NOVEMBER 17 • 2022 | 39

Former Michigan Boxing Comm-
issioner Dr. Stuart Kirschenbaum
is featured in a recently released
podcast about Joe Louis, the Detroit
native who ruled the boxing world as
heavyweight champion from 1937-49.
A listening party and premiere for
“Joe Louis, The Punch of Detroit,”
which also served as the launch of
the fifth season of the award-winning
Detroit History Podcast by veteran
Detroit historian and journalist Tim
Kiska, was held last month at Third
Man Records Cass Corridor in Detroit.
“The party was a first-class event,”
said Kirschenbaum, who participated
in a Q&A session that took place after
the Joe Louis podcast was played.
Kiska contacted Kirschenbaum
early this year and asked if he would
be interviewed for the Joe Louis pod-
cast. Kirschenbaum then helped Kiska
arrange an interview for the podcast
with Joe Louis Jr., Joe Louis’ son.
“The interview with Joe’s son gave
additional credibility to the podcast,”
Kirschenbaum said.
A 2010 inductee into the Michigan
Jewish Sports Hall of Fame,
Kirschenbaum served as Michigan’s
boxing commissioner under four gov-
ernors from 1981-92 and he’s now the
state’s boxing commissioner emeritus.
He’s known throughout the world as a
leader in the regulation of boxing and
for his passion for the sport.
Kirschenbaum is a close friend
of the family of Joe Louis, who died

in 1981. He was the guardian for
Martha Louis, Joe Louis’ widow, in
her final years. She died in 1991 and
was buried alongside her husband in
Arlington National Cemetery.
Joe Louis Jr. and Kirschenbaum
did a video about Joe Louis that
was shown during Detroit Pistons’
games at Little Caesars Arena during
February (Black History Month).
Kirschenbaum is one of 24 boxing
insiders interviewed in the Ringside
2, a new book by Doveed Linder.
Heavyweight champions Lennox
Lewis and Evander Holyfield and pro-
moters Don King and Kathy Duva also
are interviewed.
For information about the Detroit
History Podcast, go to
detroithistorypodcast.com.

STUART KIRSCHENBAUM

MICHIGAN JEWISH SPORTS FOUNDATION

Head’s Up! Rosenblatt
Scores Tournament
Game-Winner
Ben Rosenblatt picked a great time to get his
first point of the season for the Elon University
men’s soccer team.
The junior from Huntington Woods scored
on a header about 20 minutes into a Colonial
Athletic Association tournament semifinal
game Nov. 6 against Drexel, and that turned
out to be the only goal in a 1-0 victory for the
Phoenix, the tournament host.
Rosenblatt jumped over two Drexel defend-
ers to get to a pass from about 30 yards away
from teammate Marco Vesterholm, and he
knocked the ball into the net off the near post.
Thanks to Rosenblatt’s goal and Elon’s
team-record 11th shutout of the season, the
No. 1 tournament seed Phoenix (11-3-3) earned
a berth in the tournament championship game
against defending tournament champion and

No. 3 tournament seed Hofstra on Nov. 12.
It’s been a memorable season for
Rosenblatt, a Berkley High School graduate
who was a Jewish News High School Athlete
of the Year and a recipient of a Dr. Steve and
Evelyn Rose Stars of Tomorrow Scholarship in
2020.
The defender-midfielder helped Elon defeat
North Carolina 3-0 on Oct. 18. It was the
Phoenix’s first regular-season win over their
nearby in-state rival. They were 0-14-1 in the
regular season against the Tar Heels before
that victory.
North Carolina hadn’t been beaten that
badly in a regular-season nonconference
game since it lost 3-0 to Akron in 2010.
“Us beating North Carolina is like, say, a
mid-major Central Michigan beating U-M in
football,” Rosenblatt said.
“North Carolina is a blue blood in college
soccer, and they play in the ACC, which is the
best conference for college soccer. It took a

while to sink in, but we weren’t shocked about
beating them. I don’t think anyone expected
us to beat them by that score.”

ELON UNIVERSITY

Ben Rosenblatt, center, celebrates scoring
the only goal in Elon’s 1-0 win over Drexel in
a Colonial Athletic Association men’s soccer
tournament semifinal game.

Former Michigan Boxing
Commissioner Dr. Stuart
Kirschenbaum answers a question
during the premiere and a listening
party for a Detroit History Podcast
about boxing great Joe Louis.

Stuart Raider, left, and Don Rudick from the Michigan
Jewish Sports Foundation present a ceremonial oversized
check for $20,000 to the Karmanos Cancer Institute.

Greenberg Invitational Tees Of

Against Cancer
The Hank Greenberg Golf and Tennis Invitational has a serious side.
It’s a fundraiser for many causes, mainly cancer research and treat-
ment.
That fact was driven home recently when Stuart Raider and Don
Rudick, the president and executive director of the Michigan Jewish
Sports Foundation, which presents the invitational, gave a $20,000
donation to the Karmanos Cancer Institute.
The $20,000 was part of the proceeds from this year’s Greenberg
Invitational, held June 6 at Franklin Hills Country Club.
“Cancer has been the main cause of the invitational since it began
in 1984,” Rudick said. “Hank Greenberg had cancer at the time (the
former Detroit Tigers star died from metastatic kidney cancer Sept.
4, 1986 at age 75). More than $1 million has been donated to cancer
and other causes through the years thanks to the invitational.”
Another $5,000 from this year’s Greenberg Invitational was donat-
ed to a scholarship fund set up at Northwestern University to honor
longtime Detroit sports radio talk show host and television personality
Jamie Samuelsen, a Northwestern graduate who died from colon
cancer Aug. 1, 2020 at age 48.
A group of Samuelsen’s friends and Northwestern fraternity
brothers started the annual scholarship, which helps defray the cost
of tuition for a Northwestern undergrad who is interested in sports
journalism.
A story on the scholarship fund posted on the 97.1 The Ticket web-
site urges readers nearing age 45 to get screened for colon cancer.

quick hits
BY STEVE STEIN

Podcast Packs a Punch Thanks to
Ex-State Boxing Commissioner