for openers
A Bouncing Baby Boy 
in Very Skilled Hands!
M

y neighbor Billy 
Berris knows a 
thing or two about 
dribbling; after all, basketball 
has been an integral part of 
his life. Both he and his father, 
Henry Berris, of blessed mem-
ory, had stellar 
high school and 
college basket-
ball careers.
Henry was 
a standout at 
Northern High 
School in Detroit 
in the early 
1930s and Billy 
at Mumford in the late ’60s, 
each going on to star at Wayne 
State University. Plus, Billy 
enjoyed a great run for the 
U.S. Team during the World 
Maccabi Games in Israel in 
1993, 1997 and 2001. 
Henry and Billy’s hoop 
legacies were forever secured 
with their induction into the 
Michigan Jewish Sports Hall 
of Fame in 1990 and 2002, 
respectively. 
A couple months ago, I 
witnessed some “off the court” 
dribbling that gave Billy, 72, 
as much joy as his on-court 
exploits. It involved his great- 
nephew Brooks, who, at just 
6-months old, is a great “drib-
bler” in his own right.
Due to a last-minute change 
in their babysitting plans, 
Billy’s nephew, Michael Berris, 
and his wife, Kate, were faced 
with altering their alone-time 
holiday weekend getaway. 
That’s when Billy, who was 
used to being a starter in bas-
ketball, stepped up and came 
off the babysitting bench to 

save the day.
Limited to who they could 
leave their only child with for 
the very first time, Michael 
told me, “Billy offered the 
capability and flexibility for us 
to ask and the willingness and 
excitement to say yes.”
“Without hesitating, I told 
them I would watch Brooks 
and cancel my Memorial Day 
weekend plans,” Billy said, “I 
was very excited about giving 
Michael and Kate a well-de-
served mini-vacation.”
Brooks was dropped off 
on Friday, May 28, with a 
two-page note of meticulous 
instructions from Kate, who 
Billy said “was understandably 
worried about separation anx-
iety, both for her and Brooks.” 
Billy quickly put her at 
ease. “From the moment we 
dropped Brooks off, Billy 
began sending FaceTimes and 
video updates,” Kate said. “We 
didn’t ask him to do that; it 
was unprompted but very wel-
come and very cute.”
Dad Michael said, “We were 
able to witness the interactions 
between Billy and Brooks 
through the play-by-play texts, 
pictures and movies that were 
sent. It was incredibly heart-
warming to see the connection 
and bond they created.”
I was even on the receiving 
end of some very endearing 
texts from Billy. “Today’s 
the day. Brooks will be here 
soon!” an exuberant Billy 
messaged me on the Friday 
morning Brooks was being 
dropped off.
Saturday morning brought 
another Billy Berris text: 

“Good morning, Alan, I want-
ed you to know all is well. 
I woke Brooks up at 7:30, 
changed his diaper, and just 
now feeding him and getting 
ready for a fun play day.
“Last night at 10:45, he 
woke up crying,” continued 
Billy’s babysitting brief-
ing. He told how he picked 
Brooks up and played his 
favorite song, ‘Somewhere 
Over the Rainbow,’ and then 
put him back in his crib. 
He was asleep five minutes 
later. 

MANY PHOTOS, TEXTS

A series of 15 precious pho-
tos accompanied those text 
messages, many showing Billy 
and baby Brooks outfitted 
in Detroit Pistons Bad Boys 
T-shirts, made famous by the 
team’s championship runs in 
the late ’80s.
The Bad Boys image 
is Billy’s other “baby.” In 
1988, Berris, as president of 
Athletic Supporter, Ltd., a 
silkscreen T-shirt company, 
created the “Bad Boys” logo 
that personified the hard-
nosed style of play of the 
Detroit Pistons. The brand 

still remains among the most 
popular in Detroit sports 
team merchandising. 
Michael and Kate had every 
confidence in Billy handling 
his four-day weekend babysit-
ting gig, more so than his 
siblings. “Billy, make sure you 
get help, you’re going to need 
it,” Billy told me his sister Jan 
and brother Ronnie warned.
“I was never worried,” Billy 
said. “Actually, I was happy to 
have him all to myself.
“Brooks gets all the cred-
it — he made it easy,” Billy 
added. “It brought back 
memories of my son Jeffrey 
when he was 6 months old 
— of the fun, joy and happi-
ness I had talking baby-talk, 
singing silly songs and mak-
ing faces, especially when 
diverting Jeffrey’s attention 
when I changed his diaper.” 
Billy went so far as to tell me 
he remembered the impor-
tance of having a certain part 
pointing down when chang-
ing a baby boy’s diaper. 
Speaking of which, I 
couldn’t resist having some 
fun at the expense of my 
72-year-old senior citizen 

Alan 
Muskovitz
Contributing 
Writer

PURELY COMMENTARY

Great-Uncle Billy and baby Brooks bond while sporting Bad Boys T-shirts.

continued on page 10

4 | AUGUST 11 • 2022 

