Sunday, November 25, 2001
UC lineman embraces Russian heritage, but not food
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Maybe if Josh Shneyderov's parents had stayed in Russia, maybe Josh wouldn't have gotten this big. After all, how big can you get eating selyodochka (salted fish) and borsch (beet soup)?
If Josh had gotten this big in Russia — 6 feet 2 and 280 pounds — he'd probably have been a Greco-Roman wrestler.
Instead, Josh's parents emigrated to the United States from their home in St. Petersburg, Russia, two years before Josh was born, and Josh grew up to become a football player.
A very good football player.
He is the center for the bowl-bound University of Cincinnati Bearcats. His parents, Louis and Nina Shneyderov, were in the stands Saturday at the Liberty Bowl in Memphis when UC locked up a bowl berth. UC is already 6-4 (5-2 in Conference USA) with a chance Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe to go 7-4.
The other day, the the Enquirer interviewed Shneyderov. As often happens at this time of year, talk turned to the table. Josh ate the traditional Thanksgiving Day meal with his teammates at UC at 1 p.m. and then ate again Thursday night at his girlfriend, Amanda's, family home on the east side of Cincinnati. There wasn't a piece of selyodochka or a bowl of borsch to be found. Back in Indy, Josh's parents were frying a turkey and “making the normal stuff while adding a little Russian spin,” Shneyderov said.
“My sister likes selyodochka and borsch, but that's because she was born and raised in Russia,” Shneyderov said. “She came to the U.S. with my parents when she was 7. She had grown up eating Russian food and she acquired a taste for it. She'll eat just about anything Mom and Dad make. They always have some Russian food on holidays and on Sunday when they sit around and cook up a storm. They argue over who's the better cook. Dad cooked most of the meals during the week, because he got home from work first. We ate the regular stuff during the week — spaghetti, hamburgers. Sometimes I eat the borsch. I always stay away from selyodochka. I don't like it.”
Selyodochka and borsch?
“Salted fish and beet stew,” Shneyderov explained.
So here we are — on the biggest weekend of the year for turkey tetrazzini, turkey fricassee and turkey Divan — and we're talking selyodochka and borsch.
How good is Shneyderov? He even spells the words for us.
Shneyderov always delivers, whether it be footballs (on the designated snap count) or answers to gastronomical questions from reporters.
Indy is where Josh's parents settled because that's where Josh's uncle was already working as an insurance agent. Josh's dad, who was a boxer and wrestler and soccer player in Russia, is a welder in Indy. Almost as soon as Louis' feet hit U.S. soil, he became a football fan. For as long as Josh can remember, his Sundays were spent watching the Indianapolis Colts games on TV with his dad and avoiding the selyodochka.
On the way to Memphis for Saturday's UC game, Josh's parents stopped in Nashville, where Josh's sister, Irene, lives. She has made Josh an uncle with her new baby, Jakob — something that pleases Josh immensely.
“Jakob's not heavy, but he's lonnnggg,” said Josh, proudly.
No doubt he sees Jakob as a future Bearcat. Definitely a skill guy. There isn't an offensive linemen alive who doesn't envy those wideouts their long, lithe frames.
Josh is a handsome dude with his full head of black hair, thick sideburns, dark brown eyes and strong, square Russian face. Does he ever get singled out for his ethnicity?
“I don't think many people (at UC) other than my teammates know my Russian heritage,” he said. “I don't speak with an accent. Besides, I'm 6-2 and 280. Not many people from Russia are that tall. They tend to be more robust.”
Some people thought UC football might fall off a bit from last year when all-Conference USA senior center Doug Rosfeld (Moeller High School) anchored the offensive line. But thanks in part to players such as Shneyderov — and the person to whom he snaps the ball, freshman sensation Gino Guidugli — the Bearcats are again bowl-bound.
Shneyderov delivers in a lot of ways. In his first two academic years at UC, he delivered 5 A's and 1 B in his six — and, unfortunately for Josh, his only — quarters of Russian language.
“I wish they (UC) offered more than (six) quarters of it,” said the redshirt sophomore. “It's good for the (cumulative grade-point average).”
Josh's grandmother, Paulina, who speaks only Russian, lived with the Shneyderovs and took care of Josh while his parents were at work. Until he was 5, Russian was Josh's first language. He spoke it fluently — well, at least as fluently as a 5-year-old can speak any language.
But all this exposure to the Russian language does beg the question: How did Josh get that “B” in Russian language during that one quarter at UC?
“I think I got complacent,” he said. “It was my second quarter. I had a 3.9 my first quarter, and I thought, "Hey, this college stuff is easy!' Then I went out the second quarter and got a 3.1 After that, I shaped up.”
On Josh's menu today? Turkey sandwiches. If there's anything worse than selyodochka, it's leftover selyodochka, said the big man.
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UC lineman embraces Russian heritage, but not food
