General

‘Jewish Jordan’ Calls It Quits

Sep 17, 2009, 5:06 PM UTC

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â†µWho among ye remembers the Jewish Jordan? Okay, now those with handsâ†µproudly aloft, who knows what’s happened to him since? Most floppedâ†µdown, I assume. Because Tamir Goodman, the Maryland teen known for hisâ†µimpressive basketball exploits and devout religiosity, did nothingâ†µafter earning that nickname to back it up.â†µ
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â†µFor those of you who still cared or want a walk down the briefest of memory lanes, Goodman retired todayâ†µafter a decade or so of on-and-off, undistinguished service for aâ†µvariety of Israeli pro clubs. Perhaps his greatest achievement, otherâ†µthan earning that nickname, was committing to Maryland, only to opt forâ†µTowson State when Gary Williams felt uneasy about a high-profileâ†µrecruit skipping all Sabbath games.â†µ
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â†µSo he let down a people, and maybe even succeeded in making aâ†µmockery of Jews in sports. But hey, he did fill a void. That nicknameâ†µstuck, parasite-like, like it had been waiting for decades for a host.â†µIn Goodman, however briefly, there appeared to be a player of Jewishâ†µextraction who was more than just a token.â†µ
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Butâ†µwas he ever that? I have done many things on this planet, but few haveâ†µbeen as important as the time I provided occasion for a friend toâ†µrecall the time he guarded Tamir. It was for McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and it is quite long. Read it all. Here’s a favorite passage of mine, though:â†µâ†µâ‡¥ Everyone in attendance was so enamored with Tamir, theyâ†µâ‡¥neglected to recognize the total lack of athleticism of the playerâ†µâ‡¥guarding him. They wanted so badly to believe in Tamir that they turnedâ†µâ‡¥a blind eye to the reality of the situation. Billy Hahn, mesmerized byâ†µâ‡¥the performance, secured a scholarship offer for Tamir immediatelyâ†µâ‡¥following the game. The local news assembled a highlight reel of theâ†µâ‡¥night’s game that did not exactly flatter me—I could not have appearedâ†µâ‡¥more inept had I been trying to guard Tamir atop a unicycle. Tamir’sâ†µâ‡¥play against me that evening led to an exponential increase in his hypeâ†µâ‡¥and landed him an offer from a top Division One basketball program.â†µâ†µWe were blinded by our own need to believe, and that’sâ†µwhy what happened after Tamir Goodman ceased to be “The Jewish Jordan”â†µmatters naught, while that moment when “The Jewish Jordan” seemed realâ†µlingers on. Goodman’s retirement means nothing, as it’s been yearsâ†µsince he had any relevance to the title he once claimed. It’s likeâ†µ“Next Jordan,” but with a hell of a lot more baggage.â†µ
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â†µOne thing’s for sure, though: In this case, Tamir’s rise was fueledâ†µby the ineptness of his fellow Jews on the court, not by a conspiracy.â†µMy friend just wasn’t very good, and Goodman’s legend was built on hisâ†µback. Far from fooling the world, my people did a darn good job atâ†µfooling ourselves.â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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