(Wall Street Journal) Matthew Futterman - Sports and sports movies are at their best when the players involved understand something far larger than just a game is on the line. Israeli filmmaker Dani Menkin proves this with his documentary "On the Map," the story of the 1976-77 Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team. The team won for Israel its first European basketball championship and forever changed Israelis' view of their country and its sporting prowess. After the 91-79 beatdown of the Russians on February 17, 1977, at a time when Israel and Russia didn't have diplomatic relations, former U.S. collegiate star Tal Brody, who chose Israeli basketball over the NBA in 1966, said, "We are on the map. And we are staying on the map - not only in sports but in everything."
2016-12-09 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive