Yay for Maccabi Tel Aviv

Went to a bar in Omer (a town near Beersheva) on Sunday night and watched Maccabi Tel Aviv down the Toronto Raptors in thrilling fashion, 105-103, with Anthony Parker hitting the game-winner with .8 seconds remaining. It was nice to see all those Israeli flags in the stands in Toronto. This was just an exhibition game and clearly the European league is not NBA level yet, but it strikes me that the NBA is still stagnant, while the European teams are improving. We of course saw this in the Olmypics last year. Of course, in the European pro league, many players are American. On Maccabi Tel Aviv, a handful of players were Jewish. I saw guys named Green and Burstein. Very exciting. The fact that Tel Aviv is getting this recognition is definitely a good thing. And there was no case of dual loyalties with me. Montrealers generally hate Toronto teams (especially the Leafs, Blue Jays and Argonauts). To the Raptors, we have mixed views, we don't like Toronto but if we like basketball they are Canada's only team. I normally do root for the Raptors, but I am Jew first, Canadian second, and I have much more loyalty to Israel than to any other nation on Earth.