18 January 3 • 2019
jn

Here’s Who Made 
News in 2018

F

or the first sports column of 
2019, let’
s look back at some top 
sports stories of 2018.
* Former Detroit Tigers star and 
2017 Baseball Hall of Fame inductee 
Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez receives the 
Hank Greenberg Memorial Lifetime 
Achievement Award on June 11 at the 
Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation’
s 
28th annual Hank Greenberg Memorial 
Invitational golf outing.
* Sari Circurel is named executive 
director of the Michigan Jewish Sports 
Foundation following 
the March retirement of 
David Blatt, who stepped 
down after 10 years. 
* Karen Gordon 
coaches the U.S. 16U 
girls basketball team 
to a silver medal at the 
inaugural International 
Maccabi Youth Games 
in July in Israel. She has 
been involved in the 
Detroit Maccabi pro-
gram for 30-plus years. 
* Farmington Hills 
Harrison High School football ends, 
the victim of a school closure ordered 
three years ago by the Farmington 
Public Schools school board. And so 
ends Billy Slobin’
s 33-year labor of love 
as the Hawks’
 volunteer strength and 
conditioning coach.
* The Inter-Congregational Men’
s 
Club Summer Softball League’
s 23rd 
season: Playoff champions are Temple 
Israel No. 6 in the Greenberg Division, 
Temple Beth El in the Koufax Division 
and Young Israel of Southfield in the 
Rosen Division.
* Morgan Leib becomes the first girl 
to play for the Detroit ice hockey team 
at the JCC Maccabi 
Games & ArtsFest. 
* Detroit dancers win 
medals in 15 of 20 rou-
tines at the JCC Maccabi 
Games & ArtsFest in 
California.
* Detroit 14U basket-
ball players Noah Kam, 
Carson Brodsky and Alex Mayoras help 
a mixed delegation team win a gold 

medal at the JCC Maccabi Games & 
ArtsFest in California.
* Gary Klinger wins a B’
nai B’
rith 
sports triple crown. His teams win 
Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson bowling 
league and Inter-Congregational Men’
s 
Club Summer Softball League cham-
pionships and he combines with Dale 
Taub to win the golf league team title.
* Bowler Dave Shanbaum of 
Windsor rolls his 17th career 300 game 
Jan. 15 at Country Lanes in Farmington 
Hills during Brotherhood-Eddie 
Jacobson B’
nai B’
rith league play.
* Rob Landaw is honored in March 
by the USA Softball of Metro Detroit 
organization for his 40 years of service 
as a slow-pitch softball umpire. Landaw 
has been the Inter-Congregational 
Men’
s Club Summer Softball League 
umpire-in-chief for several years.
* Weightlifter Jeff Ellis of West 
Bloomfield competes in a national meet 
for the first time and wins a gold medal 
in the age 55-59 198-pound division 
with a 275-pound bench 
press. Ellis wins gold 
April 20 at the Amateur 
American Powerlifting 
Federation national meet 
in Grand Rapids. He had 
qualified for the 2016 
and 2017 AAPF national 
meets, but he couldn’
t compete each 
year because of an injury.
* Birmingham Marian High School 
girls soccer coach Barry Brodsky guides 
his team to its second consecutive state 
championship and seventh state title in 
his 17 years at the helm. 
* Jenna Silverman (Bloomfield Hills), 
Max Levitsky (Birmingham Seaholm) 
and Nolan Werner (Birmingham 
Seaholm) win high school tennis state 
championships.
* Jim Berk of West Bloomfield 
wins three gold medals and one silver 
medal in swimming in August at the 
Michigan Senior Olympics, giving him 
15 golds, three silvers and one bronze 
over six years. ■

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STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

MEL DRYMAN
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