40 | MARCH 16 • 2023
BY STEVE STEIN
quick hits
Don Shane, a popular Detroit
sportscaster who
was inducted into the
Michigan Jewish Sports
Hall of Fame in 2008,
died Feb. 25, 2023, at
age 70.
Shane worked at
Channel 4 (WDIV) and
Channel 7 (WXYZ). It
was during his 23 years
as the sports director
at Channel 7 that he
made his mark, especially with
his “Dare Don” segments in the
1990s where he would tackle
challenges proposed by viewers.
He retired in 2012 and moved
to Arizona.
WXYT The Ticket
host Mike Stone, himself
a 2016 inductee into
the Michigan Jewish
Sports Hall of Fame,
knew Shane personally
and worked with him
professionally.
“He was a great guy.
He was very supportive,
and he always asked how
you and your family were doing.
And he was a great golfer,” Stone
said. “On the job, he was a very
hard worker.”
SPORTS
T
he award winners have been
announced for the 32nd annual
Hank Greenberg Memorial Golf,
Tennis and Pickleball Invitational.
Seven-time Cy Young Award-
winner Roger Clemens will receive the
Hank Greenberg Memorial Lifetime
Achievement Award.
The Dick Schaap Memorial Award
for Media Excellence will go to Adam
Schefter, senior NFL insider at ESPN.
The Barry Bremen Memorial
Inspiration Award winner is the
late 44th District Court Judge Jamie
Wittenberg. The award will be accepted
by Jamie’s younger brother Robert
Wittenberg, a former three-term state
representative who now serves as
Oakland County treasurer.
The invitational will be held June
12 at Franklin Hills Country Club in
Farmington Hills.
Don Rudick, executive director of the
Michigan Jewish Sports Foundation,
which presents the invitational, said
Steve Greenberg and Jeremy Schaap
will be at the invitational to present the
awards named for their fathers.
The excitement already is building
for one of the top events on the
Jewish sports calendar. Rudick said
a save-the-date notice that went out
in late February quickly resulted in a
number of phone calls to him and the
registration of two foursomes for golf.
Clemens, 60, played in the majors
for 24 seasons, mostly with the Boston
Red Sox (1984-96). He also was with
the Toronto Blue Jays (1997-98), New
York Yankees (1999-2003, 2007) and
Houston Astros (2004-06).
Besides being a seven-time Cy Young
Award recipient, he was an 11-time All-
Star, two-time World Series champion
(1999, 2000), the American League
Most Valuable Player (1986), four-time
Major League Baseball wins leader and
seven-time MLB ERA leader.
He’s a co-holder of the MLB record of
20 strikeouts in a nine-inning game (he
did it twice) and he was voted to the
MLB All-Century Team.
Allegations of steroid use — Clemens
has denied the allegations — have hurt
his chances of election to the Baseball
Hall of Fame. He didn’t receive the
necessary 75% of the votes required in
any of his 10 years of eligibility, ending
with 65.2% in 2022.
Clemens and his wife, Debra, have
four sons — Koby, Kory, Kacy and
Kody — who were given “K” names
in honor of his strikeouts. Kody, an
infielder-outfielder, played for the
Detroit Tigers last season and now is
with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Roger Clemens will join a long list of
prominent baseball players who have
received the Greenberg award.
Roger Clemens, Adam Schefter and the late
44th District Court Judge Jamie Wittenberg
are this year’s award winners.
Greenberg Royalty
STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
WXYZ
Don Shane
Don Shane Was a Hall of Famer
36-Point Night for Frankel Star
The annual game between the Frankel Jewish Academy and Farber Hebrew
Day School basketball teams turned into the Merrick Michaelson show.
The senior scored 36 points — making six 3-point shots — Feb. 14 to lead
Frankel to a 66-52 victory. Michaelson was 3-for-3 at the free throw line, with
one foul shot completing an old-fashioned three-point play.
“He’s a pure scorer,” first-year Frankel coach Bret Sutton said about
Michaelson.
Frankel finished the regular season with a 6-13 record. The Jaguars won
only three games last year.
Gideon Lopatin led Farber against Frankel with 20 points.
The Frankel and Farber boys basketball teams gather for a photo
before their game.
RACHEL LOPATIN
Adam Schefter
ESPN
Jamie Wittenberg
WITTENBERG FAMILY