When Airplane! came out in 1980? Today? Would the pamphlet be bigger today?
A few I found when I googled “Jewish Athletes” (there are many others, but these have some name recognition):
As of 1980:
- Sandy Koufax
- Hank Greenberg
- Lou Boudreau
- Lyle Alzado
- Mark Spitz
- Dolph Schayes
- Sid Luckman
Additional since then:
- Ryan Braun
- Kevin Youkilis
- Sasha Cohen (the figure skater, not the actor)
- Kerri Strug
Hall of Famer Rod Carew (he converted.)
I believe there’s no evidence that Carew actually converted–he certainly married a Jewish woman, attended Jewish services, and raised his kids Jewish–but it’s not at all clear that he ever “officially” became a Jew. Boudreau, I think, had a Jewish mother, but identified as Catholic. Do they qualify as Jewish?
My information could be wrong–too lazy to look it up just now–but I think it’s correct.
I read a book about Jewish sports figures once. A lot of impressive athletes, and a few who were not so impressive… Still, any list that includes Koufax and Greenberg is an impressive list!
You know how nowadays, some people debate whether blacks have inherent racial advantages at sports, because they’re so overrepresented in basketball and football? Well, back in the day (1930s, I think it was), people asked the same questions about Jews and boxing.
Julian Edelman
Jews were also basketball’s ethnic stereotype then. Then somebody (it’s contested) invented the jump shot.
If you can’t trust Adam Sandler to get his facts straight, who *can *you trust?
Shawn Green (outfielder for Blue Jays, Dodgers, and other teams). He once hit four home runs in a single game.
Aly Raisman (Gymnastics)
Max Baer (Boxing)
Sue Bird (WNBA)
Dara Torres (Swimming)
Ian Kinsler (MLB)
Lyle Alzado (NFL)
Sarah Hughes (Skating)
Nate Ebner (NFL)
Jay Fiedler (NFL)
Andre Tippett (NFL)
Amy Alcott (Golf)
Corey Pavin (Golf)
Mitch Gaylord (Gymnastics)
Eric Nystrom (Hockey)
Kenny Bernstein (Motorsports)
Jim Fuchs (Track and Field)
Dwight Stones (Track and Field)
Just the fact I was going to mention.
Harold Abrahams, Olympic winning sprinter 1924
Doesn’t count as a cite, because I can’t find the source, and Baer wore the Star of David on his trunks when he fought Schmeling, but -
To make up for that, Benny Leonard, who was undoubtedly Jewish, was one of the greatest lightweights of all time.
Regards,
Shodan
Former Chicago Blackhawks goalie, Murray Bannerman.
Baseball players Gabe Kapler, if he’d been better, or Kevin Youkilis, if he’d ever been healthy.
I’d seen Baer on the list that Google generated when I googled “Jewish athletes” – but, when I looked up his Wikipedia entry, it indicates that his father was “half Lutheran German and half German Jewish,” that his mother was “of Scots-Irish Protestant American ancestry,” and that he was “raised in a nominally nonsectarian home.”
My Gentile understanding of Jewish lineage is that, according to the Code of Jewish Law, a child is considered to be Jewish if their mother is Jewish. By that reading, if I understand it correctly, Baer’s father might have been considered to be Jewish (from a church law standpoint), depending on if his “half Jewish” lineage was his mother, but Baer, himself, would not have been.
Max Baer (Boxing)
He was the father of Jethro I think!
I trust the guys at Jew or not Jew, so you’re right. Stupid Sandler.
The Jewish mother thing is mostly only important to the Orthodox. But him being raised in a non sectarian home would likely disqualify him from the groups who allow patralinial descent.
Former South African cricket captain Ali Bacher.
NAF1138:
Conservative Judaism also still considers it to be the standard, at least officially.