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

