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Hello, sports fans! With the NHL playoffs in full swing, it’s finally time to talk about Boston Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman.
Here’s what we know: Swayman, who grew up in Alaska, has a Jewish father and had a bar mitzvah. NHL reporter Amalie Benjamin spoke to the goalie’s father and has the details on his low-key coming-of-age ceremony. She said the Swaymans “come from a Jewish family but are not religious.” Meanwhile, others who are similarly obsessed with covering Jewish athletes have told me Swayman has previously requested not to be included in Jewish coverage.
So yes, dear readers, I have seen your many emails about the Bruins goaltender, who, until Wednesday, had been dominating the playoffs — through his first seven postseason starts, Swayman held an NHL-best .955 save percentage. But as we do with all athletes, I have been working to verify how Swayman himself actually identifies — including through reaching out to him and a couple close relatives.
Jeremy, if you’re reading this… give me a call! I’d love to chat!
Diego’s swan song
Diego Schwartzman returns the ball during a match at the Tel Aviv Watergen Open, Sept. 29, 2022. (Jack Guez/AFP via Getty Images)
Diego Schwartzman, one of the best Jewish tennis players ever, announced this week that he would retire after his hometown Argentina Open in February 2025.
The 31-year-old, who in 2020 ascended to a career-best No. 8 in the Association of Tennis Professionals rankings, has struggled to regain his footing in recent years. He currently sits at No. 142.
Schwartzman, who got his start at the Hacoaj Jewish sports club in Buenos Aires, shared the news on Instagram, calling it a “very difficult decision.”
“Every corner of the court, every second training, every point competing, every moment I was immensely happy,” Schwartzman wrote in Spanish. “I lived it with such intensity that today it is difficult for me to maintain. All those beautiful moments have become something that today carries weight and it is difficult for me to continue fully enjoying it.”
Schwartzman has won four ATP titles in his career: the 2016 Istanbul Open, the 2018 Rio Open, the 2019 Los Cabos Open and the 2021 Argentina Open. In Grand Slam tournaments, Schwartzman reached the semifinals in the 2020 French Open and two U.S. Open quarterfinals in 2017 and 2019.
Schwartzman is expected to compete in Roland Garros later this month. Read more about the Jewish tennis legend here.
On the women’s side, Italian star Camila Giorgi also hung up her racket — though she did so without any fanfare, or even a heads up.
Halftime report
ANTI-ANTISEMITISM. If you’ve watched the NBA playoffs this week, you may have seen a TV ad decrying instances of antisemitism in the recent wave of pro-Palestinian campus protests. The ad, titled “Don’t Bring Hate to the Protest,” was produced by Robert Kraft’s Foundation to Combat Antisemitism. Read more about the ad here.
GOTHAM ANTHEM. Speaking of the NBA playoffs, the New York Knicks have taken a 2-0 series lead over the Indiana Pacers. Our friends at the New York Jewish Week trace the Jewish history of the Knicks’ popular “Go, New York, Go!” anthem. (If you haven’t heard it before, be warned: it will get stuck in your head.)
THIS ROAST HAD BEEF. While Kraft’s ad debuted this week, the New England Patriots owner also made headlines for his participation in Netflix’s live comedy roast of retired quarterback Tom Brady. The three-hour special had its share of Jewish jokes — mostly from and about comedian Jeff Ross and former Patriot Julian Edelman — but it was a quip about Kraft’s alleged involvement in a massage parlor scandal that got the biggest reaction out of Brady. Oh, and Kraft and former coach Bill Belichick took shots together on stage.
PARIS-BOUND. Check out JTA contributor Greg Levinsky’s profile of 19-year-old Ada Korkhin, whose father is Israeli, and her path to the 2024 Paris Olympics, where she’ll represent Team USA in women’s sport pistol.
GELOF TO THE RACES. It’s a busy week for the Gelof family, as older brother Zack, a rising star on the Oakland Athletics, begins a Triple-A rehab assignment as he recovers from a strained oblique. Meanwhile, 2023 Los Angeles Dodgers draftee Jake was promoted to High A after a hot start to the season: the third baseman was hitting .301 with 26 RBIs and 27 walks through 24 games in Low A.
HONORED. The New York Yankees marked Yom HaShoah this week with a $10,000 donation from the team’s foundation to the International March of the Living, presented before Sunday’s game against the Detroit Tigers. The Yankees also honored Martha Greenblatt, a Holocaust survivor and Rutgers University professor. Yankees bench coach Brad Ausmus, who is Jewish, participated in the ceremony.
Bringing Holocaust remembrance to German football
A delegation from the German Football League at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. (Shahar Azran/WJC)
Representatives from the top two divisions of the German Football League (DFL) visited Israel this week for Yom HaShoah.
The delegation, organized in partnership with the World Jewish Congress, visited Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust memorial and museum, and met with the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a group that advocates for the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Participants also went to Kibbutz Kfar Aza, a site of bloodshed in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
“As the representative of German professional football clubs we recognize the power that sport has to promote remembrance and draw attention to the plight of those who suffered in the Holocaust,” Tobias Kaufmann, the DFL’s senior vice president of communications, said in a press release. “The Footballing community should stand together as a family against hate — this message is timeless, and important especially in these difficult times.”
The WJC has also announced two other sports initiatives ahead of this summer’s UEFA EURO tournament in Germany: a “Football and Memory” program that will facilitate Holocaust education for tournament participants, including visits to concentration camps; and an exhibit called “Sports. Crowds. Power.” at the sports museum on the site of the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend (all times ET)
🏒 IN HOCKEY…
Jeremy Swayman and the Boston Bruins host the Florida Panthers in Game 3 of their 1-1 series tonight at 7 p.m.; Game 4 is Sunday at 6:30 p.m. Shaq’s pal Zach Hyman and the Edmonton Oilers face Quinn Hughes, Mark Friedman and the Vancouver Canucks in Game 2 tonight at 10 p.m. Vancouver leads 1-0; Game 3 is Sunday at 9:30 p.m. Adam Fox and the New York Rangers are up 3-0 in their series against the Carolina Hurricanes, with Game 4 Saturday at 7 p.m. In the PWHL semifinals, Samantha Cogan and Toronto host Minnesota tonight at 7 p.m., while Boston — which features Aerin Frankel, Kaleigh Fratkin and Cami Kronish — faces Montreal Saturday at 7 p.m.
⚾️ IN BASEBALL…
Max Fried takes the mound for the Atlanta Braves Saturday at 4:10 p.m. against Harrison Bader and the New York Mets. Dean Kremer starts Sunday at 1:35 p.m. as the Baltimore Orioles host fellow Team Israel alum Joc Pederson and the Arizona Diamondbacks. Kevin Pillar — who crushed two homers with a career-high six RBI on Tuesday — and the Los Angeles Angels host the Kansas City Royals in a four-game set. Garrett Stubbs and the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies face the Miami Marlins in a three-game series.
⚽️ IN SOCCER…
Matt Turner and Nottingham Forest host Chelsea Saturday at 12:30 p.m. In the MLS, Steve Birnbaum’s D.C. United faces Atlanta United F.C. Saturday at 7:30 p.m. At the same time, Daniel Edelman and the New York Red Bulls host the New England Revolution. DeAndre Yedlin and F.C. Cincinnati face the Columbus Crew Saturday at 7:45 p.m. Zac MacMath and Real Salt Lake take on the L.A. Galaxy Saturday at 10:30 p.m.
⛳️ IN GOLF…
Max Homa is at the Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte this weekend, a tournament he won in 2019 and 2022. In South Carolina, David Lipsky, Daniel Berger, Ben Silverman and Max Greyserman are competing in the Myrtle Beach Classic.
Tweet of the week
There’s no crying in baseball, but nobody ever said the same about basketball. Check out this very touching Twitter thread from basketball writer Ben Kaplan, who tells the story of how the TNT basketball crew helped make his bar mitzvah special — and brought him closer to his ailing father.
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