TV
The docu-derby between Maccabi and Hapoel does the unbelievable and unites fans from both sides
Watching Yes' docu-series on the Tel Aviv basketball basketball eye of a Maccabi fan should be completely different from that of a Hapoel fan.
But objectively it does not matter at all, "Boxing: The Final Series" manages to unite red and yellow to one conclusion: what fun it used to be
Living Room Fellow
30/03/2022
Wednesday, March 30, 2022, 12:00 p.m.
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Promo for the docu-series "The Boxing: The Final Series" (yes docu)
This review is written on the seventh anniversary of the death of Uri Shelef, who passed away unexpectedly at the end of March 2015. Many referred to Shelef as "brother of", but Uri Shelef was not only the brother of Gur Shelef, former captain of Maccabi Tel Aviv, but a brother to all basketball lovers And sports in Israel.
Shelef was part of Hapoel Tel Aviv's last basketball team to win the state cup, and was also part of the team that was relegated for the first time.
After many had already eulogized the team, he joined the Hapoel Ussishkin fan group and brought back to life the symbol that had already disappeared from the map.
In the first derby of Hapoel "Hahadasha" in Yad Eliyahu, with the Holocaust in the stands and curses by Pnini on the floor, several Maccabi fans threw condoms at Hapoel's bench.
Erez Edelstein, the Reds' coach at the time, was furious and screamed at the secretariat.
A spokesman for the group documented the "criminals" on his smartphone and Uri just smiled and laughed.
At the end of the game, the same verb of course lost in the best tradition, I saw him outside the locker room - still smiling and laughing.
Erez Edelstein shouted at members of the management at Maccabi Tel Aviv following the curses he received from Maccabi fans, and Uri continued to smile and laugh.
I asked him what he had to smile about, and he replied, "Look what fun this derby is."
Uri Shelef is a brother, because he understood that.
The documentary series "The Boxing: The Final Series" by Yes Doku, manages to bring to the screen a rich and concentrated dose of the same fun that the late Uri Shelef talked about. Fun that comes from many years of rivalry, with great heroes, clear villains ,
And also pain.
It's part of the game.
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It was a slap in the face.
"The Boxing: The Final Series" (Photo: Yossi Roth, courtesy of yes Doku)
Here, too, it is worth stopping and giving a detailed due diligence: I appear in the series, at least as a stand-up comedian in the background.
I was in the three stormy games in the final series at Yad Eliyahu, including the dramatic moment when Ben Mercer snacked on Chris Rock.
Sorry, Tomer Steinhauer.
At the end of the game I jumped on the floor and hugged Guy Goodes with enthusiasm.
The smell of his sweat stuck with me all night.
I remember him to this day.
It's a stinking memory, but also very sweet.
I, too, changed like an infantile on Ussishkin's walls.
I, too, like the tens of thousands of spectators at the Sports Hall, sang about Shimon Amsalem's sexual orientation.
I admit, in retrospect, that I had no idea what "gay" was at all.
I can hit on a sin and say I regret it, but that would be unnecessary purity - I'm sorry of course for the pain it caused Amsalem, but listen, it was abnormal fun.
Supposedly, the experience of watching this docu from the eyes of a Maccabi fan should be completely different from that of a Hapoel fan.
One happily recalled his team's most beautiful moments, breaking a record after a record and winning the championship 23 times in a row.
The other sees his team beaten and humiliated in the fifth game, after an offense that in his eyes was supposed to end in a dismissal.
But objectively it does not matter at all, the docu does the unbelievable and manages to unite red and yellow to one conclusion: what fun it used to be!
The choice to do the "last dance" Israeli version of the story of a final with such an expected result, instead of differentiating between the cherry season of Pini Gershon and Doron Sheffer in 1993, is not obvious.
The drama in Bloom Village was greater, and Cinderella was more glamorous.
But there was no historical rivalry, there was no ideology.
It was David's one-time victory against Goliath, but one in which we know in retrospect that Goliath was not subdued, and returned in fact stronger than ever.
The rivalry between Tel Aviv's two teams, on the other hand, holds three episodes of the Docu series, which could have been extended even with a few more episodes.
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Why is Jamchi absent from the series?
"The Boxing: The Final Series" (Photo: Screenshot, Yes Docu)
There are of course some weird things in the series.
Like for example the decision to call her "the fist", even though the two heroes of the battle agree that it was a slap.
What's more, if it had already been decided to include this event in the title of the series, and even to go and interview Ben Mercer in the US, it would have been worth emphasizing a little more the crazy life story of one of the most special basketball players who landed here. We got the same familiar American narrative that came to Israel to make money. Mercer was so much more than that, and the treatment of his character is one of the most jarring in the series.
The decision to present the late Ussishkin Hall in a romantic approach also detracts a bit from the objectivity of the series.
It's cool to see Shimon Amsalem's (legitimate) claims about the songs that accompanied him in Elijah's hand throughout his career, but it would have been nice if they had also asked Doron Jamchi (who is strangely absent from the series) about the calls he received in Ussishkin.
Basically, let go of the curses.
Ask about the scratches and spit.
One can also ask Sharas about his injury from shards of glass after Hapoel fans threw stones at the team bus.
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What fun it used to be.
"The Boxing: The Final Series" (Photo: Screenshot, Yes Docu)
And in any case these are petty remarks.
I can not outright rule out that the reason I am putting them in writing is related to that due diligence disclosure.
I'm a Macbeth.
My heart expands when I see Shimon Mizrahi say that his Maccabi knows how to lose with dignity.
For me, hearing Shimon say that Maccabi has never approached players under contract or gained an advantage from the refereeing team - it's like porn for the soul.
Hopefully the Hapoel fans know how to appreciate the "villain" they won, because there will be no more "Shimonim" after Shimon Mizrahi.
They think they hate him, but they do not understand how critical his character is to their identity.
What is it worth to be a Hapoel Tel Aviv fan in a world where Maccabi Tel Aviv does not exist?
How boring it will be here the day after.
The sport will become a field of businessmen.
The actors change jerseys and colors every year anyway, as in Seinfeld's famous joke.
Phenomena like Mickey Berkowitz, Barry Leibowitz, Tal Brody, Mike Largi, Motti Aroasti, Amos Frishman, and even "controversial" figures like Ben Mercer or Earl Williams (who moved from Maccabi Tel Aviv to Hapoel Tel Aviv), have become mythological and one-time not only because The achievements and talent, but because of the total identification with the teams of before the era of cold professionalism.
It's still fun to win a derby, it still hurts to lose - but it would be a lie to claim that it's the same thing when there are no characters on the pitch who represent you like Motti Daniel or Shimon Amsalem.
Gladiators that you feel are really fighting for you.
It becomes clearer with time.
"Boxing: The Final Series" perpetuates this intergenerational gap perfectly.
Sports fans will rejoice at it, while viewers unfamiliar with the story will not understand who all these lunatics in the series are, why are they teaching American kids to hate the color yellow?
And why do they pee on ugly buildings on the banks of the Yarkon?
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