"Haifa, Haifa, Maccabi Shaylee!"
(that is a terrible transliteration)
A word on Israeli sports:
Football: In America, we say "soccer"
Basketball: Aka a tall Israeli or an American NBA fall out.
All the other teams don't matter.
For being such a tiny country, Israel is pretty rich with sports teams. Every city has one. Haifa's team is the Maccabi's. Our colors are green, black, and white and they sing a song similar to that of which is posted at the top of this page.
Up until now, I have attended two basketball games and one soccer game. Both sports were a blast! The basketball game was held in what looked like a highschool gymnasium, and the soccer stadium was proabably slightly bigger than the one at UF. Maybe...
However, if you ignore the twelve year olds dancing to Lady Gaga in outfits with less material than a loin cloth, it's an exciting and cultural experience. At both the soccer games and the basketball games they have large fan groups that wave flags around, dance, sing, and play giant drums. It's really cool. The dynamic is just great and especially at the soccer game, it is fun to just stand up and scream, even if you have no idea what everyone around you is saying.
The soccer game was against Akko and we won! It was such a great game. Saw two yellow cards and a red card. Welcome to Israeli sports. The basketball games have been great too. One of the games we played Tel Aviv and we went into overtime. I taught everyone around us the Gator Chomp when it came to 3-pointers. I can be sure that's why we won.
So if you ever get to Israel, grab your sunflower seeds, Goldstar or medicine-worthy "Capri-sun", paint your body green, and come cheer for Maccabi Haifa.
You'll be glad you did.
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