38 | DECEMBER 21 • 2023 
J
N

SPORTS

T

he Brotherhood-Eddie 
Jacobson B’nai B’rith 
bowling league has 
reached the halfway point of its 
season.
Each of the four first-half 
division winners in the weekly 
24-team league took a different 
route to their title and earned 
a berth in the post-season 
playoffs at Country Lanes in 
Farmington Hills, the league’s 
home base.
Uncle Miltie (Eric Foreman, 
Andrew Cohen, Andy 
Rosenfeld and Kevin Elbinger) 
won the Pete Weber Division, 
becoming the first team in 
league history to win a division 
title with a sub-.500 record. 
Uncle Miltie went 143½-144½ 

during the first 12 weeks of the 
season.
The defending league 
champion 600 Club (Mike 
Lieberman, Rick Woolman, 
Rob Greenfield and Hassan 
Fatouhi) went 197-91 and won 
the Earl Anthony Division, so it 
will get a chance to make it two 
league championships in a row 
come next spring.
The Manute Bolers (David 
Herskovic, Brandon Achtman, 
Jason Cox and Sam Mauch) 
also were dominant during the 
first half of the season, winning 
the W
.R. Williams Division 
with a 179-109 record.
Then there’s BBB, which had 
the best record in the league 
during the first half of the 

season — 204½-83½ — as the 
champion of the Mark Roth 
Division.
BBB was the most unlikely 
first-half division champion, 
and it earned the No. 1 spot in 
the league’s power rankings, 
compiled by league secretary 
Gary Klinger.
Four bowlers compete for 
each team each week. BBB has 
had a vacant spot in its lineup 
since the start of the season 
because of a pre-season injury 
suffered by Bob Franklin. 
Subs have filled in for 
Franklin, who could return to 
action as soon as just after the 
first of the year.
League newcomer Bernie 
Goodstein, Jerry Isenberg and 

Stu Vinsky have picked up the 
slack admirably for BBB in 
Franklin’s absence. Isenberg 
was averaging 184, Vinsky 183 
and Goodstein 174 going into 
league competition Dec. 11, the 
start of the second half of the 
season.
“We’ve been lucky. We’re all 
bowling well at the same time,
” 
Isenberg said.
Isenberg is bowling particu-
larly well. The retired business 
executive from West Bloomfield 
said he’s having his best season 
in his 45 years in the league.
“I took some lessons and 
I’m using a new bowling ball,
” 
Isenberg said when asked for 
the secret of his newfound 
success.

GARY KLINGER

Four first-half division champions in 
the Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson 
B’nai B’rith bowling league punch a 
ticket for the playoffs.

These Teams 
Are On a Roll

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

quick hits

BY STEVE STEIN 

Meet the BBB bowling team. From left are Stu Vinsky, 
Bob Franklin, Bernie Goodstein and Jerry Isenberg.

Slowly but surely, planning is coming 
together for the 2024 JCC Maccabi 
Games which will be held July 28 through 
Aug. 2 in Detroit.
Three information meetings will be 
held in early 2024. A meeting for athletes 
will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 10 at Temple Emanu-
El, 14450 W. 10 Mile Road 
in Oak Park. Meetings for 
host families and volun-
teers will be at 7 p.m. Jan. 
17 at The J, 6600 W. Maple 
Road in West Bloomfield, 
and 3:30 p.m. Feb. 25 at 
Temple Emanu-El.
Jewish athletes ages 
12-16 as of July 31, 
2024, are eligible to participate in the 
2024 Maccabi Games. Basketball, base-
ball, dance, golf, ice hockey, soccer, swim-
ming, table tennis, tennis and volleyball 

are offered in Detroit, along with a star 
reporter experience to cover the Maccabi 
Games. Girls ice hockey is new this year.
Coaches must be at least age 21. 
Assistant coaches must be at least age 18.
About 800 visiting athletes are expect-
ed to join about 150-200 local athletes in 
Detroit. About 350-400 
host families are needed 
(there’s a minimum of two 
athletes per household) 
along with 800 volunteers.
This will be the seventh 
time Detroit will be a host 
for Maccabi Games, the 
most of any city. Detroit 
previously hosted in 1984, 
1990, 1998, 2008, 2014 and 2019.
For more information, go to jlive.app/
organizations/365.

Josh Nodler Finishing Strong 
with Bowling Green Falcons
The final stop on Josh Nodler’s college hockey career 
has been a productive one so far. The former Michigan 
State and UMass player from Oak Park had four goals 
and seven assists for Bowling Green through 18 games 
this season.
His 11 points ranked No. 3 on the Falcons team. In a 
recent game at Ferris State, Nodler’s 
two power-play goals led Bowling 
Green (7-11, 5-5 Central Collegiate 
Hockey Association) to a 4-3 win.
Before arriving at Bowling Green, 
Nodler had 15 goals and 24 assists for 
39 points in 126 collegiate games. His 
best season was 2021-22 at Michigan 
State, when he had seven goals and 
eight assists for 15 points.

BOWLING GREEN UNIVERSITY

Josh Nodler

JCC Maccabi Games Meetings Scheduled

