Jake Retzlaff of Brigham Young University — yes, that’s the school affiliated with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — will represent the matzo maker under a name, image and likeness contract that runs through the end of the school year. Manischewitz would not reveal the financial terms of the sponsorship.
Read MoreA native of the Dallas area, Associate Pastor Scott Turner previously played football and ran track at the University of Illinois. He was drafted as a cornerback by the Washington Redskins in 1995 to begin an eight-year NFL career that included stops with the San Diego Chargers and Denver Broncos. He continues to serve as a senior advisor to the NFL’s executive vice president of Football Operations.
Read MoreMississippi College will become Mississippi Christian University, a statement from the school’s board of trustees announced. A “strategic realignment of athletics” announced by the Mississippi College board of trustees included the “discontinuation” of its football program. “Discontinuing our football program is a difficult decision,” said the school’s Athletic Director Kenny Bizot.
Read MoreDespite his success, boxer Mike Tyson was plagued by demons. Emotional pain and a violent temper led to a series of personal and professional breakdowns. In 1992, he was convicted of rape and sentenced to six years in prison. It was during those years that Tyson encountered the Islamic faith. It would take years before he would eventually find redemption.
Read MoreMembers of the small Jewish community in Amsterdam confronted the city’s deputy mayor Friday morning, demanding answers for its failure to prevent violent attacks on Israeli soccer fans the night before that international Jewish organizations and leaders condemned as a pogrom. Videos showed men running through the streets beating Israelis and shooting fireworks at them.
Read MoreNick Saban — who adopted two children, Nicholas and Kristen, with his wife, Terry, and “adopted” hundreds more as a coach — drew a sellout crowd to Faulkner University’s annual benefit dinner, which celebrated heroes of adoption and foster care. Saban, a college football legend, retired from coaching and now works as a TV analyst for ESPN's “College GameDay,”
Read More(INTERVIEW) For the first time since 2009, the New York Yankees have made it to the World Series, where they will play an erstwhile favorite team of New York Jews, the Los Angeles Dodgers, formerly of Brooklyn. The fabled New York history of America’s pastime deserves another look as the Yankees and Dodgers face off in the 2024 World Series, a bicoastal series that will showcase the best of baseball.
Read MoreThe pontiff reflected on his own memories of playing soccer as a child in Argentina. Francis also described sports as an experience of the “sense of fraternity,” because friends would play “knowing only opponents on the field, never enemies.” Sports offer lessons in life, he added, as players learn from the highs of winning, the effort it takes to win, and the loss of defeat.
Read MoreTo understand why Jews love the New York Mets so much requires a Talmudic understanding of New York City history, sports history and Jewish psychology. It’s also about the DNA of baseball and Brooklyn in the 1950s; being called “amazin’” when you’re actually the worst team around, and disappointing fans so often that reveling in your losses becomes a badge of honor.
Read MoreIt's baseball playoff time, and six remaining teams look to make it to baseball's proverbial promised land. Here's why some of their fans have such a special — even spiritual — connection to the teams.
Read MoreHank Greenberg was also Jewish, and he is often called America’s first Jewish sports superstar. As Greenberg wrote in his autobiography, that was not an easy honor to bear. Greenberg played during a time of rising antisemitism, and the cruel taunts he suffered from players and fans lasted throughout his career. Here's a look back at the man known as the "The Hebrew Hammer."
Read More(REVIEW) “Do Right: The Stallings Standard” is a heartfelt documentary that focuses on the life of former football coach Gene Stallings. The film primarily shows his time as head coach with Texas A&M University (1965-1971) and the University of Alabama (1990-1996). However, the film goes deeper than just football.
Read MoreA new picture book is telling the story of a girl who takes her Jewish faith into her own hands, one swing of a plastic white ball at a time. “Ping-Pong Shabbat” recounts the true story of Estee Ackerman, a Modern Orthodox ping pong sensation from Long Island. At 11, Ackerman refused to play the final round of the U.S. National Ping Pong Championships because the match landed on Shabbat.
Read MoreWhen a legend invites you to the Big House, you go. The story of how our columnist ended up at a Michigan Wolverines game with basketball coach Garth Pleasant, who won 720 games and four small-college national championships.
Read MoreSerbian judo star Nemanja Majdov was slapped with a five-month ban for making the sign of the cross before he competed at the recent Paris Olympics. He was accused by the International Judo Federation of violating its code of conduct for “having shown a clear religious sign when entering the field of play” and barred from participating in tournaments and other events.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Numerous high-profile sporting stars talk openly about the importance of religion to their careers, including England soccer stars Marcus Rashford, Raheem Sterling and Bukayo Saka. World heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury credits his Catholic faith with bringing him back from addiction. It is sports, and its “gods” like Fury, that attracts far greater devotion among much of the public.
Read MoreThe exemption, the appellate court affirmed, does not violate the Fifth Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection under the law or the First Amendment’s establishment clause, which prohibits the government from establishing a particular religion.
Read More(ANALYSIS) In 1961, Auburn University turned down the Gotham Bowl because the date of the bowl (Dec. 2) conflicted with Auburn’s end-of-quarter exams. Ohio State University (OSU) rejected a bid to play in the Rose Bowl because faculty feared the school was turning into a “football factory." Them days are long gone.
Read More(ANALYSIS) Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, women and girls have been banned from playing sports or participating in any form of physical activity. However, Afghan women have been defying the Taliban and competed at the 2024 Olympics and 2024 Paralympic, while flying the flag of the Refugee Olympic and Paralympic teams.
Read MoreThe new movie "You Gotta Believe," about a youth baseball team's improbable journey all the way to the Little League World Series, offers a fleeting glimpse of faith. But in real life, religion played a more crucial role.
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