I
The Sports Page
Emma Brown
Birmingham Groves High
School graduate Emma
Brown is a freshman diver
on the University of Ken-
tucky women's swimming
and diving team. Brown
earned All-American hon-
ors in her senior season
at Groves after winning
Oakland Activities Association and Oakland
County meet championships and placing third in
the Division 2 state meet.
Brad Levin
Frankel Jewish Academy/
West Bloomfield freshman
tennis player Brad Levin
reached the regional finals
this month at No. 3 singles
before losing in three sets.
It was only his third loss of
the season. Coach Robert
Walker said Levin will
continue to be a great asset to the team because
he's a hard worker and driven competitor.
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Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation Updates
HANK GREENBERG INVITATIONAL
• For 2011 information, contact David Blatt, MJSF executive
director, at 248.592.9323 or dblatt@michiganjewishsports.org .
HALL OF FAME INDUCTION DINNER GALA
• 2010 Hall of Fame Induction Dinner
Monday, Oct. 25, at 6 p.m.
Congregation Shaarey Zedek, Southfield
62
November 18 • 2010
Long Home Run
Softball player wins personal "game."
Steve Stein
Special to the Jewish News
D
ave Ettlinger has hit dozens
of home runs during his
slow-pitch softball career.
But none meant more than the one
he crushed over the rightfield fence at
Drake Park/West Bloomfield Diamond
No. 3 in August for the Pisgah-Zeiger
team in the B'nai B'rith Softball
League.
It didn't win the game. But it
did make a statement. Ettlinger
clubbed the homer only two months
after undergoing seven hours of
cancer surgery at the University
of Michigan Medical Center.
"There was no doubt about it when
Dave hit it. It was gone. We rushed
the field like he had just won the
World Series for us:' said teammate
and friend Rick Sherline. "We were
in tears. We were shocked. We never
thought we'd see him do that again."
Ettlinger, 35, has made a remarkable
recovery from the June 10 surgery.
He lost about one-third of his
tongue because of a form of skin can-
cer that normally afflicts people twice
his age. A nerve was removed from his
left shoulder (he throws and bats left-
handed) and transplanted into his jaw.
Doctors had to cut into his jaw to do a
neck dissection and check for cancer
in his lymph nodes.
Besides being able to play softball
and golf a few months after the sur-
gery, Ettlinger was speaking again in
about three weeks. Listening to him
now, it's nearly impossible to tell he's
talking with a major portion of his
tongue missing.
"We were told by the doctors that
it would be a long process of speech
therapy before I could speak well
again:' the Waterford resident said.
Less than a month after his surgery,
wearing a halo to stabilize his neck
and with trachetomy and feeding
tubes allowing him to breathe and get
nourishment, Ettlinger came to Drake
Park to see his Pisgah-Zeiger softball
teammates play a game.
His appearance didn't shock
Sherline. After all, Ettlinger had sent
Sherline a text message saying, "See
you in Toronto" while he was in the
hospital. That was a reference to the
International Jewish Men's Slo-Pitch
Dave Ettlinger
Softball Tournament, held over Labor
Day weekend. Ettlinger played in the
tournament. And played well. He
and Sherline helped the Motor City
Hitmen win their third consecutive
tournament championship. They've
also been on Pisgah-Zeiger teams that
have won league titles.
"I've been playing competitive
softball for 38 years. Dave is one of
the best players I've played with or
against:' Sherline said.
An All-State baseball player as a
junior in 1992 at West Bloomfield
High School, Ettlinger was enjoy-
ing life playing softball and golf
and working as a salesman for
1-800-Hansons when he was diag-
nosed in May with the cancer.
"At first, I thought I had a canker
sore on my tongue, but it wouldn't go
away and it became more and more
painful:' he said.
He said the love and support of his
family and girlfriend helped enor-
mously in his recovery, and Hansons
also was "incredibly supportive."
He's now working in management
instead of sales at Hansons because he
doesn't have the stamina to deal with
the physical demands of sales. He's
been employed by Hansons for more
than three years.
"Has this experience changed my
outlook on life? Of course," Ettlinger
said. "I'm not the home run hitter I
used to be and I've lost about 80 per-
cent of the throwing strength in my
left arm, but I'm grateful I can still
play softball and golf. And I'm more
appreciative than ever of the love of
my family and friends."
❑
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