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May 28, 2004/Sivan 8 5764, Vol. 56, No. 36
Playing hoops
Israelis, N.Y. firefighters score for charity
E.B. SOLOMONT
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Sheldon Silver, the speaker of the New York State Assembly, tosses up the ball for the opening tip-off of the Basketball as Friendship charity game on May 16 in New York.
Photo by Shimon Golding
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What dream match-up between aging Israeli basketball players and New York firefighters is no longer a dream.
Though most fans seemed disappointed when the Israelis lost to the New York Fire Department, 76-63, in a charity basketball game May 16, the event's organizer says the day still was a success.
"It's an important connection because we've made a friendship in the past with Israelis," says Salvatore Cassano, chief of operations for the Fire Department. "Israelis constantly face terror; when it finally hit our shores, we've formed a close bond."
The game between Israel's hoopsters and New York's bravest reunited some of the best-known basketball players to play in Israel, including Newark-born Aulcie Perry and Tal Brody.
The teams split the proceeds from the game, which benefited each other's charity arms. The firefighters' money went to the New York Police and Fire Widow's and Children's Benefit Fund, and the Israelis gave their share to the America-Israel Friendship League's Citizenship Through Sports program.
Fans, mostly American Jews and Israelis, reveled in seeing players who had put Israeli basketball on the global map.
Though the crowd mostly came to see the Israelis, adults and children who just wanted to watch a good game trickled into the Harlem gymnasium throughout the day.
Richard Hudson, a department of juvenile justice employee, brought his son and two nephews to the game.
"Anything that's bringing people together is always a nice idea," he says.
Indeed, his son and nephews got into the spirit of the game, sticking small American and Israeli flags into their nylon do-rags - stocking caps.
Still, high hopes for the Israeli team - "The Israelis are gonna kill 'em," says one fan - couldn't match the youth and athleticism of the firefighters.
"We're old and slow," says former Maccabi player and current Princeton coach Howard Levy. "You play to win, but for an event like this you don't.''
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