I think that last night’s game between Germany and Argentine should leave many Germans worried. Not only their team played an awful game and their goalkeeper made an idiotic mistake, but their best striker is black!! What would happen in the NPD nation (mean the supporter of this party, not all of Germany) if this striker will score the winning goal in South Afrika? how are they supposed to celebrate? didn’t they have enough of Klose?

The game reminded me of the World Cup four years ago, when the Germans really made an effort and pretend to be nice to foreigners. What a wonderful month and concept that was. I remember that midway through the Welt Meister I completely was rooting for the German national team and even wrote about it for a local newspaper. It was the new Germany, Klinsman Germany, Berlin Germany of opneness and multi cultures as opposed… weiter lesen

One of Maya’s favorite things to do–that is other than insisting on walking when we exit Kita (therefore making our trip back home ten times longer then it supposed to be) and insisting that I will carry her on my hands three flights of stairs when we finally reach our flat-is reading. She reads everything, reading makes her very calm, and, I must admit, reading babies are great gifts for their parents. As a young parent you learn how to evaluate buying things for your babies by how much time it gives you piece of mind. Books get top rating in that category.

One of Maya’s favorite books is one she got from my family in Israel. It tells the story of a young elephant who is depressed over the fact that he is grey, boring grey. A little bird watches the little elephant, ask him why he is so sad and even though the… weiter lesen

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