{"id":51852,"date":"2022-02-16T08:13:16","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T08:13:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/?p=51852"},"modified":"2022-02-16T08:38:04","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T08:38:04","slug":"an-american-sports-fans-experience-at-the-semifinals-for-the-israeli-state-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/an-american-sports-fans-experience-at-the-semifinals-for-the-israeli-state-cup\/","title":{"rendered":"An American sports fan\u2019s experience at the semifinals for the Israeli State Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"

Maccabi Tel Aviv lost to Hapoel Tel Aviv last night in the semi-final elimination game for the state cup. Even though Maccabi has historically been the dominating team, they entered this game having lost both regular season matchups to Hapoel Tel Aviv this year. The entire game was a thrill and was something I had truly never seen before. I am an American sports fan, and this was my first experience at a high stakes Israeli sporting event. <\/p>\n

Even before tip off, I was already taking note of differences between the nature of this game and other major league sports games I have been to in the United States. As soon as I entered the arena, I was shocked that since my ticket was in the Maccabi section, that meant I couldn’t go into the other half of the area. There were barricades blocking the fans from mixing in the arena concourse. I was also surprised that there were an equal number of fans for each team, eliminating the main benefit of home court advantage. Each of these teams had half an arena, literally split down the middle of the center court, cheering for them.
\n

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Jake Cohen and Josh Owens – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nBeyond slight differences in technical rules, another thing that stood out was the extremely high energy from the fans. Starting an hour before game time, the environment in the arena was purely electric and that continued up until the final buzzer. There was constant cheering and singing from both sides of the arena. Had I known all of the cheers beforehand, I know I would have woken up this morning without a voice. The 10,000 seat arena was so loud, it rivaled a 20,000 seat National Basketball Association (NBA) game in the States. However, the smaller arena size also had the unique benefit of creating a more intimate environment amongst the fans. Each half of the arena was able to chant and cheer along together, all in complete unison for hours. There would be hundreds of people in each section with arms around each other, complete strangers, jumping up and down together, screaming in support of their team. The passion not only filled the arena, but it connected every single fan to one another. In hindsight, it was quite remarkable to be in a section filled with fans cheering only for your team. With each basket, came the subsequent uproar of every single person around you. <\/p>\n

Rivalries are not taken lightly in the United States, but people still wear Bruins jerseys in Montreal, Jets jerseys in New England, Celtics jerseys in Detroit, and Red Sox jerseys in New York. However, after Hapoel\u2019s win, I felt compelled to zip up my jacket and hide the fact that I was wearing a Maccabi shirt. There is a great misconception regarding the intensity of Israeli sports fans; they are serious and extremely passionate. Screams of pure euphoria from Hapoel fans echoed in the streets well after the game’s conclusion.
\n

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Maccabi vs Hapoel – Photo Credit: Dov Halickman<\/p><\/div>
\nIt was also interesting for me to learn about the political divide between the Hapoel and Maccabi clubs. In America, where sports remains one of the only things not crazy politicized, it was intriguing to learn that in Israel, which team you support usually reveals your political ideology. <\/p>\n

My favorite part of the night, however, came during the national anthem. Despite the mutual hatred between the two teams and their fans, for a brief moment before the game, everyone became one as they all sang Hatikvah together. At the end specifically, when the final words, \u201cEretz Tzion Yerushalayim,\u201d were sung, I was covered in chills. I learned afterwards that each fanbase changes this last phrase to either \u201cEretz Tzion Hapoel Tel Aviv,\u201d or \u201cEretz Tzion Holonia.\u201d This depicts just how focused and crazed both the fandoms are. Nevertheless, right at that moment when I sang \u201cEretz Tzion Yerushalayim,\u201d I was so happy to be in Israel, and even prouder of the incredible sports that exist within this country. It is not hard to seek out and learn about authentic Israeli sports, and after experiencing it live, I sincerely recommend it to all sports fans. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Maccabi Tel Aviv lost to Hapoel Tel Aviv last night in the semi-final elimination game for the state cup. Even though Maccabi has historically been the dominating team, they entered this game having lost both regular season matchups to Hapoel Tel Aviv this year. The entire game was a thrill and was something I had […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":51853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[97,29,4],"class_list":["post-51852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-holy-land-hoops","tag-hapoel-tel-aviv","tag-israel","tag-maccabi-tel-aviv","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"yoast_head":"\nAn American sports fan\u2019s experience at the semifinals for the Israeli State Cup - Sports Rabbi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportsrabbi.com\/en\/an-american-sports-fans-experience-at-the-semifinals-for-the-israeli-state-cup\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"An American sports fan\u2019s experience at the semifinals for the Israeli State Cup - Sports Rabbi\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Maccabi Tel Aviv lost to Hapoel Tel Aviv last night in the semi-final elimination game for the state cup. 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