Israel does a lot of things very well–especially when it comes to sports. Their basketball and soccer teams are top notch. But when it comes to other sports, they just fall flat.
Take for example, hockey. Probably about ten years ago, Israel’s national junior hockey team came to Montreal to raise money. They subsequently were pummeled by a local Jewish high school. And that’s not their fault. Of course they would lose to a bunch of Canadians at hockey. They’re Israeli! We don’t expect them to be good at hockey.
Same goes for baseball. I went to camp long enough and have seen enough Israelis try to swing a baseball bat that I know that Israelis just don’t play baseball the way Americans do. It’s just not their sport. And again, I don’t blame them. You have Omri Casspi! You don’t need an Israeli baseball player.
But now this story comes out about the talk of ANOTHER Israeli baseball league. Keep in mind that the last Israeli baseball league went out of business after just one season, less than five years ago.
Why does Israel need this? It just seems like a colossal waste of money. The talent is going to be weak, meaning the product won’t be good. I can’t wait to see the headline, “Israeli Baseball League 2.0 Folds.” Then, I’ll be able to say…I told you so.
