Baksetball Intramurals Underway

Basketball intramurals are off to a terrific start this year. Student interest in the league is reaching all time levels as the number of students declaring themselves eligible for the draft soared to a record amount. For the first time in three years, students were unable to be placed on teams due to the fact that the gym can only be secured an hour or two each night. In an effort to accomodate more students this year, the league has reverted to the nine-team league of two years ago, in which every team gets one bye week in the season.

The first game of the season featured the teams seeded first and second in unofficial preseason polls. Elie Konigsberg,, captain of Team 1, decided to follow in the footsteps of Michael Cantor, assemblinf an all-Mesorah team. Last year's Mesorah team had been gearing up for a championship run until Avery Joel broke his ankle, ruining the team's chances. This year's Mesorah team opened up with a big win against, the 6'7" Alex Shakhmurov, and Team 7. Alex, also known as Shaq, will be playing for the varsity Macs in the second semester. This semester he will get help from Russ, David Waknin, and ex-Mac Moshe Abehsera. Team 7 is currently picked to finish second to this semester to Team Mesorah. However, if they are able to acquire Burry Newberg, currently demanding a trade from Team 9, they will have a good shot at winning the championship.

The remaining seven teams don't really have a legitimate shot at winning the championship this semester. Daniel Esses, the captain of Team 2, has assembled an all-Sephardi team this semester. In the team's first game, they were blown out by Team 3. Team 2 is currently picked to finish in the league's cellar and will be considered lucky to scratch out any wins this season. Team 3, whose captain, Pinky Mikhli coached his team to a championship last year, will be led by Ami Robinson and Mark Hecht. Betweem these two explosive players, Team 3 is picked to finish with a winning record.

Team 4, whose captain, Seth Grossman, is fighting Carl Hochhauser for the old-timer of the year award, looked very solid in their opening-day victory against Eli Brazil's Team 6. Team 4, however, has been in dire straits since Joey Aharon's season-ending injury. Their future is up in the air at this point. Brazil and Team 6 are likely to finish the semester with a sub-.500 winning percentage.

Team 5, captained by Greg Samuels, is looking to scrape up one or two wins this season. To do this, they must rely heavily on their captain, and the play of their star Ephraim Yablok. All and all, this proves to be an exciting season of intramural basketball.