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The NCAA failed to permit such participation by American college basketball players despite the fact that it had permitted such participation in the past. And even though the NCAA did continue to permit participation by American college athletes in other Maccabiah Games sports, such as swimming (where Yale swimmer Paul Katz competed with full NCAA approval), track, fencing, and soccer.<ref name="auto6"/><ref name="auto5"/><ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/16/archives/ruling-to-extend-to-all-eli-sports-penalty-stems-from-yales.html|title=RULING TO EXTEND TO ALL ELI SPORTS; Penalty Stems From Yale's Unwavering Stand to Use an Ineligible Player|date=January 16, 1970|author=Gordon S. White Jr.|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="auto10">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/1/17/soaking-up-the-press-pyesterday-afternoon/|author=Bennett H. Beach and John L. Powers|date=January 17, 1970|title=Soaking up the Press |website=The Harvard Crimson}}</ref>
The NCAA failed to permit such participation by American college basketball players despite the fact that it had permitted such participation in the past. And even though the NCAA did continue to permit participation by American college athletes in other Maccabiah Games sports, such as swimming (where Yale swimmer Paul Katz competed with full NCAA approval), track, fencing, and soccer.<ref name="auto6"/><ref name="auto5"/><ref name="auto3">{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1970/01/16/archives/ruling-to-extend-to-all-eli-sports-penalty-stems-from-yales.html|title=RULING TO EXTEND TO ALL ELI SPORTS; Penalty Stems From Yale's Unwavering Stand to Use an Ineligible Player|date=January 16, 1970|author=Gordon S. White Jr.|work=The New York Times}}</ref><ref name="auto10">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecrimson.com/article/1970/1/17/soaking-up-the-press-pyesterday-afternoon/|author=Bennett H. Beach and John L. Powers|date=January 17, 1970|title=Soaking up the Press |website=The Harvard Crimson}}</ref>


Basketball was different, however. In that the [[Amateur Athletic Union]] (AAU) -- with which the NCAA was locked in a bitter power struggle -- was for the first time organizing the Team USA basketball team for the Maccabiah Games, a role that had formerly been held by the NCAA.<ref name="auto10"/><ref name="auto9">[https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED100834.pdf] "Protection of College Athletes. Hearings Before the Special Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education and Labor. House of Representatives, Ninety-Third Congress; First Session on H.R. 5623 and H.R. 5624", March and April 1973.</ref> NCAA executive director [[Walter Byers]], whom the ''[[Harvard Crimson]]'' described as "power-mad," headed the NCAA and was involved in the decision.<ref name="auto6"/><ref name="auto10"/> The [[Eastern College Athletic Conference]] (ECAC), an affiliate of the NCAA, followed the NCAA's orders on sanctions.<ref name="auto5"/> ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that the failure of the NCAA to permit such participation in Maccabiah basketball was believed "to stem from the N.C.A.A.'s feud with the [[Amateur Athletic Union]] over control of [amateur] athletes."<ref name="auto5"/><ref name="auto3"/> Author [[Leonard Shecter]] called the NCAA decision a "classic example of NCAA stupidity."<ref>Leonard Shecter (1969). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Jocks/O18zAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22jack+langer%22+%22Yale%22+basketball+-plumbing&dq=%22jack+langer%22+%22Yale%22+basketball+-plumbing&printsec=frontcover ''The Jocks,''] Bobbs-Merrill.</ref>
Basketball was different, however. In that the [[Amateur Athletic Union]] (AAU) -- with which the NCAA was locked in a bitter power struggle -- was for the first time organizing the Team USA basketball team for the Maccabiah Games, a role that had formerly been held by the NCAA.<ref name="auto10"/><ref name="auto9">[https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED100834.pdf] "Protection of College Athletes. Hearings Before the Special Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education and Labor. House of Representatives, Ninety-Third Congress; First Session on H.R. 5623 and H.R. 5624", March and April 1973.</ref> NCAA executive director [[Walter Byers]], whom the ''[[Harvard Crimson]]'' described as "power-mad" and others described as a "petty tyrant," headed the NCAA and was involved in the decision. <ref>[https://www.google.com/books/edition/AAU_News/IKoqAAAAMAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22walter+byers%22+tyrant&dq=%22walter+byers%22+tyrant&printsec=frontcover]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1970/04/20/19th-hole-the-readers-take-over|title=19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER|author=S. I. Staff|website=Sports Illustrated Vault &#124; SI.com}}</ref><ref>[https://www.fordlibrarymuseum.gov/library/document/0023/1686713.pdf]</ref><ref name="auto6"/><ref name="auto10"/> The [[Eastern College Athletic Conference]] (ECAC), an affiliate of the NCAA, followed the NCAA's orders on sanctions.<ref name="auto5"/> ''[[The New York Times]]'' reported that the failure of the NCAA to permit such participation in Maccabiah basketball was believed "to stem from the N.C.A.A.'s feud with the [[Amateur Athletic Union]] over control of [amateur] athletes."<ref name="auto5"/><ref name="auto3"/> Author [[Leonard Shecter]] called the NCAA decision a "classic example of NCAA stupidity."<ref>Leonard Shecter (1969). [https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Jocks/O18zAQAAIAAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=%22jack+langer%22+%22Yale%22+basketball+-plumbing&dq=%22jack+langer%22+%22Yale%22+basketball+-plumbing&printsec=frontcover ''The Jocks,''] Bobbs-Merrill.</ref>


====Langer competes for Team USA at the Games====
====Langer competes for Team USA at the Games====

Revision as of 07:52, 16 August 2022

Jack Langer
Personal information
Born75–76 years old[1]
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High schoolFort Lee High School ('67)
CollegeYale University ('71)
PositionCenter
Medals
Representing  United States
Men’s Basketball
Maccabiah Games
Silver medal – second place 1969 Tel Aviv

Jack Langer is an American former basketball player, and investment banker. He played college basketball for Yale University. He also competed for Team USA in the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Israel, winning a silver medal.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) had not authorized American college basketball players to compete in the 1969 Maccabiah. When Yale then played Langer in college basketball games, the NCAA punished it in 1970 by barring Yale teams and athletes in all sports from competing for two years in NCAA tournaments, championships, and other postseason competitions, and from receiving any money for televised events.

Early and personal life

Langer was raised in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and is Jewish.[2][3][4][5] His parents were Kate and Moritz Langer.[6][7] He attended Fort Lee High School, class of 1967.[8] In 1976 he married Lisa Beth Rutstein.[9]

Basketball career

Yale basketball team

Langer played college basketball as a center for the Yale Bulldogs at Yale University ('71), where he was an economics major.[10][11][12][13] At the time he was 6' 8", and 220 pounds.[14][13]

In his sophomore year in 1968-69, as a sub he averaged 3.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game.[15][13] In 1969-70, as a junior, he averaged 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.[13][4] He was described in The Michigan Daily as "a second string center on Yale University's basketball team who is not an exceptional player, but who loves to play the game ...."[16]

1969 Maccabiah Games

NCAA withholds permission for American college basketball players

In 1969, for the first time, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Council did not permit participation by American college basketball players in the Maccabiah Games. The Maccabiah Games are an international multi-sport event held in Israel, open to all Jewish athletes from around the world, and to all Israeli citizens regardless of their religion. In 1961 the Games were declared a "Regional Sports Event" by, and under the auspices and supervision of, the International Olympic Committee.[17][18]

The NCAA failed to permit such participation by American college basketball players despite the fact that it had permitted such participation in the past. And even though the NCAA did continue to permit participation by American college athletes in other Maccabiah Games sports, such as swimming (where Yale swimmer Paul Katz competed with full NCAA approval), track, fencing, and soccer.[12][4][19][20]

Basketball was different, however. In that the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) -- with which the NCAA was locked in a bitter power struggle -- was for the first time organizing the Team USA basketball team for the Maccabiah Games, a role that had formerly been held by the NCAA.[20][21] NCAA executive director Walter Byers, whom the Harvard Crimson described as "power-mad" and others described as a "petty tyrant," headed the NCAA and was involved in the decision. [22][23][24][12][20] The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), an affiliate of the NCAA, followed the NCAA's orders on sanctions.[4] The New York Times reported that the failure of the NCAA to permit such participation in Maccabiah basketball was believed "to stem from the N.C.A.A.'s feud with the Amateur Athletic Union over control of [amateur] athletes."[4][19] Author Leonard Shecter called the NCAA decision a "classic example of NCAA stupidity."[25]

Langer competes for Team USA at the Games

Yale University, with the approval of its President Kingman Brewster, told Langer he was free to play in the 1969 Maccabiah Games if he wished, and that the school would support his doing so.[19][12][26] At the same time, several other American college basketball players withdrew their applications to play in the Maccabiah Games, because they were concerned that the NCAA would suspend them if they played.[21] Among them were Andy Hill and Eric Minkin.[27]

With Yale's approval, Langer played for Team USA in the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv, Israel, in July and August 1969 after his sophomore year at Yale. The team won a silver medal.[21][28][15]

Describing his experience, Langer said: "The word patriotism takes on a new meaning and transcend the Pledge of Allegiance in grammar school when one, representing the United States, marches into a stadium filled with 50,000 people amid the strains of "The Star-Spangled Banner."[21] Langer recalled later: "That trip to the Maccabiah Games was the greatest experience of my life, and there was religious as well as basketball meaning for me ... on my return to school, all the varsity team captains got together and backed me 100%."[12]

NCAA and ECAC sanctions

On September 22, 1969, the ECAC declared Langer ineligible to play basketball in intercollegiate competition.[15][21]

Yale, however, said it would continue to play Langer despite the ruling, both for the rest of the 1969-70 season, and for the following season when he would be a senior.[19][15] Yale said it was openly violating a rule it considered “in violation of religious freedom,” given that the Maccabiah Games had a religious as well as a sports aspect.[19] Yale maintained that Langer had the right to play in the Maccabiah Games, and said that Yale would not stop him from “what we feel is a matter of religious freedom.”[4] And Yale Athletic Director Delaney Kiphuth said Yale was “perfectly willing to take whatever punishment is handed out; we stand by Langer.”[4]

The eight-member Ivy League, to which Yale belongs, and all Ivy presidents fully endorsed Yale's stand.[19][11][29][4] The other Ivy League members are Columbia, Dartmouth, Brown, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Cornell.[4]

Starting on December 3, 1969, Yale played Langer in the team's first two games.[15][21]

On December 10, 1969, in reaction, the ECAC executive council censured Yale, a charter member, in what was a rare move, and issued a "cease and desist" order.[15][26]

That night, the Yale team again played Langer in a game.[15]

On January 13, 1970, the ECAC Council placed Yale on probation for 17 months.[21] Hours later, however, the ECAC withdrew its penalty “for further study.”[19]

Yale placed on probation for playing Langer

On January 15, 1970, the NCAA Council placed Yale University on two‐year "full athletic probation" in all sports.[21][30]

It thereby restricted Yale teams and athletes (not just basketball players) for two years from competing in NCAA tournaments, championships and other postseason competitions, and from receiving any monies for televised events.[28][19][30][27] The decision impacted 300 Yale students, every Yale student on its sports teams, over the next two years.[2] The probation, described as “drastic” by Art Bergstrom of the NCAA, was taken because Yale had continued to use Langer, despite the fact he was declared ineligible in September by the Eastern College Athletic Conference because Langer competed in the 1969 Maccabiah Games basketball tournament in Tel Aviv.[19] On February 24, 1970, the ECAC likewise placed Yale on probation, for 17 months, which had the effect of Yale not being able to take part in ECAC-sponsored events.[21]

Yale became the first member of the Ivy League and the ECAC to be so drastically punished by the NCAA since the NCAA was founded in 1906.[19] Generally, any punishment is limited to one sport.[19]

A special assistant to the President of Yale, Henry Chauncey, Jr., said: "There is no question that Jack Langer will continue to play basketball. We don't care what they do - Jack Langer will play when the coach wants to use him."[16]

Reaction

The Presidents of the other seven Ivy League schools issued a statement condemning the NCAA's actions in regard to the "Langer Case."[16] The Harvard Crimson called the probation "not only unjust, but intolerable," and urged the Ivy League to withdraw from the NCAA.[20] Harvard track and field captain Ed Nosal and two other Harvard athletes, sympathetic to Langer and Yale and disdainful of the absurdity of the NCAA rule, protested at the 1970 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships by standing on the awards stand wearing blue Yale jerseys.[31] In February 1970 Representative Robert N. Giaimo (D-Connecticut) said in the U.S. Congress:

"The Yale case, involving basketball player Jack Langer, is tragic. It shows that the NCAA is willing to use any weapon in its continuing power struggle with the Amateur Athletic Union. It shows that the NCAA does not care if it hurts member institutions or individual athletes in the process. It shows once again that the NCAA is ... under the control of a stubborn, dictatorial hierarchy that does not hesitate to use athletes and schools alike as mere pawns in a game of power politics."[32]

In October 1970, Langer quit the Yale basketball team.[28] He explained: "After agonizing about it since last spring, I decided that with my present lack of motivation for playing the game I couldn't sacrifice the team's well‐being by playing."[28]

Later aftermath

In April 1973, the Langer experience was repeatedly brought up in testimony at a Hearing before the Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education and Labor of the U.S. House of Representatives, on bills to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 "to protect the freedom of student athletes and their coaches to participate as representatives of the United States in amateur international athletic events, and for other purposes."[21] Jack Langer himself addressed the subcommittee, detailing his experiences.[21]

Howard Cosell, television sports commentator for ABC, described the

situation where young Americans who happened to be of Jewish persuasion wanted to represent themselves, their universities, their country in what is one of the most traditional and respected international competitions in the world, the Maccabiah Games .. the AAU certified for basketball. So a kid named Jack Langer at Yale ... couldn't go. That is when I became disturbed to the degree I am now. Yale University had the guts to say:"Jack, you go" ... I am reminded of what Al McGuire said quite bluntly to me: 'With all that is going okay and with all that we can do, can you imagine putting Yale University on probation because Jack Langer went to participate in the Maccabiah Games?' ... "I don't even know Jack Langer personalty, but I fought his battle because it was right."[21]

Congressman Bob Michel (R-Illinois) said he was "incensed" by the Jack Langer matter.[21] Congressman James G. O'Hara (D-Michigan) said he believed that: "the Jack Langers of the world have a right to participate and express themselves [by representing the United States in the Maccabiah Games]."[21]

Later career

Langer was later a graduate student at Harvard Business School.[21] In 1989, Langer was a managing director in corporate finance at Drexel Burnham Lambert.[33][34] From 1990 to 1994, Langer served as Managing Director and Head of Media Group at Kidder Peabody, and from 1995 to 1997, he served as the Managing Director and Head of Media Group at Bankers Trust.[35] From 1997 to 2002, Langer served as Managing Director and Global Co-Head of the Media Group at Lehman Brothers.[34][35]

References

  1. ^ "SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION; SBA Communications Corporation". Securities and Exchange Commision. April 5, 2019.
  2. ^ a b [1]
  3. ^ Ron Kaplan (2015). The Jewish Olympics; The History of the Maccabiah Games, ISBN: 9781632208552.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Gordon S. White Jr. (January 11, 1970). "Yale Gets Delay in N.C.A.A. Hearing on Langer". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Langer set to play; Yale faces penalties," Manchester Evening Herald, December 2, 1969..
  6. ^ "Lisa Rutstein Engaged". The New York Times. August 22, 1976.
  7. ^ "Kate Langer Obituary (April 25, 1923 – April 17, 2014), Hackensack, NJ". Dignity Memorial.
  8. ^ "Jack Langer". Fort Lee High School; Fort Lee, NJ.
  9. ^ "Lisa Beth Rutstein Married". The New York Times. December 19, 1976.
  10. ^ "Association Board Members". Yale Athletics Annual Report 2011-12.
  11. ^ a b Bennett H. Beach (January 8, 1970). "Soaking Up the Bennies". The Harvard Crimson.
  12. ^ a b c d e "Yale Junior Caught In NCAA Feud, After Playing In Maccabiah Games," Rhode Island Herald, February 6, 1970.
  13. ^ a b c d "Jack Langer College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  14. ^ "Langer Quits Yale Cagers". The Harvard Crimson. October 15, 1970.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g "College Basketball". Sports Illustrated. December 22, 1969.
  16. ^ a b c Eric Siegel (January 17, 1970). "The story of Jack Langer". The Michigan Daily, volume 80, issue 89.
  17. ^ Helen Jefferson Lenskyj (2012). Gender Politics and the Olympic Industry. Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 9781137291158.
  18. ^ "History of the Maccabiah Games". Maccabi Australia. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
  19. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Gordon S. White Jr. (January 16, 1970). "RULING TO EXTEND TO ALL ELI SPORTS; Penalty Stems From Yale's Unwavering Stand to Use an Ineligible Player". The New York Times.
  20. ^ a b c d Bennett H. Beach and John L. Powers (January 17, 1970). "Soaking up the Press". The Harvard Crimson.
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o [2] "Protection of College Athletes. Hearings Before the Special Subcommittee on Education of the Committee on Education and Labor. House of Representatives, Ninety-Third Congress; First Session on H.R. 5623 and H.R. 5624", March and April 1973.
  22. ^ [3]
  23. ^ S. I. Staff. "19TH HOLE: THE READERS TAKE OVER". Sports Illustrated Vault | SI.com.
  24. ^ [4]
  25. ^ Leonard Shecter (1969). The Jocks, Bobbs-Merrill.
  26. ^ a b Gordon S. White Jr. (December 11, 1969). "Yale Defies E.C.A.C. Censure, Uses Basketball Player Declared Ineligible; SCHOOL NOW FACES 'FURTHER PENALTY'". The New York Times.
  27. ^ a b President's Commission on Olympic Sports (1977). The Final Report of the President's Commission on Olympic Sports, U.S. Government Printing Office.
  28. ^ a b c d "YALE STORM CENTER QUITS BASKETBALL". The New York Times. October 9, 1970.
  29. ^ "Ivies Back Yale On ECAC Ruling," Cornell Chronicle, January 8, 1970.
  30. ^ a b "Cross Campus". Yale Daily News. January 15, 2009.
  31. ^ "Did you Know?", Harvard Varsity Club, News & Views of Harvard Sports, Vol. 46, No. 3, p. 6, October 30, 2003.
  32. ^ HON. ROBERT N. GIAIMO OF CONNECTICUT IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES (February 2, 1970). "THE NCAA AGAINST YALE-TRAGIOCOMEDY," Extension of Remarks.
  33. ^ "An investment banking portfolio; A look at some of the major Wall Street firms with media practices" (PDF). The Fifth Estate. November 13, 1969.
  34. ^ a b Harvard Business School Bulletin, Volume 79, Issue 1, p. 66, 2003.
  35. ^ a b "Jack Langer; Lead Independent Director - Governance - Person Details". SBA Communications Corporation.

External links



Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Place of birth missing (living people) Category:American investment bankers Category:American men's basketball players Category:Basketball players from New Jersey Category:Basketball players at the 1969 Maccabiah Games Category:Centers (basketball) Category:Drexel Burnham Lambert Category:Eastern College Athletic Conference Category:Freedom of religion in the United States Category:Harvard Business School alumni Category:Jewish American sportspeople Category:Jewish men's basketball players Category:Lehman Brothers people Category:Maccabiah Games basketball players of the United States Category:Maccabiah Games medalists in basketball Category:Maccabiah Games silver medalists for the United States Category:NCAA sanctions Category:People from Fort Lee, New Jersey Category:Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey Category:Yale Bulldogs Category:Yale Bulldogs men's basketball players

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