MARCH 23 • 2023 | 49

SPORTS

B

ob Breitman learned from 
his mistakes. And it result-
ed in him bowling his first 
perfect 300 game.

Bowling Feb. 19 in the Sunday 
Morning Bowling Brothers league 
at Merri-Bowl Lanes in Livonia, 
Breitman rolled nine straight 
strikes to start a game.

Then came the crucial 10th 
frame. On his first ball, the lefty 
left the 7 pin. He picked that up, 
then left another 7 pin and fin-
ished with 274.

“I choked,
” was Breitman’s bru-
tally honest assessment of his failed 
attempt at bowling perfection.

Fast forward to Feb. 20, the next 
night. After bowling 216 and 218 
in his first two games in the weekly 
Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson B’nai 
B’rith league at Country Lanes in 
Farmington Hills, Breitman threw 
nine straight strikes to start the 
third game.
Then came the 10th frame. The few 
league bowlers still at the lanes and his No 
Names teammates saw Brietman take a dif-
ferent approach.
“I was focused. Calm. I blocked out all 
the extraneous stuff. I didn’t do that the 
previous day,
” Breitman said.
The West Bloomfield resident rolled 
three straight strikes and got his first 300 
game. His average in the league was 204 at 
the end of the night.
“I buried every shot in the pocket in 
that game except for the seventh frame,
” he 
said. “That wasn’t a solid pocket hit, but it 
carried.
”
Breitman previously had a 299 game 
and two 298 games. He shot the 299 when 
he was on the Cornell University bowling 
team in the 1970s. He left the 8 pin on his 

last ball.
Then-Cornell coach Mo Pinel, a 
renowed bowling ball designer, gave the 
pin to him.
“I still have it,
” Breitman said.
Breitman first joined the Brotherhood-
Eddie Jacobson league when he moved to 
the area in 1978 from the East Coast.
He left the league in 1987 but re-joined it 
in either 2016 or 2017, he said.
Breitman is an information technology 
consultant who focuses on infrastructure 
and cyber security.
There’s been plenty of additional excite-
ment in the Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson 
league in recent weeks.
A week following Breitman’s perfect 
game, on Feb. 27, Tom Endean bowled a 
299 game. It was the 19th 299 game in the 
league’s more than 60-year history.

The 299 game was 113 pins over 
Endean’s 186 average. It was the 
largest over average game in the 
24-team league that week. Endean’s 
647 series was a plus-89, tied for 
the fourth largest series over aver-
age in the league that week.
There were five 700 series in the 
league on March 6.
“I can’t remember a night where 
we had five 700s,
” said Gary 
Klinger, the league’s long-time sec-
retary.
Dave Shanbaum had a 731 series, 
his third 700 series of the year and 
season best.
Ryan Vieder had a 725 series, the 
first 700 series of his career. That 
series was plus-197 over average for 
the night, best in the league.
Vieder set a league record for the 
most improvement in series from 
one week to the next, plus-240. He 
had a 485 series the previous week.
Rick Woolman had a 706 series, his third 
700 series of the season.
Aaron Radner’s 705 series was his eighth 
700 series of the season, and third in five 
weeks.
Joey Schechter had a 704 series, giving 
him back-to-back 700 series and an average 
of 227 over six weeks.
Endean didn’t have a 700 series, but his 
680 series was his best ever in the league. 
He was plus-116 over average for the night, 
third highest among league bowlers, and he 
posted his fourth straight 600 series.
The last night of the regular season in 
the Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson league is 
April 4. The playoffs will begin April 10, 
with the championship match April 24. 

Please send sports news to stevestein502004@yahoo.

com.

One day after just missing his first 300 game, 
Bob Breitman achieves perfection on the lanes.

From Disappointment 
to Elation 

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Bob Breitman, second from left, who bowled his first perfect 
300 game, is with his No Names teammates, Stu Vinsky, Jerry 
Isenberg and Bob Franklin.

