we won the Silver Medal (l-r: DKNY, Parks, Goldy, Kronick, Me, Z).

We then headed over to our hotel, the Dan Carmel, to get settled in. After lunch, we then had a 2nd practice. As it was close to Shabbat, the Sabbath time, the field was closed. But that didn't stop us Yankees. We all climbed the metal fence surrounding the field and went about our business.

In the evening we had a Shabbat dinner at the hotel. The Maccabiah organization had some rabbi come and lead us in a little short service and say some prayers and sing some songs. I guess we have to do something Jewish on this trip.


On Saturday we planned another practice session at our favorite field. Since it was Shabbat, we pretty much figured it was going to be closed. So we used a little common sense and pulled the car up to the fence and hopped on over. Much easier than trying to climb this thing this way. Of course, the guy who rented the car will have to pay extra for all the dents we put on the trunk, but that's his problem. We got about 20 minutes into our practice when some Security Guard came over and threw us off the field. He walked through the fence but made us climb back over to leave.

So we went to Plan B and went sightseeing after lunch. As you can see, food plays a major part in this trip. We visited this area called Caesearea. It was an old Roman era harbor fort city. The first thing we stopped at was the old Roman aqueduct which carried water from the North down to the South. It runs right along the beach. We then headed over to the harbor area which has ruins dating back to the Roman times - hippodrome, amphitheatre, bath houses, etc... Real interesting how they built all this without any mechanical tools whatsoever. Amazes me how they can do all this and we can't get some decent roads to drive on. Hung out in the pool for a little bit when we got back and then had a team Shabbat dinner at the hotel. A post dinner jaunt to the Bear Pub up the street to celebrate the end of Shabbat was had.


As you can see I'm just starting to learn how use this blog thing so now I can add pictures as I go. Unfortunately I'm using a wi-fi connection outside the hotel (the hotel wanted to charge $100/week to use their hotel wireless connection so I'm forced to find a free signal outside to connect to. I'm not going to let "the Man" get me down.). So I'll be going back and adding pictures to my other pages to liven them up.

Day 2 - June 9th

I arrived in Tel Aviv today. It was a pretty good flight considering it was 9+ hours. I lucked out and was able to move my seat from the very last row all the way up to the bulkhead row right behind Business Class. Lots of legroom and no one sat in the middle seat. Sweet! One interesting thing to note about flying into Israel - there is now a law that all passengers must be seated when they enter Israeli airspace, otherwise they are reported to Security and you get questioned when you get off the plane. The pilot makes an announcement about this and that in 15 minutes we would be entering Israeli territory and it takes 45 minutes before you land. Well, the line that formed for the bathroom wrapped around the plane. I think Continental needs to work on their communication process about this.

We got in around 9:30am and cruised through Baggage Claim and Customs. I expected a bit more from Security heading into the country, but I guess a bunch of old farts wearing USA clothes aren't much of a risk. Did I mention that it's HOT at 9:30am? It was already into the 90's at that hour. I am not looking forward to our games that start at 11am. We're only going to be in Tel Aviv for one night. Our accomodations weren't ready yet in Haifa (which is up in the North part of the country), so the Maccabiah people put us up in the main USA hotel here in Tel Aviv. They gave each one of us our own suite. That was pretty nice. I ran into a lot of athletes from the past Games that I participated in. So it was a bit of a family reunion thing going on. Also met Bruce Pearl, the US Men's Basketball coach (and who happens to be the head coach of the University of Tennessee) and saw Jason Lezak. He's the Olympic Gold Medal swimmer who won one of the relays in the Beijing Games to help Michael Phelp's get his 7 medals. He chose to participate in these Maccabiah Games instead of the World Swimming Championships that are being held next week with the rest of the top swimmers in the world.

We had a light practice late this afternoon and then dinner. The schedule for tomorrow is to bus it up to Haifa at 8am so we can make our scheduled 10:15am practice time there. Check in to the hotel, lunch, and have another practice at 4pm. And that about wraps it up for Day 2.