In honor of this week's ten Days of Awe in between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Daily sports department is keeping kosher, as we bring you the top ten Jewish figures in the world of sports.
10. Red Auerbach. Led the Celtics to 16 NBA titles and danced a celebratory hora after each and every one.
9. Mark Spitz. Is that a swimming cap or a yarmulke? No one knows for sure.
8. Sarah Hughes. Holds a unique distinction among Olympic figure skaters - she's the only one to win a gold medal before her bat mitzvah.
7. Jack Dempsey. Back in the twenties, Dempsey sent his opponents tumbling down like the walls of Jericho.
6. Larry Brown. It's pretty hard for a Jew to get chased out of New York City. Unfortunately for Larry though, a 23-59 season with the Knicks was enough to do the trick.
5. Bud Selig. Moses had to lead his people for forty years across the desert to the Promised Land. Thank Adonai it wasn't Bud Selig in his place. The exodus from Egypt probably would have ended in a tie, amid allegations of the Red Sea being parted by steroids.
4. Mark Cuban. Seriously. He's Jewish. We're not kidding. 3. Pete Sampras. "Pistol Pete" could serve up to 130 miles per hour. Oy gevalt...that's deadlier than two-month-old gefilte fish.
2. Hank Greenberg. The anti-Semitic world of major league baseball was Goliath, and Hammerin' Hank was David. With 331 career homers, a .313 career average and two MVPs, Greenberg won the fight for Jewish baseball players everywhere.
1. Sandy Koufax. In the words of the legendary Walter Sobchak, "3000 years of beautiful tradition, from Moses to Sandy Koufax...you're GODDAMN RIGHT I'M LIVING IN THE [BLEEPING] PAST!" Three Cy Youngs, an MVP, and a career ERA of 2.76...how can he not be number one?
-Alex Bloom, Evans Clinchy, and Liz Hoffman
