Roby Young and Shuka Palgi at Adelphi University
נשלח: 31 דצמבר 2007, 01:18
First, Happy New Year to all of you!
The following is a long story. If you are not interested in soccer, or you don't know much about Roby Young and Shuka Palgi, don't bother to read.
For a long time I wanted to write an important chapter of Roby and Shuka's lives at Adelphi University, a story that only a few of you are familiar with.
Only now iI have free time to do so.
I'm sorry that I must write in English as this computer away from home has no Hebrew keyboard.
The story started in 1969. I was a young professor at Adelphi, very busy establishing a biomechanics lab and developing new courses. One of them was in Kinesiology. One of the students was a small guy named John Bickelhof who was the star of the soccer team. A "star" is a relative description of one's ability. Let me say in Hebrew that he was ROSH LA'ZEEVIM. A "star" in a very very poor soccer team that lost its first 9 games of the season. The players felt that their coach just does not give a damn, and that he coaches just to enhance his salary as a manager in the sports' department.
One day Johnnie came to me after class and told me that the players started a rebellion and threatened that they would not show up to the next game, unless the coach was replaced immediately. The coach himself came to see me and said that he didn't know enough soccer to coach and that he did it only because the Sports' Department found no other coach to coach the team.
I wasn't interested at all, but I finally succumbed to the request of all the players who came to see me, and I agreed to coach the last 4 games.
The team WAS awful but the players had hearts as big as a soccer field. They told me that I can do whatever I wish - even working them to death. Well, I became the coach on a Monday, and Thursday we had a game against a good team, Yale University. I told them that we are going to play defensive soccer, with occassional fast breaks when possible.
It just happened that 5 minutes into the game Johnnie jumped for a high ball, collided with a Yale player, and when I arrived to see him bleeding from his skull, I saw that he held his eye socket in his hand, pressing it toward the place where it should have been. Yale Hospital - one of the best in the world, was 2 blocks away, and to our tremendous luck the eye doctors and neuro-surgeons were able to reattach the entire eye socket, but no one knew what the long-time damage would be. Well, to make a long story short, Johnnie had double vision for 6 months but slowly recovered, and he told me that he will return to play soccer next season.
Just imagine a coach that after 5 minutes into his first game one of his players almost loses his eye!
Well, the team got together after we lost to Yale 4-2 and made a vow that they were NOT going to finish the season 13-0!
Our next game was against a team as weak as Adelphi - Queens College - and we beat them 2-0!. Game number 12 was against City College, and we tied them 1-1. Well, our last game was against Long Island University, a team loaded with National players from Jamaica and Trinidad, rated number 1 in the country. They needed just to tie us to go to the NCAA playoffs, but who spoke of a tie? Everyone felt sorry for us, predicting that we would lose by at least 12 goals.
I had breakfast with my team at my house, and told them that no matter who they were playing - they all put on their pants one leg at a time, just like we do. I told them that in the World Cup of 1950, the USA - a team of immigrants - beat England 1-0!
I told them that in one thing we are as good as the Jamaicans - in physical fitness. I also brought a star from the baseball team who played first base and was already drafted by the Boston Red Sox. He was a great, great athlete. In the two weeks that I had him I was working with him 3 hours/day. The game against Long Island University was the third game of his life.
He was like a gorilla in the goal. Stopping EVERYTHING (he ended with 49 saves, still a record at Adelphi). Five minutes before the end of the 0-0 game, a game where my players gave EVERYTHING that they had, we had a long ball and one of our players, Val Dieguez (one of 3-4 players that has some "MUSAG") ran the length of the field and scored!!!
We won 1-0. The greatest victory of Adelphi University history. We were written everywhere, and coaches of the best teams in the USA called and asked to schedule a game with us next year.
To everyone I said "yes", "yes", "yes". because I had no idea how good they were. A few weeks later the Head of the Sports' Department came to my office and said, "Mel, you might not know this, but you have just made the most difficult schedule in the country. You better bring some "ringers" (a nick name to "stars") or your team will get killed every game.
Well, by then I was so attached to Johnnie and to the whole team for the unbelievable physical effort they showed in the last 4 games that I decided to remain coach.
I heard that Roby thought about retiring from Ha'Poel Haifa and continue his studies (if it were today, Roby would have probably been given a 1-million dollar contract with some European team, but then it was not an option).
Roby agreed to receive a scholarship but told me that I must bring Shuka Palgi as well. Immediately I said "sure", and a few weeks later Roby called and said that Amnon Aronskind (Maccabi Tel Aviv with about 10 games in the national team also wants to come.
Well, the three came for the 1970 season. I had only 3 scholarships and had given them to Roby, Shuka, and Amnon, and I had none left. I figured that with Johnnie, Val, and 2-3 who had some clue, I have already 6 players. I needed 5 more. I traveled from high school to high school, telling the coaches that I have no Scholarships for 1970, but if the players that I wanted would come, I'd guarantee them scholarships for 1971, regardless of how good or how poor they would do.
The word spread out that 3 "International" players came to Adelphi, and some other high school soccer players registered to Adelphi.
Well, in 1969 I had a problem getting 11 "bodies" for the team. In 1970 24 showed up for tryouts. I left all of them on the team, but found 18 (in University level then, you could dress players). Roby and Shuka were exemplary in their attitude and seriousness. Amnon was less serious. He came overweight, couldn't keep up with my hard practices, and became just "another" player. But Roby and Shuka were just wonderful. They helped other players with advice, and taught them strategy, in addition to what I did in practices. As far as their attitude towards me as a coach, I could not have asked for anything better. They accepted me "KE'MEAMEN LE'CHOL DAVAR", never questioning me, and even gave me compliments on the way I held my practices. Roby actually told me once that he never had good practices like he had at Adelphi.
We started the pre-season killing every team that we met. The entire season we lost only one game to one of the best teams in the country, Hartwick College.
We were invited to the playoffs, and Adelphi became the "darling" of Long Island. We won our first 2 games, and our third game was against New York University, who was then number 3 in the country. It was a home game. Roby played hurt (Hamstring pull) but did an excellent job. The "Player of the Game" was Shuka. I never saw him better. We won 1-0.
Two days later my Sports' Director called me to his office and said that he forfeitted (cancel) all our games because NYU submitted a complaint about Roby, Shuka, and Amnon, who were - according to them - ineligible to play because of their age, and because they transferred from another school (Wingate Institute) without "sitting out" a full year. The Wingate thing was thrown out, but the age limit was 24 for foreign players, a thing nobody knew. It is such an unfair law that discriminates against foreign students, and 3 years later the law was thrown out.
But we lost our 3 best players (but of course the scholarship was theirs until they received their B.A degrees two years later.
My Sports' Director told me not to bring foreign players for 2-3 years. But by then Adelphi's name was all over - a lot because of Roby and Shuka), and for 1971-1973 I was able to be in the top 20 universities in the USA with all American players. In seventy four, I brought Nimrod Dreyfuss and Zvi Sharf (played in Liga Alef) and a great Irish player, we won the NCAA championship. My record when I retired was 126 wins and 18 losses - still the best in the NCAA - and much of it I owe to Roby and Shuka!!!
We took third place in the Nation in 1975-1976, but then I retired, leaving the next coach after me some great Israeli players (Israel Goldstein, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Ronnie Schneider, Hapoel Kfar Sava' Itzhak Nujik, Bnei Yeduda Tel Aviv, and Shai Frohlick, Israeli youth national team), but Adelphi could never return to its soccer greatness during 1969-1976' much because of Roby and Shuka.
From Adelphi Roby signed with the New York Cosmos, and he finished his M.A degree at Adelphi. His wife, Judith, was hired by me to serve as my assistant at Human Resources Center, and today she is vice president of this very important company.
Shuka quit playing (but we played in Garden City 45+ team), concentrating instead on his doctorate studies at Columbia University, and he is still a professor of Physiology of Exercise in a New Jersey college.
I'm very friendly with both till today.
The following is a long story. If you are not interested in soccer, or you don't know much about Roby Young and Shuka Palgi, don't bother to read.
For a long time I wanted to write an important chapter of Roby and Shuka's lives at Adelphi University, a story that only a few of you are familiar with.
Only now iI have free time to do so.
I'm sorry that I must write in English as this computer away from home has no Hebrew keyboard.
The story started in 1969. I was a young professor at Adelphi, very busy establishing a biomechanics lab and developing new courses. One of them was in Kinesiology. One of the students was a small guy named John Bickelhof who was the star of the soccer team. A "star" is a relative description of one's ability. Let me say in Hebrew that he was ROSH LA'ZEEVIM. A "star" in a very very poor soccer team that lost its first 9 games of the season. The players felt that their coach just does not give a damn, and that he coaches just to enhance his salary as a manager in the sports' department.
One day Johnnie came to me after class and told me that the players started a rebellion and threatened that they would not show up to the next game, unless the coach was replaced immediately. The coach himself came to see me and said that he didn't know enough soccer to coach and that he did it only because the Sports' Department found no other coach to coach the team.
I wasn't interested at all, but I finally succumbed to the request of all the players who came to see me, and I agreed to coach the last 4 games.
The team WAS awful but the players had hearts as big as a soccer field. They told me that I can do whatever I wish - even working them to death. Well, I became the coach on a Monday, and Thursday we had a game against a good team, Yale University. I told them that we are going to play defensive soccer, with occassional fast breaks when possible.
It just happened that 5 minutes into the game Johnnie jumped for a high ball, collided with a Yale player, and when I arrived to see him bleeding from his skull, I saw that he held his eye socket in his hand, pressing it toward the place where it should have been. Yale Hospital - one of the best in the world, was 2 blocks away, and to our tremendous luck the eye doctors and neuro-surgeons were able to reattach the entire eye socket, but no one knew what the long-time damage would be. Well, to make a long story short, Johnnie had double vision for 6 months but slowly recovered, and he told me that he will return to play soccer next season.
Just imagine a coach that after 5 minutes into his first game one of his players almost loses his eye!
Well, the team got together after we lost to Yale 4-2 and made a vow that they were NOT going to finish the season 13-0!
Our next game was against a team as weak as Adelphi - Queens College - and we beat them 2-0!. Game number 12 was against City College, and we tied them 1-1. Well, our last game was against Long Island University, a team loaded with National players from Jamaica and Trinidad, rated number 1 in the country. They needed just to tie us to go to the NCAA playoffs, but who spoke of a tie? Everyone felt sorry for us, predicting that we would lose by at least 12 goals.
I had breakfast with my team at my house, and told them that no matter who they were playing - they all put on their pants one leg at a time, just like we do. I told them that in the World Cup of 1950, the USA - a team of immigrants - beat England 1-0!
I told them that in one thing we are as good as the Jamaicans - in physical fitness. I also brought a star from the baseball team who played first base and was already drafted by the Boston Red Sox. He was a great, great athlete. In the two weeks that I had him I was working with him 3 hours/day. The game against Long Island University was the third game of his life.
He was like a gorilla in the goal. Stopping EVERYTHING (he ended with 49 saves, still a record at Adelphi). Five minutes before the end of the 0-0 game, a game where my players gave EVERYTHING that they had, we had a long ball and one of our players, Val Dieguez (one of 3-4 players that has some "MUSAG") ran the length of the field and scored!!!
We won 1-0. The greatest victory of Adelphi University history. We were written everywhere, and coaches of the best teams in the USA called and asked to schedule a game with us next year.
To everyone I said "yes", "yes", "yes". because I had no idea how good they were. A few weeks later the Head of the Sports' Department came to my office and said, "Mel, you might not know this, but you have just made the most difficult schedule in the country. You better bring some "ringers" (a nick name to "stars") or your team will get killed every game.
Well, by then I was so attached to Johnnie and to the whole team for the unbelievable physical effort they showed in the last 4 games that I decided to remain coach.
I heard that Roby thought about retiring from Ha'Poel Haifa and continue his studies (if it were today, Roby would have probably been given a 1-million dollar contract with some European team, but then it was not an option).
Roby agreed to receive a scholarship but told me that I must bring Shuka Palgi as well. Immediately I said "sure", and a few weeks later Roby called and said that Amnon Aronskind (Maccabi Tel Aviv with about 10 games in the national team also wants to come.
Well, the three came for the 1970 season. I had only 3 scholarships and had given them to Roby, Shuka, and Amnon, and I had none left. I figured that with Johnnie, Val, and 2-3 who had some clue, I have already 6 players. I needed 5 more. I traveled from high school to high school, telling the coaches that I have no Scholarships for 1970, but if the players that I wanted would come, I'd guarantee them scholarships for 1971, regardless of how good or how poor they would do.
The word spread out that 3 "International" players came to Adelphi, and some other high school soccer players registered to Adelphi.
Well, in 1969 I had a problem getting 11 "bodies" for the team. In 1970 24 showed up for tryouts. I left all of them on the team, but found 18 (in University level then, you could dress players). Roby and Shuka were exemplary in their attitude and seriousness. Amnon was less serious. He came overweight, couldn't keep up with my hard practices, and became just "another" player. But Roby and Shuka were just wonderful. They helped other players with advice, and taught them strategy, in addition to what I did in practices. As far as their attitude towards me as a coach, I could not have asked for anything better. They accepted me "KE'MEAMEN LE'CHOL DAVAR", never questioning me, and even gave me compliments on the way I held my practices. Roby actually told me once that he never had good practices like he had at Adelphi.
We started the pre-season killing every team that we met. The entire season we lost only one game to one of the best teams in the country, Hartwick College.
We were invited to the playoffs, and Adelphi became the "darling" of Long Island. We won our first 2 games, and our third game was against New York University, who was then number 3 in the country. It was a home game. Roby played hurt (Hamstring pull) but did an excellent job. The "Player of the Game" was Shuka. I never saw him better. We won 1-0.
Two days later my Sports' Director called me to his office and said that he forfeitted (cancel) all our games because NYU submitted a complaint about Roby, Shuka, and Amnon, who were - according to them - ineligible to play because of their age, and because they transferred from another school (Wingate Institute) without "sitting out" a full year. The Wingate thing was thrown out, but the age limit was 24 for foreign players, a thing nobody knew. It is such an unfair law that discriminates against foreign students, and 3 years later the law was thrown out.
But we lost our 3 best players (but of course the scholarship was theirs until they received their B.A degrees two years later.
My Sports' Director told me not to bring foreign players for 2-3 years. But by then Adelphi's name was all over - a lot because of Roby and Shuka), and for 1971-1973 I was able to be in the top 20 universities in the USA with all American players. In seventy four, I brought Nimrod Dreyfuss and Zvi Sharf (played in Liga Alef) and a great Irish player, we won the NCAA championship. My record when I retired was 126 wins and 18 losses - still the best in the NCAA - and much of it I owe to Roby and Shuka!!!
We took third place in the Nation in 1975-1976, but then I retired, leaving the next coach after me some great Israeli players (Israel Goldstein, Hapoel Tel Aviv, Ronnie Schneider, Hapoel Kfar Sava' Itzhak Nujik, Bnei Yeduda Tel Aviv, and Shai Frohlick, Israeli youth national team), but Adelphi could never return to its soccer greatness during 1969-1976' much because of Roby and Shuka.
From Adelphi Roby signed with the New York Cosmos, and he finished his M.A degree at Adelphi. His wife, Judith, was hired by me to serve as my assistant at Human Resources Center, and today she is vice president of this very important company.
Shuka quit playing (but we played in Garden City 45+ team), concentrating instead on his doctorate studies at Columbia University, and he is still a professor of Physiology of Exercise in a New Jersey college.
I'm very friendly with both till today.