It is Passover. To be followed by Easter. Very holy days in the Jewish and Christian religions. There is a lot of history involved with these sacred days. And a lot of food.
In Judaism, we don’t eat bread during Passover. This has to do with the Jews leaving Egypt and having no time to let the dough rise, so the bread that they made came out flat, albeit still edible.
To follow custom and tradition, we have a Seder, a big communal meal where we acknowledge the aforementioned history and throw in some tradition in the food.
Matzoh ball soup and gefilte fish abound. Thankfully at an early age I was disabused of the fiction that there was an actual fish from the Middle East called “gefilte,” which my ancestors raised in bathtubs and painstakingly deboned and made into little fillet-like objects.
Now the meal which we eat can have so many variations. Some have brisket and turkey. Others go for different fishes—salmon is very popular.
Potatoes and noodles—unleavened ones—are found in kugels and other recipes. Vegetables and salads aplenty, too. As long as you don’t bring in anything “chametz”. That means food products derived from the five main grains which, when mixed with water, sit for more than 18 minutes. So we Jews have to stop thinking about Oreos for 8 days, the length of this celebration.
The downside to the primarily matzoh diet is that your stomach gets disoriented, not having the regular foods one is used to. One begins to anticipate the first meal after Passover concludes with glee; sometimes very early into the holiday. Pizza or a bagel sounds absolutely scrumptious.
In America, we modern, moderate Jews continue with our lives during the eight days of Passover. Watching TV isn’t verboten. Going to work is accepted. Ditto school, although many times school calendars neatly have Passover, Good Friday and Easter coincide.
And while Easter is reverential, it has become highly commercialized. Ergo, the need for candy like Easter bunnies or jelly beans. They are found wherever candy is sold.
Moreover, Easter meals are a family tradition. Many families get together for a big feast with relatives. Others go to restaurants; Easter is one of the biggest dining out days after Mother’s Day.
Supermarkets are open on Easter Sunday. They didn’t used to be. Most Mc Donald’s can be accessed, with a plethora of sweet treats available for the kiddies. Although it is not a destination for Jews; I have never heard of a Big Mac on matzoh.
Sports doesn’t stop during Passover or Easter. Why should it? So much happens leading up to the holidays—the conclusion of college basketball; the NBA and NHL are in the stretch runs; and MLB is into its second week this year.
Which makes me very happy. After all, I am the resident sports nut of this blog.
Where do I begin? With the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. We have a Final Four where two # 1 seeds, Michigan and Arizona square off in the first semi-final game. Then we have U Conn and Illinois, two squads which have emulated their head coaches and scrapped their way to this destination.
Michigan and Arizona dominated their opponents in the Elite Eight. Two very talented, athletic teams which can drub an adversary with pressure, good shooting and intelligent play. Both are worthy of winning the title. It is almost too bad that they meet now instead of the final.
One can dub U Conn and Illinois as near-“Cinderella” schools. Nobody thought that either had any business making the Final Four. U Conn took the Big East crown but the sportswriters said this was a down year for that conference. Illinois lost its Big Ten Tournament opener to Wisconsin.
Connecticut basketball has re-emerged under the guidance of Dan Hurley, wild man on the sidelines who has Hall of Fame genes inherited from his father, legendary New Jersey high school coach, and his brother, who was an All-American at Duke where he won a national championship. Danny has won two titles since he arrived at Storrs. Not too shabby until you compare that with Geno Auriemma’s record 12 National Championships with the U Conn women.
For that matter, all of the coaches who lead teams into the Final Four can really coach talented players. That’s why their teams are where they are.
Besides Hurley, Illinois’ Brad Underwood has some interesting history. He has been in so many places as a player and learned from some great coaches. He began his college playing career at Hardin-Simmons, a Division III school, where he would later return as an assistant. Then at Independence Community College, he led the team to a second place finish in the NJCAA Championship. On a recruiting trip at Oklahoma State, his host was Bill Self, who would later become a national championship coach at Kansas. Underwood finished his playing career at Kansas State under the tutelage of Jack Hartman.
Underwood’s journey, from driving vans for his junior college players, to being an assistant coach learning from legends like Bob Huggins and Frank Martin at K-State and South Carolina, made him more than ready to led a D I program when he assumed the reins at Stephen F. Austin, amassing a spectacular 89-14 record.
One year at Oklahoma State was enough for Illinois to take a chance on Underwood in 2017-18. He has gone 193-109 in the very tough Big Ten.
Michigan’s Dusty May was a manager at Indiana University, working for one Bob Knight. He then worked his way through the assistant coaching ranks with stops at Eastern Michigan, Murray state, UAB, Louisiana Tech and Florida before getting his first head coaching job at Florida Atlantic. In his first NCAA appearance, May guided the #9 seeded Owls to an astonishing 35 wins, a Final Four appearance and a loss to San Diego State on a buzzer beater. He compiled a winning record and is the all-time winningest coach at FAU.
May knows what he is doing and it shows with a cast of top tier players. This season, Michigan was the first Big Ten school to win all ten road games. The 29 regular season wins are a record at the school and the 19 conference victories is the best ever in the Big Ten. May has been selected as the Big Ten Coach of the Year and the National Coach of the Year this season.
Tommy Lloyd is so good a coach and recruiter that his name has been repeatedly mentioned for the North Carolina opening. His 61 wins in his first two season in Tucson is a NCAA record. A Washington State native, he landed at Gonzaga as an assistant coach for Mark Few, who has a ton of wins under his belt. His basketball IQ is high; that’s why Arizona struck gold with him.
These four survivors have played some really good competition. That’s why they are here.
U Conn’s nemesis was Rick Pitino’s St. John’s team, which the Huskies went 1-2 against. Early in the season, Arizona dined U Conn in Storrs by four points. A bit later in November, they beat Illinois at Madison Square Garden by 13. U Conn has a road win at Kansas under its belt plus victories over Texas and Florida, a #1 seed in the tournament.
U Conn’s most recent game was an example of how they never give up. In a reflection of Hurley’s animated coaching style, the Huskies were down 19 points to Duke, the overall top seed. Inspired by Hurley, the players kept chipping away, putting themselves in a position to win if the breaks went their way.
And did they ever. Ahead by two points with precious few seconds, Duke inbounded the ball underneath the U Conn basket. All they had to do was hold onto the ball and draw a foul. The game would then be history and Duke would rightfully be in the Final Four.
Except harassing pressure and a bad attempt to pass the ball by mid-court led to a steal and, after one pass, freshman Braylon Mullins swished an improbable three point shot with 0.4 seconds left to propel the Huskies to an incredible win. Duke doomed its own chances with sloppy play. U Conn won with grit and determination.
If I was to guess who makes the final, it would be Arizona and U Conn. I did pick Arizona to go to the finals, with Florida beating them. I won my three person pool by default—my wife picked Purdue and my daughter went with Duke. Neither had a Final Four team while I had the Wildcats.
But U Conn has pedigree. In a slugfest with either Michigan or Arizona, the Huskies can hold their own. That’s for sure.
Wouldn’t it be something if both U Conn teams win their respective tournaments.That happened in 2004 and 2014.
The women are undefeated but have to get by two #1 seeds to win it all. Just like the men will if they down the Illini. It is worth watching.
Except that I might be preoccupied. I will be spending part of Passover and Easter Sunday looking for no chametz to eat. While checking out some New Jersey Devils hockey.
Yes, I will be following the New York Yankees to start their home campaign after a massive 5-1 road trip in San Francisco and Seattle, dominated by great starting pitching and timely hitting. Even with star Aaron Judge starting slowly in 2026.
Not to worry, said David Cone, former NYY and NYM pitcher and currently an analyst for the YES Network. It is a timing thing which Judge will rectify. Then look out.
With Giancarlo Stanton absolutely mashing the ball again, New York looks even better than last season. For now. After all, this is a marathon, not a sprint.
It is a holiday week/weekend. The airwaves are filled with sports. A lot better than eating matzoh, Passover cake or chocolate rabbits.
Happy Passover. Happy Easter.
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