Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Mazel!

The 13th Pan American Maccabi Games opened earlier this week in Santiago, Chile, as 4,000 Jewish athletes from 20 countries gathered to compete in the Olympic-style event.

While I'm a sucker for things sporting, even I don't usually pay much attention to this quadrennial celebration of Chosen athletes. But I've got a rooting interest in the 2015 Games.

I've known Jake Kaplan since he was five years old. Until a year ago, his family lived just around the corner from us. They still live in our town. His parents, Erin and Jeff, are among our closest local friends. Jeff used to work for the Philadelphia Eagles, and developed a lasting hatred of the franchise for the way it dealt with many of his closest friends in the organization after Andy Reid took over as head coach. So we bonded over that.

Jake started playing volleyball several years ago, and quickly became more than proficient. His youth club is routinely ranked among the top teams on the East Coast. He's been selected to attend several national team camps at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, training with the best players in the country his age. Now 15, he's one of the best players in our region.

And just this year, he was selected to represent the U.S. at the Maccabi Games, playing for the full Men's National Team. At 15, he's the youngest player on the squad by six years. (I'd go for a Hebrew Hammer joke here, only not many people would get it, and all the players on the squad, with the exception of the liberos, would probably qualify.) As you can imagine, his parents are thrilled, and so are those of us that know the Kaplans.

His Dad admits that Jake's probably pretty close to topping out on height, and 6'0" outside hitters aren't exactly hot commodities in competitive volleyball. But he walked into the stadium in Santiago in full team USA gear at the opening ceremony of the 2015 Pan American Maccabi Games, and there's nobody that can take that away from him.

Mazel Tov, Jaker. We're really proud of you.

23 comments:

Danimal said...

kid's got some hops. can he dunk?

TR said...

He obviously inspired Omri Casspi. Oy veh, that dude was on fire last night.

zman said...

L'chaim.

T.J. said...

BaconBaking just crushed her first live television interview, on Bloomberg TV:
http://bloom.bg/1YLRIg4

zman said...

That's awesome! $169,000 is clearly the right answer.

Danimal said...

All these tv & radio personalities from GTB! Nice goin baconbaking. Was hard not to chuckle with the $169,000 metric. Maybe in 2016 we will grow up. Probably just me though.

Dave said...

one of my students is there playing volleyball as well!

Danimal said...

A pretty good ball game on tap at 5:30 with the Tarheels taking on Baylor, UNC giving 2. Baylor has been limping since losing their QB a few games out. I'd give this one a look.

Also Texas Tech vs LSU, but that's on a little past Danny's bedtime at 9pm.

Danimal said...

whoa. and just like that the line is down to -1/2, Carolina still giving.

Danimal said...

Am I the only one working this week?

T.J. said...

nope. I'm here and working through 3pm on NYE

Danimal said...

Proudaya

rob said...

took the wife and kidlets go-karting today. it's true what they say - women can't drive for shit. i smoked them all over the track. even the rednecks here in myrtle beach couldn't keep me from passing them. i may have missed my calling.

rob said...

also, your tribe favored by 6.5 at home against the chippewas of central michigan in the final non-con game of the season. caa play starts on thursday. chips have played exactly nobody, but they did thump the same crappy howard team that inexplicably beat w&m. win this one and close the non-con with a very respectable 8-3 mark (and a top 50 rpi ranking). lose and put me in a bad mood. let's think about me, kids.

mr kq said...

Chip Kelly donzo. Here in Philly with the fam for overnight, scored a sweet flat in center city on Airbnb. Will get the vibe on the street tonight. And a dime bag.

Marls said...

Tribe pondering putting some poo in between the sheets.

rob said...

had to make the decision to have our elderly cat put to sleep tonight. being an adult sucks.

Marls said...

RIP Mo.

Marls said...

Tribe wins...ugly.

rob said...

alright, tribe wins. owed us that one.

TR said...

Given the timing, Chip just plays pundit for a year and makes Les Miles and the USC coach uncomfortable, right?

Danimal said...

I don't see how he works next year at this stage in the game.
This LSU game is entertaining making my morning swim date a tenuous one.

Danimal said...

LSU's d is loaded w freshman studs. And TT's qb Mahomes is quite good.