24 January 31 • 2019
jn

Ex-Tigers
Star Headlines Bagels 
& Bragging Rights

T

he Michigan Jewish Sports 
Foundation’
s Bagels & 
Bragging Rights event is open 
to the public for the first time, and 
the foundation has lined up an inter-
esting speaker.
Former Detroit Tigers pitching 
star and Detroit radio and televi-
sion personality Denny McLain 
will speak Sunday, Feb. 3, at the 
Jewish Community Center in West 
Bloomfield. 
The free event will be from 11 
a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and include tours 
of the Michigan Jewish Sports Hall 
of Fame and Bob Matthews sports 
exhibit. 
An RSVP is required by calling 
foundation executive director Sari 
Circurel at (248) 592-9323 or send-
ing her an email at Scircurel@
michiganjewishsports.org.
Circurel said the event in the past 
was an invitation-only celebration 
for Hall of Fame inductees and 
Pillars of Excellence award winners. 
It still has that purpose, but now it 
has another one.
“It’
s an opportunity for the public 
to learn in a casual setting what the 
foundation does in the community,” 
Cicurel said. “They’
ll learn about 
our events, and the money we raise 
for scholarships, cancer research and 
the Hall of Fame.”
Circurel said she hopes to make 
Bagels & Bragging Rights an annual 
event, perhaps holding it in early 
fall.
McLain, 74, is as well known for 
winning 31 games in 1968 and help-
ing the Tigers win the World Series 
as he is for his off-field problems, 
which landed him in prison twice.
He’
s a popular speaker these days, 
with more than 150 engagements 
annually. And he recently launched 
a podcast with former local sports-
casters Eli Zaret and Bob Page titled 
“No Filter Sports.”
There will be time for questions 
and answers after McLain speaks at 
Bagels & Bragging Rights.

FIRST-HALF CHAMPS
They’
re off and running in the sec-
ond half of the Brotherhood-Eddie 
Jacobson B’
nai B’
rith bowling league 
season. The first night of competition 
in the second half was Jan. 21. 
First half-winners were the Manute 
Bolers in the Pistons Division, the 
Dream Team in the Tigers Division, 
Pin Pals in the Red Wings Division 
and NeinandTenn in the Lions 
Division.
Each half has 14 weeks of bowling in 
the weekly league. 
Three weeks of playoffs follow the 
second half. In the first week, the divi-
sion winners in the first and second 
halves compete if needed. If a team 
wins both halves in its division, it gets 
a bye.
That sets the stage for the final four 
competing in the second week of the 
playoffs and the two surviving teams 
playing for the league championship 
the next week.
“Last year two teams won their 
division championship in the first and 
second halves,
” said league spokesman 
Gary Klinger. “That was rare. Usually 
we have zero or one team win both 
halves.
”
The big story in the league this sea-
son has been the scores. The league 
moved to the 300 Bowl in Waterford 
Township from Country Lanes in 
Farmington Hills, its home since 1986, 
and scores fell precipitously at the 
start of the season, mainly because the 
bowlers were unfamiliar with the lanes.
“Scores started coming back up 
about halfway through the first half 
and they’
ve continued to climb,
” 
Klinger said. “But it’
s going to take a 
while for a lot of guys to get back to 
where they should be. Their averages 
were down 20 to 25 pins.
”
Top first-half averages belonged to 
Mike Kolb (218), Aaron Radner (218), 
Dave Shanbaum (217), Klinger (217) 
and Phil Horowitz (214). Lyle Schaefer 
rolled a 300 game and Radner had a 
792 series. ■

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sports

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

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at Beth Israel Congregation - Ann Arbor

