Sports

Sports Hall Of Fame
Honors On Monday

SAM ENGLAND
Staff Writer

T

he Michigan Jewish Sports
Foundation will honor
some of the area's most dis-
tinguished athletes on
Monday, Nov. 1.
Among the luminaries at the 15th
annual induction dinner for the
Michigan Jewish Sports Hall of Fame
will be Pistons legend Joe Dumars,
who will receive the foundation's
Alvin Foon Award, and Red Wings
announcer Ken Daniels, master of
ceremonies for the evening.
Three Jewish sports legends will be Ken Daniels
inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Allan Tolmich, a Detroit native,
first discovered competitive running
in the early 1930s at Central High
School. In 1934, he went on to
study and run at Wayne University.
During his tenure at Wayne,
Tolmich won championships in hur-
dles and sprinting at the Michigan
State University Relays, Michigan
Collegiate Conference meets, and
the Central Collegiate Conference.
He won national titles in the 110-
meter hurdles and 100-meter dash,
and earned several All-American
selections.
He competed around the country,
Joe Dumars
in Europe and Japan, and earned
bachelor's and master's degrees in edu-
cation. He also set 10 national and world records in
indoor events.
He retired in 1987 as vice president and national
sales manager of the Glazier Corporation in ,
Chicago, and in 1997 moved to Indianapolis with
his wife.
Julius Spielberg's remarkable longevity and health
undoubtedly can be attributed to lifestyle. At age
97, he continues to walk competitively, maintains a
healthy diet and volunteers in charitable efforts.
His race-walking career, though a relatively
recent pursuit, is illustrious. Since giving up jog-
ging, he has dominated his age group in race-walk-
ing, competing in every Michigan Senior Olympics
since 1986 and winning 10 gold medals. In addi-
tion, Spielberg holds seven national gold medals,
including one for his record-setting time in the

10/29
1999
110 Detroit Jewish News

over-90 class at the
1995 National Senior
Olympics' 5,000-meter
event.
In July, he earned a sil-
ver medal at the
International Senior
Olympics in Gateshead,
England. When he's not compet-
ing, he race-walks five days a week at
the Jewish Community Center.
Spielberg immigrated from Russia
in 1921. He learned English in
Detroit schools and graduated from
Detroit College of Pharmacy. In
1926, he opened his own store,
Wrigley Drug, and began a 71-year
marriage to Anna. Together, Julius
and Anna Spielberg had two sons and
two daughters.
He still lives independently and helps
others, delivering food to the needy in
the Meals on Wheels program.
Alan Rothenberg went from
Detroit's Mumford High School to
college and law school at the
University of Michigan, to a business
law practice in southern California.
But the accomplishments that earned
him MJSF recognition came in sports
management.
Rothenberg has been influential in
advancing soccer in the United States.
He has chaired both men's and women's
professional events in national and
international competitions and is a
founder of the United States Soccer Federation and
Major League Soccer.
He is also involved in professional basketball. He
was a member of the National Basketball
Association Board of Governors in the late 1970s,
when he represented the Los Angeles Lakers, and in
the early '80s with the Los Angeles Clippers.
Rothenberg is a longtime member at Los
Angeles' Sinai Temple, where he served as vice pres-
ident for six years. He chaired California Sports for
Israel and the Israel Bonds Dinner in honor of the
1984 Israeli Olympic Team.

Young Athletes Cited

Another event of the induction night is the award-
ing of Bill Hertz Memorial Scholarships to high

Honorees,
om to to bottom:
Allan Tolmich

Julius Spielberg

Alan Rothenberg