Today, Greaves has a different claim to sports fame. That young local businessman is one of three members of the first-ever Israeli Bobsled Team.
That's right - a bobsled team representing semi-tropical, almost snowless Israel. Greaves and teammate Aaron Zeff of San Francisco spent September 25 explaining to a variety of Winnipeg audiences how that happened.
Zeff, a Jewish San Francisco businessman, was skiing at Lake Tahoe, California over a year ago. His pal, Dr. John Frank, a Jewish former pro football player, now a plastic surgeon, accompanied him down the slopes.
"We were trying to think of a way of showing Israel in a different light," Zeff recalled, referring to the ongoing, often negative media coverage Israel has received, as it responds to ongoing Palestinian terrorism."We came up with the idea of snow, Israel and speed."
Zeff used to be a pilot in the U.S. Air Force. Suddenly, a lightbulb lit up in his head: Why not create a bobsled team with Frank, to represent Israel in the next winter Olympics?
Zeff and Frank went up to Calgary, Alberta to train at the bobsled track there, built for that city's 1988 Winter Olympic Games. Then, Zeff, pilot of the two-man, suffered a serious back injury during a run - a bobsled can exceed speeds of 100 kilometres an hour on the iced track.
He called his brother-in-law, Richard Nairn, son of Jewish Winnipeg former CBC sportscaster Ernie Nairn, telling him he needed somebody to replace him, at least temporarily.
Richard, a buddy of Greaves, who was then living in Calgary, called Greaves, and Greaves agreed to fill in for Zeff.
"It's basically a two-man team," Greaves added. But even after Zeff recuperated and returned to being the team's pilot, Greaves has continued to alternate with Frank as brakeman.
All three now hold Israeli citizenship as well as citizenship of the U.S. or Canada.
"That means we can represent Israel" on the international sports circuit.
Greaves and Zeff spent a full schoolday last week explaining what their precedent-setting bobsled team is all about to a series of classes at the Gray Academy of Jewish Education. And they shlepped their 180-pound bobsled up a steep flight of stairs to show the classes.
"The bobsled goes around 120 kilometres an hour," Zeff told students."It's very violent on your body - your body gets banged up."
The pilot steers the sled using bungee-like cords inside that control the blades. But he has to anticipate the curve of each turn and start the steering before entering it.
At times, it feels almost like the bobsled is travelling upside down, as it zooms around banked curves on the kilometre or more of track.
"It's a horrific experience," Greaves admitted.
As brakeman, he sits hunched down, controlling levers that can eventually bring the bobsled to a stop.
"We're travelling so fast, you're still dragging along 100 to 150 yards."
Greaves and Zeff repeated their explanations and had the sleek bobled, which cost over $10,000, on display for a crowd at The Delta Winnipeg hotel that night, a fundraising concert for the team sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Winnipeg and others. It featured The Watchman, an internationally-famous, Toronto-based Canadian rock band that includes Greaves brother, Danny.
Plastic surgeon Frank, meanwhile, had to stay behind in San Francisco,"fixing faces."
The two bobsledders also showed a video, demonstrating how they introduced young Israelis to the concept during a visit to Israel a few months ago.
"We had to draw pictures and explain to Israelis what it was," Greaves said of the vehicle, which they left behind, because of the high cost of shipping it.
The teammates used the Hebrew name"meezkelet kerach", or"ice toboggan", for their vehicle.
Children, in particular, were fascinated by the concept, and got a chance to push a simulated version of a sled, the way racers do at the start, using a long cart with wheels.
"Once they understood it, like everything in Israel, you show them for five minutes, and then, they think they're the experts," Zeff recalled, chuckling."They try to teach you how to bobsled."
The Israeli Olympic Assocation has approved the team to officially represent the Jewish state in a series of preliminary competitions and - if they qualify - in the next winter Olympics in Turin, Italy in 2006. The Israeli team has to compete with others from 34 countries for eight spots in those games.
"We're racing in November," Zeff said."Our first official race is in Salt Lake City."
Meanwhile, fundraising is a big part of the challenge. Even preliminary competitions, including buying a more expensive bobsled and shipping it, will exceed $100,000.
The team is also raising funds to train young Israelis to succeed them, through a"bobsled federation" the Israeli government has created.
But even as they solicited money in Winnipeg, one of a series of fundraising stops they're making, the team also returned the favor to the Jewish community here.
Greaves, who attended Ramah Hebrew School and Joseph Wolinsky Collegiate for one year each, presented a cheque for $500 to Gray Academy of Jewish Education Principal Hart Sera September 25.
"I wanted to give something back," he explained.
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