FOOTBALL. IS. COMING.

Welcome to the official Jewball website! The site will be an active work in progress, with capabilities of on-site comments, game and career stats, recaps, media, etc. The site is for YOU. Lets make this the best season yet!!!

Week 1 is scheduled for Oct. 27 at 9am (gametime subject to change if we schedule a double-header).

Please refer to the Whatsapp chat for the start of the headcount. The site will keep a real-time list of confirmed players, and once that’s set, teams will be posted as well.

Tentatively, headcounts will be started on the chat on Wednesday’s at 8am preceding the game (to avoid confusion or forgetting to get your spot).

I believe its fitting to end our first note and start this season with the final game recap from last season (can be accessed through the history tab)

Recap – Week 20 – END OF SEASON RECAP – 3/17/19

Jewballers,

We played Week 20 last week. Week 20. That’s 20 full weeks of official Jewball (some of them doubleheaders). That does not include Vets/Rooks, 3 Bowl Games, and Pre-Season. This does not need to be a PR job by me, pumping this season up. My instinct in the past has always been to make the season seem more epic than it was. Why? Because when it’s going well, we are all high on Jewball. And when it’s not going well….I think maybe my words can play defibrillator and shock the Jewball heart back to life. And, really, what was the status of the Jewball heart at the beginning of this 2018-19 campaign? Really, what were we? Where were we? If you asked me…I would have thought we were a thing of the past. A beautiful thing, a powerful thing, a critical thing….but something to look back on, to reminisce about, to speak of as if a myth or legend of a once upon a time. And – don’t get me wrong -there is value to that. That’s where my head was. I was over 40. Selfishly speaking, Jewball gave me everything I could have asked of it. Almost 20 years of memories – you can’t imagine the games in my head, the moments, the sweetest victories, the painful defeats – in all weather – on a dozen fields….but…oh, forgetting all that – the people! The Jewballers! I mean, these guys – how is it that you spend a few hours a week, a few months a year, with people you have no other connection to and they become this surrogate family that absolutely no one else on the planet can possibly understand? Our spouses, significant others, siblings, co-workers, parents, kids, etc…..they know we play “football” on Sunday mornings…or something…that we “have to play” even when the weather is bad. That we’re “crazy” or “nuts” or whatever else they call it when we go out in freezing temperatures, bundled up, seemingly against our will and better judgment. How we get so badly hurt and make sacrifices, take real risks….and come back! Maybe they even understand that it’s something more than football to us. But there is no possible way they get the depth of it. Just no way. We may not even fully grasp how deep it goes. What we do know, is that our fellow Jewballers get it. And when I say our fellow Jewballers, I mean those who you have played with and those who retired ten years before you played your first game. And I hope that is what our Jewball Honors BBQ will be about this summer. A gathering of 100+ people who get it. Who understand that we are doing more out there than running routes and cursing our QBs (and if you are a QB, cursing the line – and if you are a lineman, cursing everyone). We understand that there is MAGIC out there. If I HAD to describe the magic…it has something to do with an internal conflict being played out in a team setting combined with recapturing childhood along with a heavy dose of the brotherhood of soldiers. So I had much to appreciate being part of something like that for so long. But, I saw it ending and I made peace with that. What else could I do? It was a good run, but we couldn’t get more than 10 games together each season over the past 4 or 5 years. And while Jewballers are extremely loyal and dedicated and their appreciation for the game is unquestionable, they are never expected to play bad football. I am confident that no league can compete with us in terms of comradery, but Jewball suffered because the football had gotten low quality. We always had a star QB to keep the games interesting and competitive. We broke in with Jay Sky K and that took us through the Queens year…and when we got to the 5T we had a bunch of years with Yoni, Yirmi, Doggy, and a mix of one and dones. But once Yoni retired and the Sunday morning Leagues started….it was hard to reasonably argue that a player should keep coming out. The games were pretty bad (and inconstant). And I have said this many times….Jewball only works when the games are good. I don’t want to run some league based on nostalgia and blind loyalty. And we didn’t have the talent to put a good game on the field. So guys left – played in the league – and it decimated us. I actually retired. Daveo took over (and God bless him for still believing when I lost hope), but he found little success in rallying the troops. In a full surrender move, we actually joined the League last year and had a good time. It’s good football! It’s not Jewball! But…if there was no Jewball, it’s far better than nothing. Feeling bad, I gave it one more try last year after the League ended…for the guys who need Jewball (I’m looking at you, Rabin) and….might as well – it’s been such a long run…should it really end on my watch? But, it was a half-hearted try….because…we needed a miracle.

And a miracle happened.

The miracle was my good fortune of having guys like Jeremy “Wilmer” Tabak and Jake “Snake” Skolnick being neighbors…and they catching me after shul one day and telling me about two years ago that they are ready to join up. I probably said okay, feeling like….yikes, this is going to be embarrassing…cuz we don’t really have a game. But somehow, with their joining and bringing some new guys (YOUNG TALENT – this is what it is all about….YOUNG TALENT)…there was a feel at the end of last year….like…do we have something here? It was hard to miss the steady rhythmic beat flowing underneath those game. Is that a pulse?

To be honest, this past season – which if Jewball lives another two decades, it will trace back to what we just did – signaled itself early on. If you recall, our first pre-season game featured a QB I’d been dreaming of playing Jewball forever – Adam Ofman.  Shuey Ofman played as well. (Can these guys please become regulars so we can next level the hell out of this thing!) It was a special start, but did I think we would make through Week 20? Of course not! Thought it was just a cool treat. There was absolutely no reason to think that we would make it past fall! We hadn’t done it in years. So, let me first and foremost give credit to the next generation who kept us going. That would be the band who we call Gronk and the Cronies. Gronk, Wilmer, Goldberg, Vegh….listen, I know you are each individuals and –trust me – in my mind you are compartmentalized and each bring unique skill-sets and personalities to the table. You are football players, gamers, committed, loyal, smart, all that good stuff….but collectively…. on behalf of those playing now and who played before  – I say thank you. I don’t know what I did to deserve a second chance like this, but – make no mistake – I recognize that we are an old game and it’s not the most obvious choice for you guys. And you gave us a chance…and in doing so, I think you found a place among us and you have begun to create your own Jewball legacies. Young Talent gives us a better game, legitimacy in recruiting new players, and…most importantly….a future. Thank you.

All that said, and even though Gronk proved to be a very competitive and capable QB, we needed a star QB (and, btw, Gronk got better and better – he may be a star QB by now – and imagine what he will be in 5 years). But how could we ask for more miracles? Didn’t we use them up in just having a quarter of the season complete without a problem (other than Tammy hating Wilmer and trying to toss him from NW Park). Then my cuz, the big O (who is in the Daveo Hall of Fame of having the most passion for Jewball while hardly playing because they are ALWAYS WORKING!) says…there is this guy Yaron….

…And the rest is history. Forgetting everything else that Yaron will be doing for us very soon (announcement to follow this recap if it ever ends). Yaron, you are a Rookie so I’m not going to put you on the Jewball QB Mount Rushmore just yet, but right now we have Katzenstein and Paritzky chiseled in. I fully expect you to join them. They are there not just because of talent. We have had talent. There is talent and there is being plugged in as a starter game in and out for years and years and years. No pressure, but we need that from you. You have a gifted arm, you have a ginormous brain, you have the heart of lion, and I think you “got” Jewball quicker than anyone I have ever seen. That told me something. We have been waiting a long time for you. I can’t go through everyone, but…the guys you brought down….my God….obviously Beast is the standout in terms of character, with Zada and then Prime Time right behind him….I have so much love and appreciation for that crew. Again, just felt right and meant to be off the bat. The passion. The purity of play. The sense of humor mixed with that deadly serious gamer mentality. It’s what we are all about. And, in general – our Rookie class has been spectacular. Trust me, I wish I could speak about everyone…but I think most people stopped reading already.

Yaron, you are our MVP this season. That may surprise you (and others). You lost a few games at the end there. Certainly didn’t play as many as others. And Gronk is equally deserving for what he brought to the table this year (Gronk, no joke – you may be the villain of the league – but you elevate the quality of our games….and, as a PR man myself, one cannot underestimate the value of a really good villain – thank you for everything you brought to Jewball this past year). Yaron, it’s you because of the tangibles and the intangibles. Never before have I really had a partner in making these games happen. Never. Certainly not like this. I show up to the field…and you are out there setting up!? Never before. I need guys last minute and you got it covered?! Never before. And what we are about to reveal! Add to that a temperament that pulls it all together. So, there you are – Yaron – you are our 2018-19 MVP of Jebwall. The Most Valuable Player of our Most Magical Season.

So, why do I call it magical?

It’s not just because we got the full slate of games. It’s not because we got young. Not because we found a star QB. I mean, yes, it’s all of those things….but they alone would not be magic. Magic is something else – it’s something difficult to put your finger on. And you certainly can’t make it happen. It happens on its own. It’s a subjective feeling that those who were part of this past season recognize. It’s my precious precious Vets coming back as if out of nowhere and giving us what they got left (Love you, guys) – Doggy playing with his son, Klink, BD, Yakir, PJs, Mandel, Evan….I mean…each of these people coming back – it happened based on unique occurrences in their own lives….but all to happen in the same season…that’s magic! We just finished Purim, so don’t tell me I’m wrong when I see miracles in the natural order.

Magic is Eddie in his 50s and Ari in his 20s joining our game. That alone would break my heart (in a good way), but that storyline gets lost in so much more grand spectacle. It’s Effie’s TD last week. It’s Rabin resurrecting his career AGAIN!! It’s Steveo leading the Vets to defeat the Rookies. It’s the mud bowl that required the Town of Hempstead to rent special machinery to fix the field. It’s us showing up 3 weeks later to still play in NW Park after blaming someone else for the mess. It’s Zezzy retiring from Jewball and going out on top on his way to Israel. It’s the double headers. It’s somehow having LHS open for us. It’s a thousand little things that interconnect.

Magic is also the guys who never left – Kut, B-sh, Mighty, Tom, Rabin…a bunch more….keep it going, boys.

Beast, do you really expect me to Recap Week 20 at this point – Okay, Beast and MK QBed against Yaron and Beast kept his team in the game for a while with a few TD throws (a beauty to MK!) and a lot of stiff arming,  but eventually the pass rush was too much for him and Yaron kept scoring. Think Yaron won by 3.

I leave you with this, Jewballers: The offseason has many temptations and distractions – many of which can get in the way of you being your best Jewball-self come next September when a very promising season kicks off. Stay healthy. Heal up if you need it. Work out! Eat smart! Jewball is there for those who have the will to TAKE it. But it requires work! Whatever you were this season, plan on being better! More speed! Better hands! Become the weapon you were born to be. Because our faint pulse from a year ago is now a POUNDING DRUM of a heartbeat! There is magic to come! We are living in the time of Jewball miracles and I put nothing past us! LONG LIVE JEWBALL!