COMIMP @CDCDIKI

DENIAL

BASED ON A TRUE STORY

)pening October 14th!

For tickets and showtimes, please visit themapletheater.com

HOST YOUR NEXT EVENT AT THE MAPLE!

Umpire Rob Landaw gets ready to make a call at home plate as Steve Achtman

Are you planning a social or corporate
event? The Maple Theater and Kitchen is
the perfect place for a unique experience.
Full catering services plus wonderful
ambience. Everything is possible!
Contact ruth@themapletheater.com or call 248-855-9091

tries to avoid Pete McDaniel's tag during an Inter-Congregational Men's Club

Summer Softball League game this summer.

Steve Stein I Contributing Writer

R

ob Landaw has been umpiring
slow-pitch softball games since
he was 16 and a student at Oak
Park High School.
He's now 57 and one of the most
respected slow-pitch umps in the area.
That respect is a big reason why
Landaw will receive a Pillars of
Excellence award Tuesday at the
32nd annual Michigan Jewish Sports
Hall of Fame induction dinner at the
Jewish Community Center in West
Bloomfield.
The Pillars of Excellence pro-
gram was established in 2012 by the
Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation to
honor coaches, officials and others who
contribute to the community sports
scene.
"I'm totally honored and humbled by
the award:' Landaw said.
Landaw has been the umpire-in-chief
for the Inter-Congregational Men's Club
Summer Softball League for several
years. It's not just a job to him.
"I look forward so much to working
league games each Sunday morning; he
said. "I have many friends in the league.
I enjoy kibitzing with them before and
after games"
Landaw and Al Kaczander — a
Pillars of Excellence honoree in 2012
— were the umpires for the champi-
onship game of the 2012 B'nai B'rith
International softball tournament in
Novi.
More recently, Landaw has worked
benefit softball games for the Joe
Kocur Foundation for Children that
feature current and former Detroit
Red Wings players and attract large
crowds.
Umpires usually don't receive awards.
Landaw is an exception to the rule. He
thinks he knows why.
"A verb — hustle:' he said. "Players
will treat you with respect if you hustle.
You can't get every call right. But if
you're hustling, nobody can complain.
"If you stand behind the plate like a
lock and don't move and blow a call,
you should expect to get grief ... within
reason, of course."
Because he hustles, Landaw said, "I'm
not afraid to make a call."

Check out our new Fall Menu
at The Maple Kitchen.
Open for lunch and dinner daily.

f v F or r, :z.t."

,

THE

Cottuilin.

GREAT
LAKES

COFFEE ROASTING
COMPANY

•

4135 W. Maple Road • Bloomfield Hills

Mg.,n0c12MIRoVlbga@ag Foo

Mow

RI ER

C I NEM N

11111111

For the BEST LUXURY movie experience...

check out

THE RIVIERA.

cr,hts sea t 15

witting b ell 1°".

FILMS COMING SOON

BruTts
TJV r

For showtimes and to purchase tickets, please visit therivieracinema.com

30170 Grand River Avenue, Farmington Hills

(off of 9 mile, just West of Middlebelt)

iva

liave a
snail popcorn on ue

1
1
1
1

I
I.

38 September 22 2016

Valid at The Maple & The Riviera
Expires 10/31/16

.1

iN

Retirement from umpiring isn't in
Landaw's vocabulary.
"I plan to be an umpire as long as I
have my health and eyesight:' he said.
"My wife, Shelley, tells me I have a
gleam in my eye when I'm on the dia-
mond working. It keeps me close to the
game."
Landaw earned two varsity letters
in baseball when he was at Oak Park
High. He attended Oakland Community
College and Wayne State University
after graduating from Oak Park in 1977,
and he's been a manufacturer's repre-
sentative in the flooring industry for 25
years.
He and his wife, who live in Novi,
are active volunteers with the Michigan
Humane Society and Michigan Animal
Rescue League.
The other 2016 Pillars of Excellence
award winners are Sid Fox, Dr. Bob
Matthews, Don Rudick, Chuck Shapiro
and Michael Shogan.
Eliza Brown from Frankel Jewish
Academy and Marc Sable from
Cranbrook-Kingswood, the 2016 Jewish
News High School Athletes of the Year,
will be honored at the Hall of Fame
dinner.
So will the first group of Dr. Steven
& Evelyn Rosen Stars of Tomorrow
Scholarship winners: Cameron Berke,
Jared Char, Joshua Goldberg, Michael
Gould, Alexis Michael, Brendon
Newman, Ryan Rabinowitz, Molly
Wiener and Marc Sable.
This year's Hall of Fame inductees
are former Michigan State University
basketball player Mat Ishbia, ex-Uni-
versity of Michigan basketball player
Donny Wohl, hockey player Kimberly
Spaulding Shaw and sportscaster Mike
Stone.
U.S. District Court Judge Gerald
Rosen will receive the Alvin Foon
Humanitarian Award.
The event will begin at 5 p.m. in the
JCC lobby, and move to Handleman
Hall at 6 p.m. for dinner and the
Berman Center for the Performing Arts
at 7:30 p.m. for the program.
For tickets, call the Michigan Jewish
Sports Foundation at (248) 592-9323. *

Send sports news to

stevestein502004@yahoo.com.