Spencer Horowitz at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, Team Nicaragua vs. Team Israel
Was this the best year ever for Jewish sports in Canada?
By Michael Fraiman
F or the hosts of The CJN’s sports podcast, sitting down with Michael Landsberg for a live taping was incredible—it was a chance to meet and interview some- one James Hirsh and Gabe Pulver grew up watching every day on TV. (For me, as their producer, who doesn’t care much about sports, it was cool to meet the son of my childhood orthodontist, who was probably the nicest Jewish medical professional I visited while growing up in midtown Toronto.) But for Landsberg, our Menschwarmers live show at the Prosserman JCC’s Leah Posluns Theatre was just one of many events he does in any given month on the topic of mental health. After a three-decade television career with TSN that ended in 2015, Landsberg co-created Sick Not Weak, an organization that advocates for mental health awareness,
to close out 5783, which was an exciting year for Jews in sports—particularly in Can- ada. From the NHL to MLB to PGA to even tabletop games, Canadian Jews made a huge mark in global competitions. As is our mandate on the podcast, we feel compelled to share and celebrate these Jewish sports stories, since Lord knows no one else is going to. Read on for some of our favourites from the past year. From sparkplug to slugger Months before Spencer Horwitz hit his first homer for the Blue Jays and emerged among a crop of exciting rookies, the 25-year-old first baseman and outfielder shattered expectations for Team Israel, tying a decisive game at the World Baseball Classic in the eighth inning—leading to an upset victory
trying to connect with people struggling with mental health problems and companies wanting to do more in that space. As he told our audience, regardless of whether being Jewish gave him a predispos- ition to suffer from anxiety from an early age, his identity certainly influenced his public perception during his broadcast years. “I was labeled as arrogant from the first show I ever did,” he said. “Part of it was, I earned it, right? Because I was always opinionated and I would ask questions that, if someone wasn’t giving me an answer, I would be more aggressive than most. But also, I do think there was an undertone of, ‘That Jew—why does he think he knows everything?’” The first-ever Menschwarmers live event happened a few days before Rosh Hash- anah. We wanted to do something special
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