Israellycool

A hypothetical question….your team - Maccabi Tel Aviv - is playing in the Euroleague championship game, televised on Israeli television at 9.30pm Israel time. You have been looking forward to the game all day, and even leave work early to “get in to the spirit of things.”

Not long before the game begins, you are duly informed that your wife’s favorite show - Desperate Housewives - is being televised at the same time. What do you do?

If you are me, you realize that you won’t be watching the game on television tonight, and you frantically look for a live video stream on the internet. Luckily, a reader in the UK has left a link to a live stream in the comments to a previous post.

However, after registering to view the game, you are greeted with a message “This game is only available to viewers in the UK and Ireland.” Now what do you do?

If you are me, you begin thinking about which of your friends won’t mind a last minute phone call, requesting you watch the game at their house!. But luckily, the aforementioned reader is on Skype, and is very tech savvy. He finds a way to relay via his IP (he lives in England), and presto! You are watching the game on your computer. Thanks Gadget Doctor!

Let the liveblogging begin..

9.40PM: Maccabi out to a flyer, scoring the first 7 points. Maccabi 7 CSKA 0

9.43PM: CSKA claw their way back, scoring the next 7 points. Maccabi 7 CSKA 0

9.50PM: Quarter time, and the game is tied. Maccabi should have gone into the second quarter leading, but Maccabi’s Willie Solomon did not run down the clock, and allowed CSKA the last shot of the quarter. Maccabi 18 CSKA 18

9.56PM: Huge 3-pointer to Anthony Parker puts Maccabi up.What a shot! Maccabi 25 CSKA 22

10.01PM: Bad turnover by Maccabi, and CSKA take advantage, opening up a 3-point gap. Maccabi 25 CSKA 28

10.05PM: The English commentators are saying that they like CSKA’s chances, even at this early stage. They think Maccabi’s big victory the other night, coupled with their quick start to this game, may have had a detrimental psychological effect on them. Yeah, whatever.

10.07PM: Maccabi commits a three second violation. “Unheard of at this level” say the pompous English commentators. Maccabi 25 CSKA 32

10.10PM: Maccabi pull back the margin from 10 points to 5 within the last 30 seconds of the half. At half time: Maccabi 30 CSKA 35

Dave’s half-time analysis: CSKA will be pleased with their first half performance. They were far more disciplined than Maccabi, and are dictating the pace of the game. Maccabi prefer higher-scoring affairs, but so far have only 30 points. Maccabi have made too many errors, and need to play much smarter ball than they have been up until now. They are only 5 points down, and are still a chance to win, but will need to regroup in the second half.

Ok, that is about as many cliches as I can handle in one pararaph. I will return for the second half.

10.26PM: Just after hearing the commentators state that Maccabi have committed 9 turnovers to 2, Maccabi start the second half..with a turnover. Ouch!

10.36PM: Huge 3-pointer to Maccabi after a CSKA turnover. We are still in it - barely. Maccabi 39 CSKA 44

10.40PM: Sharp comes off injured, but Maccabi is now only 4 points down, with the momentum. Maccabi 42 CSKA 46

10.43PM: Maccabi’s Vujcic sinks both free throws. Now only 2 points in it. Maccabi 44 CSKA 46

10.48PM: End of the third quarter, and Maccabi is well and truly in this, even though the pompous English commentators are still backing CSKA. Maccabi 48 CSKA 49

10.51PM: Maccabi’s Arnold begs for the ball, gets it, and proceeds to back into the CSKA defence and attempt a very tough shot. He misses. C’mon Maccabi!

10.52PM: A few bad plays, and now there is a 7-point margin to CSKA. There’s still time left, but the signs are not good. Maccabi 48 CSKA 55

10.55PM: Scores are now tied! Never say die. Maccabi 55 CSKA 55

10.58PM: Solomon takes a ridiculously long 3-point attempt - and misses. Maccabi 58 CSKA 62

11.04PM: With a little over 2 minutes left, Maccabi are behind 59-64.

11.09PM: A little over a minute left, and the score is still Maccabi 59 CSKA 64.

11.13PM: Maccabi foul CSKA and will hope that CSKA miss the throws. But they make both shots. Maccabi 61 CSKA 68

11.15PM: 28 seconds left..and CSKA about to attempt 2 free throws. 5 point game. Makes the first. Misses the second.

11.16PM: 3-pointer to Maccabi!

11.17PM: And another 3! Not over yet. 6 seconds left.

11:18PM: Maccabi have lost! Maccabi 69 CSKA 73

Dave’s end-of-game analysis: In the final analysis, Maccabi were defeated by a more polished team. Turnovers hurt us, but CSKA had great defence which slowed down Maccabi, and prevented them from playing their uptempo game.

Full credit to Maccabi for making a game of it in the dying seconds. 7 points down, with under 30 seconds left, two 3-pointers to Maccabi meant that CSKA only put the game beyond doubt with their final free throw with only a few seconds on the clock.

I will take a breath now. That was exciting stuff, and although I am disappointed with the result, I am proud of Maccabi’s never-say-die attitude. They did us proud!

Something Jewish reports how Londoners fed up with the anti-Semitic bovine excrement secreting from “Red” Ken Livingstone’s mouth are hitting back - with bumper stickers.

The “Say Lo to Ken” stickers are a play on words, since Lo is Hebrew for No, and Ken is Hebrew for yes.

So far, 200 stickers from an initial print run of 1000 have been sold. 10% of the revenue goes to an Israeli charity that helps disabled people take part in sport.

For the record, I think the stickers are a great idea. Then again, I think tying Livingstone to a tree and tarring and feathering him* would also be a great idea.

* preferably with George Galloway - why not kill two turds with one stone?

Maccabi Tel Aviv made it to the final of the Euroleague, smashing Spanish side Tau Vitoria 85-70.

They face off against CSKA Moscow tomorrow.

Yeah, I realize the Euroleague is not the NBA. But, hey, we’ll take what we can.

Israeli basketball team Maccabi Tel Aviv takes on Spain’s Tau Ceramica in tonight’s Euroleague semi final - a rematch of last year’s final, which Maccabi won by 12 points. If Maccabi wins tonight, they will face the winner of the other semi final between Winterthur FCB and CSKA Moscow on Sunday.

If Maccabi goes all the way, it will become just the third club to win three straight European titles, joining Jugoplastika Split (1989-1991) and ASK Riga (1958-1960).

Here’s hoping that victory is theirs.

Do yourselves a favor and watch this remarkable interview with three reformed Arab terrorists. Then send the link to everyone you know.

This is the truth, coming from the mouths of people who know.

A virtual Easter egg is a hidden message or feature in an object such as a movie, book, CD, DVD, or computer program. The term draws a parallel with the custom of the Easter egg hunt observed in many western nations (Wikipedia).

With that in mind, I would like to draw your attention to the trailer for Mel Gibson’s new film. If you watch the trailer, pause it at the part where the monkey screams, and then click the lower right button to reverse back frame by frame, you will see a pretty funny Easter egg (hat tip: Fark).

Yeah, I realize the guy is quite possibly an anti-Semite, but there’s no denying he has a warped sense of humor.

On this week’s show, I

talk about the latest in Israeli politics, European anti-Israel behavior, and Israel’s latest PR initiative. And there’s even some listener feedback.

And don’t forget: If you

are an

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stick a pin in my Podcast Frappr map.

“Taylor is a good singer. He has a beautiful instrument.”

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Italy, the Swedes are acting positively French.

The Swedish government has pulled out of an international military exercise in Italy at short notice, after discovering that the Israeli air force was due to take part, local media reported on Wednesday.

The F17 Blekinge Wing, which was to have taken part in the exercise, was informed of the decision on Tuesday, two weeks before the event. The exercise has been planned for more than eight months, reported Swedish Radio.

The objective of the exercise was to train for any future international peacekeeping operations. But details of Israeli involvement changed the conditions of Sweden’s participation, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Our analysis of the current situation is that Israel’s participation in this kind of peacekeeping effort does not seem likely given the political situation in the Middle East,” said the ministry’s press officer, Christian Karlsson, to SR.

In Italy, nothing quite commemorates the victory against fascism like….trampling and burning Israeli flags.

The Vatican newspaper on Wednesday called the trampling and burning of Israeli flags during a march in Milan a “disgusting” offense to all Jews.

In a news article about the march, the L’Osservatore Romano newspaper called the anti-Israel protests a “serious and disgusting offense.”

“To offend a flag means to offend the people for whom it is a symbol, and therefore in this case it was an offense to the entire Jewish people, precisely on the day in which we celebrate liberation from their infamous oppressors,” L’Osservatore wrote.

Earlier on Wednesday,the Israeli ambassador to Italy condemned as “barbarous” the anti-Israeli demonstrations held “As a Jew and an Israeli, I was filled with shame and anger at the sight of the barbarous behavior of the ‘fascists’ who defiled the sanctity of the Liberation Day holiday,” Ambassador Ehud Gol said in a statement.

The protests occurred near a march Tuesday commemorating the 61st anniversary of Italy’s liberation from fascism. Demonstrators trampled and burned Israeli flags and yelled “Intifada” in support of the Palestinian uprising, according to media reports.

The protesters reportedly were angered by the presence in the march of Israeli flags in honor of members of the Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, which helped liberate Italy.

Commemorations are held throughout Italy on the April 25 national holiday in honor of the partisan uprising that began on that day in 1945 and ended with the execution of Fascist Party dictator Benito Mussolini.