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Mazel tov to the Philadelphia Eagles on their Super Bowl victory! Last Sunday’s game didn’t feature any Jewish players, but Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and general manager Howie Roseman must be kvelling after their team’s 40-22 trouncing of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Beyond the Eagles’ two Jewish executives, there were a few other Jewish storylines on Super Bowl Sunday — both on the field and off. Read on for more.
Alex Bregman signs with the Boston Red Sox
Houston, we have a signing. It’s just in Boston.
Two-time World Series champion Alex Bregman signed a three-year, $120 million deal with the Boston Red Sox late Wednesday night, capping a months-long negotiation process that ended with the reigning Gold Glove third baseman joining a new team after nine seasons with the Houston Astros.
Bregman’s deal with Boston includes deferred money and opt-outs after each year. According to reports, he turned down a six-year, $171.5 million offer from the Detroit Tigers to take the Sox’s short-term deal with a higher annual average value. Bregman, 30, who is expected to play second base for Boston, was originally drafted by the Sox in 2012 before opting to play in college and then ending up in Houston.
Bregman, who was involved in Houston’s local Jewish community and has displayed his Jewish pride on the field, was seeking a total number closer to that of his fellow Jewish star Max Fried, who signed with the New York Yankees in December for eight years and $218 million, the largest contract in baseball history for a Jewish player. Instead, Bregman will settle for a paltry $40 million per year and the chance to battle Fried for supremacy in baseball’s most storied rivalry.
Boston’s chief baseball officer (and Team Israel alum) Craig Breslow vowed to be aggressive this offseason after his team finished a distant third in the American League East last year. Now, he has a fellow Member of the Tribe to show for it.
Halftime report
FLAG ON THE PLAY. During Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show, a performer unfurled a banner showing the Sudanese and Palestinian flags bearing the words “Sudan” and “Gaza,” and ran onto the field before being detained. The NFL said in a statement that the performer will be barred from all NFL stadiums for the rest of his life.
CAN YE NOT? When we previewed Jewishly relevant Super Bowl commercials in last week’s newsletter, we did not anticipate this spot: rapper Ye purchased an awkward 30-second ad promoting his website, which featured exactly one item for sale the following morning — a swastika T-shirt. Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, has embarked on a string of blatantly antisemitic acts and statements recently, including praising Adolf Hitler. Later Sunday night, he announced he was quitting the social media platform X, where he had posted much of his invective.
OUCH. Spring Training is underway, which means the inevitable wave of pre- and early-season injuries is also nigh. Team Israel alum and new Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Spencer Horwitz is expected to miss six to eight weeks after undergoing surgery on his right wrist. Horwitz, who debuted with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2023, joined the Pirates this offseason after being traded twice in one day.
HANGING ‘EM UP. Another Team Israel alum who won’t play this spring — or apparently ever again — is veteran reliever Richard Bleier, who announced his retirement on Instagram on Tuesday. Bleier played in parts of eight MLB seasons across a 17-year pro career, appearing with four teams. Bleier ends his career as one of just six pitchers in MLB history to throw 300+ innings with an ERA+ of 135 or better and 1.5 or fewer walks per nine innings. Not bad for a pitcher who didn’t make his MLB debut until he was 29 years old!
(IN)VICTORIOUS. Israel nabbed two medals at the Invictus Games in Vancouver on Monday — a gold medal in wheelchair basketball and a bronze in wheelchair curling. The Invictus Games were founded by Prince Harry in 2014 for wounded, injured and sick military service personnel and veterans. Israel trounced the U.S. in wheelchair basketball, winning the gold medal game 62-7.
BOO-YA. The Athletic caught up with NHL prospect Zeev Buium, who is playing his sophomore season at the University of Denver after being selected 12th overall in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft by the Minnesota Wild. Buium is the son of Israeli parents and younger brother of fellow NHL prospect Shai Buium. Here’s our profile of Buium from last summer.
Domantas Sabonis’ inexplicable All-Star snub
Rabbi Mendy Cohen is dwarfed by 7-foot-1 Kings center Domantas Sabonis, who attended Chabad of Sacramento’s Purim party on March 7, 2023. (Courtesy of Chabad of Sacramento)
NBA All-Star weekend is here, with a slate of events starting today and running through Sunday, hosted at the Chase Center in San Francisco. There’s the All-Star Game, the celebrity game, the three-point contest, the slam dunk contest and more.
And across all the various events, there is exactly one Jewish (or Jewish-adjacent) competitor: singer Noah Kahan, who will be playing in the celebrity game and performing live.
That’s because Sacramento Kings star Domantas Sabonis, who is converting to Judaism and has been practicing Judaism with his family for years, was inexplicably left out of the All-Star festivities.
Sabonis, a three-time All-Star coming off back-to-back top-10 MVP finishes, is in the midst of perhaps the best season of his nine-year career. Sabonis is averaging 20.4 points and a league-best 14.3 rebounds per game, both career highs. He’s shooting 60% on field goals, 75.3% on free throws and an NBA third-best 45.5% on threes. Sabonis also has a league-best 48 double-doubles (out of 51 total games played). Last night, Sabonis dropped 22 points with a staggering 28 rebounds as the Kings lost 140-133 in overtime to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Not only was he not chosen as a starter or reserve player, but when stars Giannis Antetokounmpo and Anthony Davis bowed out from the weekend due to injury this week, Sabonis was passed over yet again, with Trae Young and — who else? — Kyrie Irving selected as replacements.
With Sabonis’ insane numbers, how is he not an All-Star? Yahoo! Sports senior writer Ben Rohrbach makes the case that Sabonis is the biggest snub in the league this year.
Chalk it up to one of life’s great mysteries.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend (all times ET)
🏒 IN HOCKEY…
The NHL is hosting its first-ever 4 Nations Face-Off this week, a round-robin tournament featuring the U.S., Canada, Sweden and Finland. Jewish players Adam Fox, Jack Hughes and Jeremy Swayman are all representing the U.S. — which played its first game Thursday night, defeating Finland 6-1. The U.S. takes on Canada Saturday and Sweden on Monday, both at 8 p.m. In the PWHL, Sam Cogan and the Toronto Sceptres host Aerin Frankel and the Boston Fleet Friday at 7 p.m. Abbey Levy, Elle Hartje and the New York Sirens face Montreal Saturday at 2 p.m. On Sunday, Boston hosts Minnesota at 1 p.m., and Toronto plays Ottawa at 4 p.m.
⚽ IN SOCCER…
Goalkeeper Matt Turner and his Premier League squad Crystal Palace host Everton Saturday at 12:30 p.m. Turner led his team to a 2-0 shutout on Monday in the fourth round of the FA Cup. Manor Solomon and his first-place Championship club Leeds United host Sunderland Monday at 3 p.m.
⛳ IN GOLF…
Max Homa, Max Greyserman and Daniel Berger are competing in the PGA Tour’s Genesis Open this weekend in San Diego. Berger finished tied for second place in last weekend’s Phoenix Open.
Let’s wrap this up
It was a busy week for famous Jewish athletes wrapping tefillin. NFL kicker Greg Joseph met up with Orthodox college player Sam Salz this week, while YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul wrapped at the Super Bowl with Orthodox influencer Yossi Farro and declared, “Mazel Tov yes I’m Jewish.” We reported on Paul’s Jewish heritage ahead of his bout with Mike Tyson in November.
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