Israeli Olympic soccer dreams and great Jews in cycling: A midsummer roundup of Jews in sports

Plus: A homegrown talent drafted into the NHL and another Amari in the NBA.
Israel has qualified for Olympic soccer for the first time in nearly 50 years, and will play at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. (Photo courtesy of Israel Football Association / Facebook)

We’re deep into summer and the sports world is moving slowly, so The CJN’s sports podcast, Menschwarmers, is here to give you a comprehensive round-up of Jewish sports stories you need to know.

Israel qualified for Olympic soccer with big dreams for its young squad; a second Jewish guy named Amari was drafted into the NBA (well, the first was Amar’e, but still), as Amari Bailey is now a Charlotte Hornet; the NHL now has another Canadian Jewish hockey talent to watch, drafting Talmud Torah alum Andrew Cristall out of British Columbia; and with the Tour de France in full swing, we recap some great Jewish moments in cycling, including a righteous-gentile racing cyclist, the tour’s antisemitic origins and the surprising birth of Curious George.

Credits

Menschwarmers is hosted by James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver, and produced and edited by Michael Fraiman. Our intro music is by Coby Lipovitch, and our outro music is “Organ Grinder Swing” by chēēZ π. This show is a member of The CJN Podcast Network. Follow the Menschwarmers on Twitter @menschwarmers or TikTok @menschwarmers. Support the show by subscribing to this podcast or donating to The CJN.

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