32 | MAY 23 • 2024 
J
N

T

he Brotherhood-Eddie 
Jacobson B’nai B’rith 
Bowling League’s season 
doesn’t just end. It ends with 
fireworks.
The fireworks are provid-
ed by league secretary Gary 
Klinger’s annual season sum-
mary, a 20-plus page treasure 
trove of detailed statistical 
analysis and commentary on 
the league season that is argu-
ably among the best season 
reviews of any bowling league 
in the county.
Why does Klinger spend 
hours and hours putting 
together the summary? 
“This was my 45th year 
bowling in this great league 
and my 28th year as league sec-
retary,” he writes in his 2023-24 
season summary’s State of the 
League Address.
“I love leading the troops 
around here. I’m proud and 
honored to lead the league, 
and I will continue to strive 
to make this the best place to 
be on a Monday night. I truly 
have dedicated my life to keep 
the league strong, thriving and 
entertaining for all of you.”
Klinger 
thanked league 
executive board 
members Jeff 
Berlin, Ryan 
Columbus, 
David Little and 
Dennis Horwitz 
for their efforts in his address, 
calling them “awesome and 
level-headed.” 

He had a special thanks for 
Little, who “does a spectacular 

job with all the financials, and 
really in helping me run the 
league.”
This year’s 28-week league 
season was interrupted 
just three times. There was 
no bowling Dec. 25, Jan. 
1 and Jan. 8 (the night of the 
Michigan-Washington college 
football national championship 
game) at Country Lanes in 
Farmington Hills, the league’s 
longtime home.
There were 105 bowlers 
on the league’s 24 teams who 
rolled at least nine games 
this season, Klinger reported. 
The bowlers rolled a total of 
6,470 games, knocked down 
1,135,334 pins, and combined 
for a 175.74 average.
“Our league average wasn’t 
horrible, but it was the lowest 
in almost 20 years,” Klinger 

wrote. “There’s your motiva-
tion for next season everyone. 
Let’s go get it.”
The two league bowlers in 
their 20s (Aaron Radner and 
Joey Schechter) 
combined for a 
219.52 average, 
tops among the 
decades. 
The 13 bowl-
ers in their 30s 
combined for a 
185.15 average, 
and the 18 bowlers in their 40s 
combined for a 181.29 average.
The 42 bowlers in their 60s 
combined for a 174.68 average, 
the 15 bowlers in their 50s 
combined for a 171.23 average, 
and the 10 bowlers in their 70s 
combined for a 167.79 average.
The two bowlers in their 80s 
(Bernie Goodstein and Mort 

Friedman) combined for a 
176.75 average.
There was one teen bowler 
(Jaren Kaplan averaged 145.40 
in eight games) and one bowler 
in his 90s. Jack Gold averaged 
104.50 in eight games.
Thirty-six league bowlers 
improved their average from 
the 2022-23 season, but 59 
went down. Three bowlers 
stayed even, and seven bowlers 
were new to the league.
The 2022-23 season saw 78 
bowlers improve their average 
and only 15 go down. 
Four perfect 300 games were 
bowled in the league this sea-
son, two by Radner. He now 
has eight 300 games in league 
competition. Ken Folkoff and 
Rick Woolman each rolled his 
second 300 game in the league.
Mike Lieberman bowled a 
299 game, the 21st in league 
history, which dates back about 
70 years. Harris Gurfunkle’s 
297 game was the fifth in 
league play.
Andy Cohen had quite a 
season, rolling the best weekly 
game over average (279-152—
127 pins) and series over aver-
age (646-456—190 pins).
Radner rolled the league’s 
high series for the week a 
league-most eight times, 
including four straight weeks: 
779 on Oct. 30, 727 on Nov. 
6, 697 on Nov. 13 and 772 on 
Nov. 20. 
Schechter had the league’s 
high series four times. He did 
it in back-to-back weeks just 
before Radner had his streak 
of four in a row, rolling 781 on 

Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson B’nai B’rith Bowling League’s 2023-24 
season review crunches the numbers from 28 weeks of competition.
6,470 Games, 1,135,334 Pins

STEVE STEIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

SPORTS

GARY KLINGER

From left are Howard Keller, Dennis Horwitz, David Little and 
Dave Shanbaum, members of the X Marks the Spot team in the 
Brotherhood-Eddie Jacobson B’nai B’rith Bowling League. Horwitz and 
Shanbaum each had a league-best 24 match points this season.

Gary Klinger

SUBMITTED PHOTO

Aaron Radner

SUBMITTED PHOTO

