Incredible leagues and a super season deserved nothing less than classic championship contests, and that’s exactly what happened on Sunday. The basketball league came down to a clash between the “Mighty Mevakshim” and “Bruce Spirnsteen.” Both teams squeaked into the playoffs, but the Mevakshm have been playing stellar basketball for weeks, and were the clearly established favorites. A well balanced and lethal attack led by Rabbi Lebowitz, Yehuda Meiteiis, Adi Pasternak, and Eli Blumenthal had pushed them into the championship game with hardly a challenge in the playoffs. Spirnsteen on the other hand was the Cinderella team of the tournament, continuing to surprise and defy expectations with a string of hard fought victories. The game was particularly noteworthy because the matchup of Rabbi Lebowitz and Rabbi Schneider guaranteed the end of one of NCSY Kollel’s most inglorious streaks. Remarkably, despite heavy participation and no shortage of skill (more on that below), no Rebbe has ever been on a championship winning team. That would end this year. It was clear from the outset that those anticipating a blowout would be mistaken. Spirnsteen’s aggressive defense and all out hustle insured a see-saw battle with a great number of lead changes and high drama
The uncanny teamwork of Sammy Kahn and Rabbi Schneider lifted Spirnsteen to a late lead, but the Mevakshim were not going to go down easily. Adi hit a huge three pointer to tie the game, but in the end Spirnsteen and Rabbi Schneider completed the upset and the miracle run. It was a true team effort, with key baskets from Ari Feldstein and Ezra Stone, and great defense from the entire team
Congratulations to the champs (Yair Frankel, Ari Feldstein, Ari Miller, Ezra Stone, Jon Herskowitz, Eli Spirn, and Sammy Kahn) and Captain Rabbi Schneider for his huge role in leading them to victory.
Over on the hockey court, there was also a thriller of a conclusion.
Team G had led the season standings all summer, with a goalie backbone of Ariel Kirschenbaum providing constant support. Daniel Genachowski, Shlomo Glass and Danny Shulman were an unbeatable force, and headed into the championship game with confidence. Like in basketball, their opponents were upstarts, who had only made the playoffs as a number 4 seed. Team E (Sammy Schwartz, Aryeh Fischer, Nachum Cooper, Issac Shulman, Josh Weiss, Eric Wittenberg, Rabbi Freedman, Dani Bauer, Ben Pianko) peaked at the right time and proved a worthy opponent for the final game. It was a hard fought game from the stat, with Chaim Levitz and Shimmy Karasick setting the tone for the favorites with intense and spirited defense. But a third period thrilling goal from Sammy gave Team E a hard earned championship. Congratulations! We also named our league MVPs and Middot Awardees. As you can imagine there was stiff competition in both categories, and no shortage of worthy candidates. In Hockey, it was a Stone Brother sweep, as Ezra won the Middot Award and Yoni was declared the MVP. In basketball, Binyamin Kaminetsky capped two ountstanding summers of Kollel Ball with an MVP designation, and Sammy Kahn and Menachem Weber were the co-winners of the Middot Award. Congratulations! We also had the finals of our three point shootout. Davey Odzer put on a most impressive display of shooting and won the title going away
For many, the highlight of the sports day were the staff-NCSYer all star games. In hockey, youth was served as the NCSYers were able to pull off the upset of the mighty staff team. In basketball, the NCSYers were less fortunate.
For the second consecutive year, the mighty team of Rabbeim defended the honor of Rabbis everywhere with an impressive victory over the NCSYers. Rabbi Schneider continued his great day on the court with a great performance, and Rabbi Resnick supplied MVP caliber play in the middle in leading the Rabbis to victory. This was a phenomenal summer of Kollel athletics, living up to everyone’s lofty expectations and providing great fun and some lessons along the way. NCSY KOLLEL 2009
