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36 | NOVEMBER 18 • 2021

Former Frankel Boys
Basketball Coach
Has a Saline Solution

Michael Marek is living a dream.
The 33-year-old former Frankel
Jewish Academy boys basketball
coach was named the boys
basketball coach at Saline High
School last month.
“It’s always been my
professional goal to coach a
Division 1 high school boys
basketball team,” Marek said. “I
never thought it would happen this
fast. And I certainly didn’t want to
coach at four schools in five years
to get there.

“I will always be appreciative of
my time at Frankel. Coaching there
jump-started my career. While
there were good players on my
teams there, they’re better people.
I’m still in contact with just about all
the Frankel players I coached.”
Frankel went 24-18 in Marek’s
two seasons in charge of the
Jaguars (2017-18 and 2018-19) after
a 4-16 finish in the 2016-17 season.
It was during the 2018-19
season that Marek’s team made
the most news.
The Jaguars went 7-4 and
finished second in the seven-team
Catholic League Intersectional 2
Division, qualifying for the league’s
C-D tournament.

Frankel beat every team in
the division including champion
Riverview Gabriel Richard at least
once during the division season.
But the Jaguars couldn’t play
in the C-D tournament because
the tournament
schedule included first-
round games and the
championship game
on Saturdays during
Shabbat.
Marek was hired at
Saline on Oct. 28, almost
a month after former
coach Jake Fosdick
resigned. Fosdick had
a 74-52 record in six seasons at
Saline.
Because of his hiring, Marek’s
commute was cut in half.
Saline is about a 20-minute

drive from his home in Canton.
Waterford Kettering, his previous
coaching stop, was a nearly hour
drive in good weather.
“I wasn’t looking to leave
Kettering. But the Saline job came
open, so I thought I’d apply
for it,” Marek said. “The stars
aligned for me.”
Marek was 7-10 in his lone
season at Kettering (2020-
21). In his only season at
Canton Prep (2019-20), the
team went 14-7.
Marek and his wife Katie
were engaged when he was
coaching at Frankel. They’ve
now been married for two years.
“Katie goes to all my games,
she scouts with me, and she gets
to know my players,” Marek said.
“It’s a family effort.”

A

fter a 1½-year hiatus caused by the
COVID-19 pandemic, the weekly
Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson B’nai
B’rith bowling league is up and running
again.
And, of course, COVID-19 is part of the
story.
Each league bowler must be vaccinated
for the coronavirus and provide proof of
vaccination. That was a decision made by
the league’s executive board.
Nobody left the league because of the
mandate, said league spokesman Gary
Klinger.
To the contrary, Klinger said, “some guys
said they wouldn’t bowl if people weren’t

vaccinated,
” he said.
“I’
d say about 10% of the guys are wearing
masks during league nights. That’s their
decision,
” Klinger said. “We aren’t requiring
masks.
”
The league is bowling at 7:30 p.m.
Mondays at Country Lanes in Farmington
Hills.
Week No. 7 of a 26-week regular season
was completed this week. There will be
three weeks of playoffs.
There are 22 teams in the league. That’s
up four teams from the 2019-20 season, the

last time the league was in operation.
Three teams have moved to Brotherhood-
Eddie Jacobson from the Downtown Fox-
MLZG B’nai B’rith league, which disbanded.
And there are two new teams.
“We’ve had around 16-18 teams in our
league the last 10-15 years,
” Klinger said.
“Having 22 teams gets us closer to a heyday
in the 1990’s when we had 28 to 32 teams.
”
Most of the 22 Brotherhood-Eddie
Jacobson teams have four bowlers. Some
teams have a fifth bowler who fills in as a
substitute.
Scores haven’t been great so far, Klinger
said, most likely because bowlers are shak-
ing off the rust that has accumulated over
the past 1 1/2 years.
“
Averages are down considerably,
” Klinger
said. “Some guys are higher, but not many.
”
The division leaders through six weeks of
the season were the Rolling Stoned in the
Pistons Division, Yogi’s Rollers in the Tigers
Division, Mix-N-Match in the Red Wings
Division and the Holy Rollers in the Lions
Division.

Back on
the Lanes

quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN

GARY KLINGER

Brotherhood-Eddie
Jacobson B’nai B’rith
bowlers must be
vaccinated for COVID-19
to compete

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Jerry Gurwin, 87, with teammates (from left)
Bill Zavier, Joey Schecter and Yale Weiner,
make up the Jerry & His Kidz team in the
Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson B’nai B’rith bowl-
ing league. Schecter is Gurwin’s grandson.
It’s the first time they’ve bowled together on
a team.

MICHAEL MAREK

Michael
Marek