DECEMBER 17 • 2020 | 41

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quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN

Bowling establishments
across the state were ordered
by the Michigan
Department of Health
and Human Services
to close Nov. 18 to help
stop the spread of the
COVID-19 virus.
The shutdown was
supposed to end Dec.
8, but it was extended
until at least Dec. 20.
That has left the
Brotherhood-Eddie
Jacobson B’nai B’rith
bowling league season
in limbo. It appears the
Downtown Fox-MLZG
B’nai B’rith bowling
league season is a goner.
“We’re planning to start
bowling the first week in
January, but that’s way up in
the air,” said Brotherhood-
Eddie Jacobson spokesman
Gary Klinger.
If the season happens,
the league will bowl Monday
nights at Country Lanes in
Farmington Hills, returning
to its longtime home after
bowling the last two years at
the 300 Bowl in Waterford
Township.
Justin Kaplan, Downtown
Fox-MLZG president, sent
this message to league
bowlers on the league’s

Facebook page just before
Thanksgiving:
“So much has changed
in a short period of time
-- the world around us,
our neighborhoods,
gathering spaces,
places we work and
call home. Life in the
midst of COVID-19 has
sparked fear, frustration
and anxiety all around.
“Now, more than
ever, we must focus
all of our energy on
defeating this pandem-
ic and the challenges
associated with it.
“Nothing is more
important than ensuring the
health and safety of our mem-
bers/bowlers and your loved
ones. That is why at this time,
it’s not looking promising for a
partial 2021 bowling season.”
The league planned to bowl
once again on Tuesday nights
at Hartfield Lanes in Berkley.
Each league was shut down
in March because of the pan-
demic. There were 18 teams
in the Brotherhood-Eddie
Jacobson league and 16
teams in the Downtown Fox-
MLZG league last year.
Klinger said he’s hoping
there will be 12 to 14 teams
this year “if we do start.”

B’NAI B’RITH BOWLING LEAGUES
FACE UNCERTAINTY

Gary Klinger

Justin

Kaplan

GARY KLINGER
JUSTIN KAPLAN

FORMER JCC MACCABI GAMES PITCHER
IS A WORLD SERIES CHAMPION

Sammy Elias didn’t throw
a pitch for the Los Angeles
Dodgers this season,
but he contributed to
the Dodgers’ World
Series championship.
Elias, who pitched
for the fourth-place
Kaplen JCC on the
Palisades (Tenafly, N.J.)
baseball team in the
2008 JCC Maccabi Games
hosted by Detroit, is a base-
ball operations specialist for
the Dodgers.
The New Jersey native was
featured in a Nov. 26 story in

the Jewish Standard, based in
Teaneck, N.J.
Elias was a Division III
All-American pitcher at
Wesleyan University in
Connecticut. He wasn’t
drafted by a major
league team, but his
degree in economics
and passion for baseball
statistics and analytics
landed him a job in early 2019
in the Dodgers’ front office.
He was promoted to his
current job nine months later.
He specializes in defensive
positioning.

Sammy Elias

SAMMY ELIAS

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