SPORTS
Studio In Harvard Row Mall
-1-1-1 - 7
The
BLIND
SPOT
Pump It Up
Jewish fans of the Pistons say
they cheer for winners and
location, not who owns the team.
50%-70% OFF
ALL NAME BRANDS
•
•
•
•
Vertical Blinds
Levolor Blinds
Pleated Shades
Wood Blinds
JOSHUA ROSSMAN
Special to The Jewish News
W
21728 W. Eleven Mile Rd.
Harvard Row Mall
Southfield. Ml 48076
Hours: Mon Sat. 10-5
P!- .`s
N s9 0 3 .
Home es;c:'
352-8622
New Rochester Hills
651.5009
A DADDY
OF A SALE!!
inprogress-.
A salk elcw ail dads!
20-30% off warm-Vps
& tennis clothes
Head • Fila
Sergio Tacchini
Le Coq Sportif
Maple and Lahser 646-4475
rn:
C.,
• WHEELCHAIRS — Manual/Electric
• HOSPITAL BEDS — Electric/Manual
• LIFTS — Bed/Bath
• MISC. BATHROOM EQUIPMENT
• EXERCISE & P.T. EQUIPMENT
• STAIRWAY LIFTS &
WHEELCHAIR RAMPS
LARRY ARONOFF
ACTON RENTAL & SALES
r
891.6500
540.5550
CREATE YOUR OWN
BATHING SUIT
each C2ound „Ztd.
A bathing suit designed to fit your body. You
choose the color, shape and material.
31065 Orchard Lake • Farmington Hills
\Hunters Square • 626-0254
54
FRIDAY, JUNE 15, 1990
Gift
Certificates
Available
hoever thinks
Detroit Pistons fans
lack enthusiasm
should have been at Game 2
of the National Basketball
Association Finals at the
Palace of Auburn Hills June
7.
Furthermore, while you
may be able to light Sabbath
candles at the Palace Friday
nights before Pistons games,
as the joke goes, Detroit-area
Jewish fans don't support
the team because of any par-
ticular pride in the fact prin-
cipal owner Bill Davidson
and a number of his partners
also happen to be Jewish.
Location and winning ap-
pear to be more critical fac-
tors.
"This is the • first Pistons
game I have ever been to and
I can't believe how loud the
crowd is. It's deafening,"
yelled Melissa Lieblen, 21, a
college student from
Southfield, as the Pistons
took the lead in the fourth
quarter of Game 2, a heart-
breaking, 106-105 overtime
loss to the Portland Trail
Blazers.
Ken Bertin, 44, of West
Bloomfield, veteran season-
ticket holder, believes Jews
have historically followed
professional basketball be-
cause many of its early
players were Jews and in-
terest was passed on bet-
ween generations.
As for the Pistons, "I think
greater pride is taken by the
community in the fact the
Pistons are a Detroit fran-
chise and are national
champions."
Jim Grey, 45, of Farm-
ington Hills, a season-ticket
holder in an upper section,
believes the Jewish com-
munity follows the Pistons
because the Palace is in the
northern suburbs. "There's
little or no fear of crime and
the parking area is lighted,
Joshua Rossman of Farm-
ington Hills is a 1990 graduate
of the University of Michigan
School of Business. He will
enroll in the Detroit College of
Law in the fall. Staff writer
Richard Pearl of The Jewish
News contributed to this
report.
Pistons fans cheer loud and long in the playoffs.
as opposed to Tiger Stadium,
where parking is dangerous
at night," he said.
While there might be a
very subtle sense of pride in
the fact the champions have
a Jewish owner, he said, the
main thing about the
Pistons is, "It's become a
real social phenomenon. We
socialize before and after the
game and even the kids,
from high school on down,
know when and where to
meet their friends. Even my
10-year-old knows whose
parents are bringing which
of his friends and where
they'll be.
"There would still be a
crowd at the Palace even if
the Pistons started losing."
Incidentally, he and his
family never leave a game
early. "We always stay
afterwards for the post-game
interviews. By the time we
leave, there's no traffic."
Stan Bershad, 46, of
Southfield and Richard
Shapack, 48, of West Bloom-
field, both season-ticket
holders, agreed the Palace
and its location and the
Pistons' winning ways were
more important than who
owns the team.
"Jews, like all other peo-
ple, enjoy competition and
seeing a winning team,"
said Shapack. "When the
Tigers won the baseball
championship a few years
ago, Jews were enthusiastic
fans, just as everyone else
was."
As for fan support in gen-
eral, some say Pistons fans
become more intense during
the playoffs than during the
regular season — that the
team's successes of the past
few seasons, including last
year's first-ever NBA title,
have spoiled their following.
But A.J. Goldman, 19, of
Bloomfield Hills, disputes
that. "I used to watch the
Pistons play at the Silver-
dome when they weren't so
good. Now I come to the
Palace to watch a great
basketball team."
Goldman, who enjoys the
games from a lower-level ex-
ecutive suite, also denies
"We always stay
afterwards for the
post-game
interviews. By the
time we leave,
there's no traffic."
Jim Grey.
that the suite's ac-
coutrements — couches,
television set, private
restroom and room service —
make it too easy to stay in-
side and take it easy.
"Sitting in a suite doesn't
make any difference," he
said. "In our suite, we are
just as 'into' the game as any
other fan in this place."
Another suite fan, Rick
Blumenstein, 25, of Bloom-
field Hills, said his luxury
box just means "It takes less
time for me to get food than
it does from a seat in the
stands. I can come right back
out to see the game, and
there's no line for the
bathroom."
Of course, nobody denies
there are some courtside