Quick Hits

quick hits

BY STEVE STEIN

If all goes well, the JCC Maccabi Games will return in 2022 in San Diego, Calif.

The last time the Maccabi Games were held was in Detroit in 2019. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the cancellation of the annual gathering of Jewish teens in 2020 and 2021.

Prospective Detroit athletes and their parents can take the first step toward making their way to southern California next summer by attending an information meeting on Zoom at either 4 p.m. Nov. 21 or 4 p.m. Dec. 12.

To RSVP, go to www. maccabidetroit.com. Zoom links will be sent out the morning of each meeting.

For more information, contact Detroit Maccabi delegation head Karen Gordon at karengordon44@icloud.com.

The San Diego JCC Maccabi Games will be held July 30 through Aug. 5, 2022, hosted by the Lawrence Family JCC on the Jacobs Family Campus.

DETROIT MACCABI

Detroit athletes can compete in swimming, tennis, dance, golf, volleyball, soccer, hockey, baseball or basketball.

There will not be an ArtsFest in San Diego to reduce the number of participants, in case the pandemic is still causing gathering issues.

“Baby steps,” said Gordon, who acknowledged much is still not known about what the San Diego Games will look like.

“We don’t know if kids will come out of the woodwork and flock to San Diego, or if families will still be leery next summer about having their kids participate in a large event,” she said.

The Maccabi Games began in 1982. Organized and conducted by the JCC Association of North America, the event has grown into the largest Jewish sports competition in North America.

Somebody needed to score the first goal of the season for the Michigan State University hockey team.

That guy turned out to be junior center Josh Nodler from Oak Josh Park. Nodler

Playing on the Spartans’ new first line in the first period, Nodler took a pass from right wing Griffin Loughran in front of the Air Force net and put the puck past goalie Alex Schilling for the game’s first goal.

“That was cool to score our first goal of the year,” Nodler said.

The Spartans lost the Oct. 8 game 3-2 in overtime at home at Munn Ice Arena, but they beat Air Force 5-1 the next night. Nodler played a role in Michigan State’s first goal of that game. This time, Nodler’s shot was saved, the puck popped into the air, and Loughran batted it home. Besides playing on the Spartans’ top line, Nodler has a leadership role on the team this season. He’s one of three assistant captains, as voted by his teammates.

“It’s nice to know I have the respect of the team,” Nodler said.

A 5-foot-10, 195-pound Berkley High School graduate, Nodler was selected by the Calgary Flames in the fifth round (150th overall) of the 2019 NHL draft.

The Flames will retain their rights to him through next season.

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY

quick hits BY STEVE STEIN continued from page 33

The third annual Howard Weingarten Memorial Baseball Outing and Awards Ceremony is in the books.

Even though attendance was less than expected (about 30 people attended) last month because of the COVID19 pandemic, said event organizer Deby Lebow, more money was raised this year for Detroit PAL’s Diamond Sports Program than in the event’s inaugural year in 2019.

“I can’t wait to have the outing without the impact of COVID-19,” Lebow said.

Last year’s event was held virtually.

Event participants last month played baseball on the Willie Horton Field of Dreams at The Corner Ballpark, located in the footprint of Tiger Stadium at Detroit PAL’s first permanent home, and ate lunch.

Also on the outing agenda was the presentation of Howard Weingarten Memorial awards to Nyla ChamesWilliams, Noah McKinney and Aidan Pearson.

Lebow and Robert Jamerson, the Detroit PAL CEO, presented the awards to players in the Diamond Sports Program’s Tiny Tigers program for youngsters age 4-8.

Coaches selected the award recipients, who were honored for their leadership, teamwork and responsibility.

The Diamond Sports Program provides baseball, softball, T-ball and coach-pitch opportunities for boys and girls.

Weingarten, a West Bloomfield resident who loved baseball and the Tigers, died in a car accident in 2018 at age 65. Lebow is his longtime significant other.

DEBY LEBOW

A red-shirt freshman year. A lost season because of the COVID19 pandemic. A bad case of COVID-19. Injuries.

All made Benji Jacobson’s first four years on the Tulane University men’s tennis team a challenge, to say the least.

Add a hurricane to the list of Jacobson’s challenges at Tulane. The dangerous and damaging Hurricane Ida, to be exact.

The imminent arrival of the powerful storm in New Orleans caused Jacobson to quickly catch a 6 a.m. Aug. 28 flight home to Bloomfield Hills.

He spent time in Michigan and New York — where he met up with Tulane tennis teammates Billy Suarez from New York City and Fynn Kuenkler from Germany and watched a little of the U.S. Open tennis tournament — while he was away from Tulane.

He started online classes Sept. 13 and finally returned to New Orleans on Sept. 24, three days before the resumption of in-person classes.

Because his dormitory was damaged by the hurricane, he stayed in a downtown New Orleans hotel with other dorm residents until Oct. 11, when all the dorm residents were allowed to move back into the dorm.

“The school moved our stuff from the dorm to the hotel and back to the dorm,” Jacobson

said. “I appreciated that.” Debris on the sides of roads and blue tarps on roofs weren’t the only ramifications of Hurricane Ida that Jacobson noticed when he returned to Tulane. “There was a horrible smell of sewage in the air,” Benji Jacobson he said. How is tennis going for Jacobson? He went 2-3 in a season-opening tournament at Mississippi State. A strained hamstring slowed him down, but Jacobson feels he’s getting back to 100% health. “I’m praying for a normal rest of my senior year,” he said. “All I want to do is go to school and enjoy playing tennis and being in New Orleans.”

TULANE UNIVERSITY

The Senior & Caregiver Resource Network of Jewish Family Service presents “Bringing the Soul to Life” with medium Lori Lipten, Thursday, Oct. 28, from 7-8:15 p.m. on Zoom. This past year has taught us that the unexpected can happen at any Lori Lipten time. And many of us are still coping with the loss of a loved one. Join JFS for a healing experience with Lori Lipten as she discusses the soul’s journey through death and the afterlife, based on her experiences as a shamanic medium and Akashic records reader.

Lori Lipten holds a master of arts in clinical and humanistic psychology and serves thousands of clients around the world as a shamanic medium, intuitive guide and healing force. Lori brings insights and messages from loved ones in Spirit and Divine Messengers to heal, inspire and empower. She is also a shamanic healer providing shamanic healing methods, mentoring, coaching and spiritual psychotherapy to serve mind, body and spirit.

Proceeds raised from this fundraising event will help provide emergency assistance for older adults served by Jewish Family Service.

Tickets are $38. For sponsorship information or to purchase tickets, visit SACRN.org/event or call (888) 458-0667. To purchase raffle tickets for a chance to win $3,000, contact Paula at (513) 317-5088.