It’s been almost four months now that my mother, as well as a few ex-girlfriends, started bugging me. For years, they suffered silently my twin passions, journalism and sports. For years, they had to read all about match-up zones, safety blitzes, strikeouts. About how football is being played 90 minutes and at the end the Germans always win. They knew nothing about any of these things. But Omri? Omri they know. So they leave messages on my machine, or send me emails and text messages, all with one simple request: write something about Omri.

Omri, of course, is Omri Caspi, the Sacramento Kings rookie and the first Israeli ever to make it to the NBA. The media in Israel cover the world’s best basketball league, of course, but for most journalists back home, Omri is his own beat. Every one of his shots is covered. Every penalty discussed. Every squabble with… weiter lesen