Jack Langer

Last updated

Jack Langer
Personal information
NationalityAmerican
Listed height6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
High school Fort Lee
(Fort Lee, New Jersey)
College Yale (1968–70)
Position Center
Medals
Representing Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Men's basketball
Maccabiah Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1969 Tel Aviv

Jack Langer is an American former basketball player. During his basketball career, he played college basketball at Yale University, and won a silver medal with Team USA in the 1969 Maccabiah Games in Israel.

Contents

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) had not authorized American college basketball players to compete in the 1969 Maccabiah Games. When Langer returned to the Yale team during the 1970 season, the NCAA punished Yale by barring its teams and athletes from competing in NCAA postseason competitions and from receiving money for televised events for two years.

Langer later attended Harvard Business School, and had a career as an investment banker.

Early and personal life

Langer was born in a Jewish family to Kate and Moritz Langer and raised in Fort Lee, New Jersey. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] He attended Fort Lee High School, graduating in 1967. [6] In 1976 he married Lisa Beth Rutstein. The couple later lived in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, and Old Tappan, New Jersey. [7]

Basketball career

Yale

Langer was a center for the Yale Bulldogs at Yale University, where he was an economics major in the class of 1971. [8] [9] [10] At the time he was 6 feet 8 inches (2.03 m) tall, and weighed 220 pounds (100 kg). [11] [12]

In his sophomore year in 1968–69, he averaged 3.1 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. [12] [13] As a junior in 1969–70, he averaged 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. [12] [14] 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." [15]

1969 Maccabiah Games

NCAA bars participation of American college basketball players

In 1969, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) barred participation by American college basketball players in the Maccabiah Games, the first time it had instituted such a ban. [10] However, the NCAA allowed participation by American college athletes in other Maccabiah Games sports, such as swimming, track, fencing, and soccer. [14] [16] [17]

Basketball was different, however. 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. [17] [18] NCAA executive director Walter Byers was involved in the rule change. [10] [19] Byers wrote a letter to University of Pennsylvania President Gaylord Harnwell, in which he said that in refusing to approve participation by NCAA players in the Maccabiah Games basketball tournament, the NCAA "hoped to persuade" the AAU to abandon its effort to control amateur basketball. [15] [20] [21] The Harvard Crimson described him as "power-mad," and others described him as a "petty tyrant." [17] [22] [23]

The Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC), an affiliate of the NCAA, followed the NCAA's direction on sanctions. [14] The New York Times reported that the NCAA's decision to bar participation in Maccabiah basketball stemmed from the NCAA's feud with the AAU over amateur athletes. [14] [16]

Langer competes for Team USA at the Games

Yale University, with the approval of the school's President Kingman Brewster, informed Langer that they would support his participation with Team USA in the 1969 Maccabiah Games. [10] [16] [24] Other American college basketball players, such as Andy Hill and Eric Minkin, withdrew their applications to play in the Maccabiah Games out of concern that the NCAA would suspend them if they played. [18] [25]

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 at the games. [13] [18] [26]

Describing his experience, Langer said: "The word patriotism takes on a new meaning and transcends 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'." [18] He 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%." [10]

NCAA and ECAC sanctions

On September 22, 1969, the ECAC declared Langer ineligible to play basketball in intercollegiate competition, because he had played in the Maccabiah. [13] [18]

Yale, however, said it would still 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. [16] [13] 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. [16] 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". [14] Yale Athletic Director Delaney Kiphuth said the school was "perfectly willing to take whatever punishment is handed out; we stand by Langer." [14] The Special Assistant to the President of Yale, Sam Chauncey, 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." [15]

The eight-member Ivy League, to which Yale belongs, and all Ivy presidents endorsed Yale's stand. [9] [16] [27] The eight Ivy League presidents wrote a letter signed by Dale R. Corson, Cornell University's president and the chairman of the Ivy League president's committee, to NCAA executive director Walter Byers, as well as the ECAC. commissioner Asa Bushnell and president Jim Decker, supporting Yale's decision to play Langer. [28] The letter said that the Ivy presidents believed that the prohibition on Maccabiah Games basketball was the result of the war between the NCAA and AAU over control of amateur athletics. [28]

Starting on December 3, 1969, Yale played Langer in the team's first two games. [13] [18] 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. [13] [24] That night, the Yale team again played Langer in a game. [13] On January 13, 1970, in a secret meeting the ECAC Council put Yale on probation for 17 months. [18] [29] Hours later, however, after a second secret meeting the ECAC withdrew its penalty "for further study." [16] [29]

Yale placed on probation for playing Langer

On January 15, 1970, the NCAA placed Yale University on a two‐year "full athletic probation" in all sports, [18] [30] during which all Yale teams and athletes were barred from participating in NCAA tournaments, championships and other postseason competitions, and from receiving any money for televised events for 2 years. [18] [16] [25] [30] [31] The decision impacted 300 Yale students, every Yale student on its sports teams, over the next two years. [1] The probation, characterized as "drastic" by the NCAA's Art Bergstrom, was taken because Yale had continued to use Langer, even though he had been declared ineligible in September by the Eastern College Athletic Conference because Langer competed in the 1969 Maccabiah Games basketball tournament in Tel Aviv. [16] 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. [18] Yale became the first school in the Ivy League and the ECAC to receive such a punishment in the NCAA's history. [16]

Reaction

The presidents of the other seven Ivy League schools issued a statement condemning the NCAA's actions in the "Langer Case". [15] The Harvard Crimson called the probation "not only unjust, but intolerable" and urged the Ivy League to withdraw from the NCAA. [17] Harvard track and field captain Ed Nosal and two other Harvard athletes, sympathetic to Langer and Yale and disdainful of the NCAA rule, protested at the 1970 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships by standing on the awards stand wearing blue Yale jerseys. [32] [33] 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. [34]

In October 1970, Langer quit the Yale basketball team. [26] 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." [26]

Aftermath

In April 1973, the Langer experience was repeatedly brought up during a hearing of the Committee on Education and Labor of the U.S. House of Representatives, regarding 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." [18] Langer addressed the subcommittee, detailing his experiences. [18] [35]

Howard Cosell, television sports commentator for ABC, described it;

this was a 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 personally, but I fought his battle because it was right. [18] [36]

Congressman Bob Michel (R-Illinois) said he was "incensed" by the Jack Langer matter. [18] 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]." [18]

Later career

After he graduated from Yale in 1971, Langer was later a graduate student at Harvard Business School. [37] [18] In 1989, he was a managing director in corporate finance at Drexel Burnham Lambert. [38] [39] From 1990 to 1994, Langer served as Managing Director and Head of Media Group at Kidder Peabody, and from 1995 to 1997, he was a Managing Director and Head of Media Group at Bankers Trust. [40] From 1997 to 2002, he served as Managing Director and Global Co-Head of the Media Group at Lehman Brothers. [39] [40]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivy League</span> Athletic conference of eight elite American universities

The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference, comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term Ivy League is typically used outside sports to refer to the eight schools as a group of elite colleges with connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism. Its members are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. The conference headquarters are in Princeton, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Crimson</span> Intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College

The Harvard Crimson is the nickname of the intercollegiate athletic teams of Harvard College. The school's teams compete in NCAA Division I. As of 2013, there were 42 Division I intercollegiate varsity sports teams for women and men at Harvard, more than at any other NCAA Division I college in the country. Like the other Ivy League colleges, Harvard does not offer athletic scholarships.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neal Walk</span> American basketball player

Neal Eugene Walk was an American college and professional basketball player who was a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for eight seasons during the late 1960s and 1970s, playing overseas afterward. Walk played college basketball for the University of Florida, and remains the Florida Gators' all-time rebounds leader. The Phoenix Suns picked Walk second overall in the 1969 NBA draft, having lost the coin toss with the Milwaukee Bucks for Lew Alcindor. Walk played professionally for the Suns, the New Orleans Jazz and the New York Knicks of the NBA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingman Brewster Jr.</span> American educator and diplomat (1919–1988)

Kingman Brewster Jr. was an American educator, academic and diplomat. He served as the 17th President of Yale University and as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amateur Athletic Union</span> US nonprofit athletic organization

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) is an amateur sports organization based in the United States. A multi-sport organization, the AAU is dedicated exclusively to the promotion and development of amateur sports and physical fitness programs. It has more than 700,000 members nationwide, including more than 100,000 volunteers. The philosophy of the AAU is "Sports for All, Forever."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">College basketball</span> Amateur basketball played by students of higher education institutions

In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA), the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA), and the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA). Each of these various organizations is subdivided into one to three divisions, based on the number and level of scholarships that may be provided to the athletes. Teams with more talent tend to win over teams with less talent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornell Big Red</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Cornell University

The Cornell Big Red is the informal name of the sports teams, and other competitive teams, that represent Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York. The university sponsors 37 varsity sports, as well as numerous intramural and club teams. Cornell participates in NCAA Division I as part of the Ivy League. The men's and women's ice hockey teams compete in the ECAC Hockey League. Additionally, teams compete in the National Intercollegiate Women's Fencing Association, the Collegiate Sprint Football League, the Eastern Association of Rowing Colleges (EARC), the Eastern Association of Women's Rowing Colleges (EAWRC), the Middle Atlantic Intercollegiate Sailing Association, and the Eastern Intercollegiate Wrestling Association (EIWA).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Byers</span> American basketball player and executive

Walter Byers was the first executive director of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale Bulldogs</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of Yale University

The Yale Bulldogs are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent Yale University, located in New Haven, Connecticut. The school sponsors 35 varsity sports. The school has won two NCAA national championships in women's fencing, four in men's swimming and diving, 21 in men's golf, one in men's hockey, one in men's lacrosse, and 16 in sailing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brutus Hamilton</span> Athletics athlete

Brutus Kerr Hamilton was an American track and field athlete, coach and athletics administrator.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1969 Maccabiah Games</span> Multi-sport event in Israel

At the 8th Maccabiah Games from July 29 to August 7, 1969, 1,450 athletes from 27 countries competed in 22 sports in Israel. The final gold medal count was the United States in first place (64), Israel second, and Great Britain third (11).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale Bulldogs men's ice hockey</span> Ice hockey team

The Yale Bulldogs men's ice hockey team represents Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut and is the oldest collegiate ice hockey team in the United States. The Bulldogs compete in the Ivy League and the ECAC Hockey League (ECACHL) and play their home games at Ingalls Rink, also called the Yale Whale. The current head coach is Keith Allain, who led the Bulldogs to an Ivy League championship in his first year as head coach. Allain is assisted by former QU/UND goaltender, Josh Siembida. On April 13, 2013, the Bulldogs shut out Quinnipiac 4–0 to win their first NCAA Division I Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale Bulldogs women's ice hockey</span> College ice hockey team

Yale University women's ice hockey (YWIH) is an NCAA Division I varsity ice hockey program at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penn Quakers</span> Intercollegiate sports teams of the University of Pennsylvania

The Penn Quakers are the athletic teams of the University of Pennsylvania. The school sponsors 33 varsity sports. The school has won three NCAA national championships in men's fencing and one in women's fencing.

The 1968–69 Princeton Tigers men's basketball team represented the Princeton University in intercollegiate college basketball during the 1968–69 NCAA University Division men's basketball season. The head coach was Pete Carril and the team captain was Christopher Thomforde. The team played its home games in the Dillon Gymnasium on the university campus before the January 25, 1969, opening of Jadwin Gymnasium on the university campus in Princeton, New Jersey. The team was the champion of the Ivy League, which earned them an invitation to the 25-team 1969 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament. The team was Princeton's first undefeated Ivy League champion, and earned Carril his first of eleven NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament invitations. The team helped Princeton end the decade with a 72.6 winning percentage (188–71), which was the tenth best in the nation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale Bulldogs men's basketball</span> College mens basketball team representing Yale University

The Yale Bulldogs men's basketball team represents Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, competing in the Ivy League. The team plays home games in the John J. Lee Amphitheater of the Payne Whitney Gymnasium. The team has reached the NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament six times, in 1949, 1957, 1962, 2016, 2019, and 2022. Yale’s best finish in the NCAA tournament came in 1949 when they advanced to the Elite Eight. The current head coach is James Jones.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey</span> Mens ice hockey team of Harvard University

The Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey team is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I college ice hockey program that represents Harvard University. The Crimson are a member of ECAC Hockey. They play at the Bright Hockey Center in Boston, Massachusetts. The Crimson hockey team is one of the oldest college ice hockey teams in the United States, having played their first game on January 19, 1898, in a 0–6 loss to Brown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 Princeton Tigers men's ice hockey season</span>

The 2020–21 Princeton Tigers Men's ice hockey season would have been the 119th season of play for the program and the 60th season in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Tigers represent the Princeton University and played their home games at the Hobey Baker Memorial Rink.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 Harvard Crimson men's ice hockey season</span>

The 2020–21 Harvard Crimson Men's ice hockey season would have been the 121st season of play for the program and the 60th season in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Crimson represent Harvard University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2020–21 Cornell Big Red men's ice hockey season</span> Collegiate ice hockey season

The 2020–21 Cornell Big Red Men's ice hockey season would have been the 105th season of play for the program and the 60th season in the ECAC Hockey conference. The Big Red represented Cornell University and played their home games at Lynah Rink.

References

  1. 1 2 Bob Timmons (June 25, 2002). "Rationale for the Student-Athletes Bill of Rights", Student Athletes Rights.
  2. ↑ Ron Kaplan (2015). The Jewish Olympics; The History of the Maccabiah Games, ISBN   9781632208552.
  3. ↑ "Langer set to play; Yale faces penalties," Manchester Evening Herald. December 2, 1969, p. 34.
  4. ↑ "Lisa Rutstein Engaged". The New York Times. August 22, 1976. p. 61.
  5. ↑ "Kate Langer Obituary (April 25, 1923 – April 17, 2014), Hackensack, NJ". Dignity Memorial.
  6. ↑ "Jack Langer; Class of 1967". Fort Lee High School; Fort Lee, New Jersey.
  7. ↑ "Lisa Beth Rutstein Married". New York Times . December 19, 1976. Retrieved August 1, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Association Board Members". Yale Athletics Annual Report 2011-12. August 30, 2012.
  9. 1 2 Bennett H. Beach (January 8, 1970). "Soaking Up the Bennies". The Harvard Crimson.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Yale Junior Caught In NCAA Feud, After Playing In Maccabiah Games," Rhode Island Herald. February 6, 1970, p. 16.
  11. ↑ "Langer Quits Yale Cagers". The Harvard Crimson. October 15, 1970.
  12. 1 2 3 "Jack Langer College Stats". College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "College Basketball". Sports Illustrated. December 22, 1969.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gordon S. White Jr. (January 11, 1970). "Yale Gets Delay in N.C.A.A. Hearing on Langer". The New York Times.
  15. 1 2 3 4 Eric Siegel (January 17, 1970). "The story of Jack Langer". The Michigan Daily, volume 80, issue 89. p. 7.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 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. p. 55.
  17. 1 2 3 4 Bennett H. Beach and John L. Powers (January 17, 1970). "Soaking up the Press". The Harvard Crimson.
  18. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 "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.
  19. ↑ "AAU News," Volumes 43–46, p. 7, Amateur Athletic Union of the United States, 1972.
  20. ↑ Hon. Robert N. Giamo of Connecticut (February 18, 1970). "Yale Challenges the NCAA; Extensions of Remarks," US House of Representatives, pp. 3984–87, govinfo.gov.
  21. ↑ Hon. Robert H. Michel of Illinois (January 19, 1970). "Extension of Remarks, NCAA Pulled Power Play", U.S. House of Representatives, p. 265.
  22. ↑ "Remarks of AAU President John B. Kelly, Jr.," Ford Library Museum, November 1, 1972, Philadelphia, PA.
  23. ↑ S. I. Staff (April 20, 1970). "19th Hole: The Readers Take Over". Sports Illustrated.
  24. 1 2 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. p. 80.
  25. 1 2 President's Commission on Olympic Sports (1977). The Final Report of the President's Commission on Olympic Sports, U.S. Government Printing Office, p. 49.
  26. 1 2 3 "Yale Storm Center Quits Basketball". The New York Times. October 9, 1970. p. 61.
  27. ↑ "Ivies Back Yale On ECAC Ruling," Cornell Chronicle, January 8, 1970.
  28. 1 2 Jr, Gordon S. White (January 7, 1970). "Iyy Presidents Back Yale in N.C.A.A. Dispute". The New York Times.
  29. 1 2 "Yale Receives Positive Ruling," The Observer , January 15, 1969, p. 8.
  30. 1 2 "Cross Campus". Yale Daily News. January 15, 2009.
  31. ↑ United States. President's Commission on Olympic Sports (1977). Executive summary and major conclusions and recommendations, U.S. Government Printing Office.
  32. ↑ "Did you Know?", Harvard Varsity Club, News & Views of Harvard Sports, Vol. 46, No. 3, p. 6, October 30, 2003.
  33. ↑ "Yale's jersey but Harvard's victory," Boca Raton News, March 15, 1970.
  34. ↑ Hon. Robert N. Giaimo of Connecticut in the House of Representatives (February 2, 1970). "The NCAA Against Yale-Tragicomedy," Extension of Remarks.
  35. ↑ "Sports News Briefs". The New York Times. March 20, 1973.
  36. ↑ "Cosell Testifies before House Panel". Uniontown Morning Herald. March 20, 1973. p. 23.
  37. ↑ Yale Athletics Annual Report 2011–12. August 30, 2012.{{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help)
  38. ↑ "An investment banking portfolio; A look at some of the major Wall Street firms with media practices" (PDF). The Fifth Estate. November 13, 1969. p. 54.
  39. 1 2 Harvard Business School Bulletin, Volume 79, Issue 1, p. 66, 2003.
  40. 1 2 "Jack Langer; Lead Independent Director – Governance – Person Details". SBA Communications Corporation.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.