PHOTO BY GL ENN TRI EST

Double Play

Jim Shafran is a men's clothing salesman and the dean of the
area's high-school sports play-by-play broadcasters.

li

l im Shafran admits, he
roots while doing the
play-by-play for high-
school sports events on
Continental C ablevi-
sion's Channel 11.
No, he doesn't root
like George Blaha and Mark
Champion do during Detroit Pis-
tons and Detroit Lions games.
What Shafran cheers for is "good
television." —
"I want close, exciting games
so people will watch them on
tape-delay," said Shafran, 41, a
Southfield High School graduate
who is in his 13th year of broad-
casting for Continental. No oth-
er local cable system boasts such
a veteran sports announcer.
Continental provides cable ser-
vice for the greater West Bloom-
field area, Lathrup, Oak Park,
Royal Oak Township and South-
field and it covers six high
schools: Detroit Country Day,
Oak Park, Southfield, Southfield-
Lathrup, Orchard Lake St.
Mary's and West Bloomfield.
While Shafran and regular col-
or commentator Frank Plecas do
only football and boys basketball
games now, in the past Conti-
nental has covered baseball and

hockey games and other events
such as the West Bloomfield Half-
Marathon and a benefit softball
game in Southfield involving the
Detroit Tigers wives.
In 1990, Shafran and Conti-
nental undertook the ambitious
project of covering the Jewish
Community Centers North
American Maccabi Youth Games.
"That was really something,"
Shafran said. "We broadcast the
opening ceremonies at the Palace
and the boys and girls basketball
finals at the Maple/Drake JCC
and we had updates every night.
We were all exhausted when it
was all over."
Just as exhilarating as the
Maccabi coverage was Shafran's
call on Southfield-Lathrup's 3-
point buzzer-beating shot which
stunned Birmingham Brother
Rice in a Class A district cham-
pionship boys basketball game a
few years back.
The Continental tape of that
shot was used on Channels 2, 4
and 7 and Shafran's excited call
was aired by Eli Zaret on Chan-
nel 2.
Shafran, who also does pre-
game commentary and a halftime
show which includes an Acade-

mic Athlete of the Week, does his Above:
Jim Shafran: Men's clothing
broadcasting for Continental and
salesman.
others on a freelance basis.
His 50-hours-per-week full-
time job is a salesman at Kup- Above left:
Jim Shafran and Frank Plecas do a
penheimer's at the Novi Town
pregame show.
Center, the company's top store
in Michigan. Shafran has been
Right:
with the men's clothier since Au- Jim Shafran gets ready for the
gust 1983 and he's worked at the game.
Novi location since April 1991.
Below:
"There are some similarities
between the two jobs," Shafran Jim Shafran talks with Southfield-
Lathrup boys basketball coach Bob
said. "When you're selling clothes,
Herm.
you often are answering the same
questions but they're coming from
different people, so you have to women's basketball team, guid-
have a variety of answers.
ed the West Bloomfield girls
"It's the same thing covering a
basketball squad to the Class A
high-school game. Every one is
state finals in 1989. Golding has
different, and you must treat it
had some outstand-
that way."
Shafran says three of the best ing boys basketball
Jewish high-school coaches he's teams at Oak Park.
Among the Jewish
covered during his days at Con-
high-school
players
tinental are Ken Burke, Ronna
Greenberg and Howard Golding. he's covered, Shafran
Burke, who coaches the com- said he has especial-
bined Lathrup/Southfield hock- ly fond memories of
ey team, "typifies someone who West Bloomfield boys
is coaching strictly for the love of basketball player
Harley Marks, "who
the game," Shafran said.
Greenberg, now the associate had a tremendous
coach of the University of Detroit work ethic. ❑

PH OTO BY BILL GEMM ELL

STEVE STEIN STAFF WRITER

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