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Miami’s jai-alai king
is a nice, Jewish boy
Joey Cornblit is a nice Jewish
bo^from Miami, and his mother
has a complaint. Her son the jai-
alai player is the hottest betting
commodity in town. Not only is he
the first American to equal the
Basque masters of the sport, he is,
at 22, a reigning champion. Since
around $350,000 is wagered each
performance in the fronton where
Joey holds sway, Mrs. Cornblit, a
metalworker’s wife, has been
besieged by telephone calls: “Did
Joey eat his breakfast','” “Did he
sleep well?"
Her answers are reassuring, but
the emphatic reply comes on court.
Last year Cornblit was the overall
winner at Miami's World Jai-Alai,
the premier palace of the game. In
the second month of a season
against 46 of the top professional
players in the world, Joey again
leads in over-all wins (32) and
front-court doubles champion
ships (8) and has a shot at the
singles title as well. No player has
ever won the triple crown of jai-
alai in Miami, but observers -and
rabid bettors— believe Joey has a
chance. Says Betting Clerk Emilio
Posada: “There’s a fanaticism at
the window when Joey’s playing.”
While jai-alai has been played
for centuries in the mountains of
Spain — where boys begin
strapping on the huge, curved
wicker cesta as toddlers—the game
is played mainly at the $2 window
in the U S. In Florida, minors are
barred from frontbns, but as a
youngster Cornblit got around the
rules by climbing to the roof and
staring through a vent at the
leaping, whirling players below.
After three years of instruction,
primarily from a Cuban coach, he
won a bronze medal at the 1971
World Championships at Saint-
Jean-de-Luz, France. He was just
15, but his lightning reflexes and
devastating—“kill” shots—150-
m.p.h. caroms that whistle off two
walls and the floor before
bouncing beyond his opponents’
reach — made him the first
American winner in international
competition. His rebote is among
the best in the game, a single fluid
motion as he turns to scoop the
ball bouncing off the back wall
into the lip of the cesta, twists and
flings it toward the front wall. He
turned professional as a senior in
high school, promptly picking up a
rooting section of squealing
groupies. (He is engaged to marry
a former secretary at World Jai-
Alai Fronton in May.)
His skill soon won him the
respect of the players as well—and
an income of about $80,000 a year.
Says fellow American Armando
Gonzalez: “His remate (backhand
carom) is devastating, a knockout
punch. There’s no defense.” An old
Basque adversary, Jose Solaun,
agrees: “Make a mistake against
him and you’re dead.”
Acknowledgement has sometimes
been grudging, however. Jai-alai,
long dominated by the basques, is
a clique-ridden world that does not
suffer outsiders gladly. Solaun
admits that his countrymen
distance themselves from the
handsome young American:
“There is a resentment and
coolness, a feeling that nobody can
play the game like us." Another
observer puts it more bluntly:
“Every time he wins, they climb the
walls. They feel this is their game
and it bothers the hell out of
them." Some of the Basques make
good-natured fun of his contact
lenses and call him Ciego (blind
man).
It does not bother Joey. “Like it
or not," he says, “I'm here." And
here with a passion: “Out there,
everyone is an enemy. It’s fierce
Have military Jews
come out of closet?
bv Arthur Grossman
There are three types of Jews in
the military according to Lt.
Colonel Sydney I Hoffman,
Jewish Chaplain at Offutt Air
Force Base. They are (I) those who
hide the fact they are Jews (2) real
Jews (3) Jews by preference.
Rabbi Hoffman has been an Air
Force Chaplain for I2'/j years,
with overseas service in Japan,
Okinawa, Germany and Libya. He
has also seen military service in
Texas, Illinois and now Nebraska.
Of the three types. Rabbi
Hoffman feels it is sad to witness
those who attempt to hide the
truth that they arc indeed Jewish.
Somehow it does become known,
since Rabbi Hoffman contends,
our people seem to wear their
Jewish identities on their sleeves.
An example of this type of
person is Admiral Hyman
Rickover, of atomic submarine
fame. In his application to the
naval academy Rickover declared
he was an Episcopalian.
Nevertheless practically all,of his
naval associates knew of his Jewish
origin. Ironically, try as hard as he
could, Rickover did not get
elevated to Admiral s rank until by
an odd coincidence he came out in
support of Israel's gallant stand
during the Six Day War.
The rabbi said Jews who
earnestly profess their faith find
their level of Jewish consciousness
is raised to a higher degree if one
discovers he or she is the only Jew
on a military base.
Jews by religious preference
make up the least comprehensive
group. A scant number will declare
themselves as Jews but for these
this is peculiarly an imaginative
situation. They arc not actually
Jews, they are merely posing as
lews. In some instances this is
because they have heard the Jew ish
Chaplain brings special goodies
for his flock provided by the
Jewish Welfare Board. So. why
not get in on the extra treats.
The most sinister of those posing
as Jews are the spurious ones
interested only in proselytizing
Jewish youngsters. A lonely
Jewish young person, miles from
home, is ripe bait for these clever
charlatans, professing to be Jews
but actually bent on converting the
Jewish person to his form ol
religious persuasion.
competition and I’m out for blood.
You’ve got to want to eat the ball.
I’m out to kill every point.
Everybody wants to win, but I
want it a little more."
Cornblit’s playing style perfectly
complements the short (7 points, v.
30-35 points in Spain) matches
played for American bettors. With
the emphasis on the killing shot in
these truncated contests, Joey’s
fierce approach to the game is now
imitated by younger players,
Basque as well as American. He
keeps in shape with a daily exercise
regimen to relieve the strain of an
old hack injury and settles down
twice a day for soothing sessions of
transcendental meditation. The
combination, he believes, should
keep him at the top for another
decade. To the dismay of
opponents, Joey maintains that
the best is still to come. “I haven’t
hit my stride yet.” Besides, he
sleeps well and alwasy eats his
breakfast. . .. ....
YburBestV
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P»*e 11 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE March 3, 1978
