Jewish Sportsmen?! No Joke

Why sit home and watch “SportsCenter” on TV when you can take part in a local sports highlight?

On Sunday, June 6, the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame will hold its annual induction banquet. Yes, there are enough extraordinary Jewish sportsmen and women in the Southland for a hall of fame. So wear your tux, but leave your Jewish sports jokes at the door.

To be held at the JCC at Milken, the black-tie optional affair will feature a silent auction and kosher dinner. The event will honor athletes, coaches, media personnel, officials and executives who have made significant contributions to the wide world of sports. Inductees are nominated by the public and selected by the Hall of Fame board of directors.

“We’re proud of this year’s inductees. They’ve each played an important role, not just in the sports community, but in the Jewish community,” said board member Jeff Marks.

The 2004 inductees include:

Sheldon Andrens (USC and silver glove-winning minor league baseball player), Jerry Simon (pro basketball player in Israel, earned college and Maccabiah honors), Anne Barber (world, national and Maccabiah lawn bowling champion), Bill Caplan (renowned boxing publicist and promoter), Dr. Ira Pauly (UCLA football star) and Bobby Frankel (Eclipse Award-winning, multichampion racehorse trainer).

Others are Stan Cline (celebrated sports artist), Marc Dellins (UCLA sports information director and associate athletic director), Derrick Hall (former Los Angeles Dodgers senior vice president of communications), Steve Hartman (radio and television sports reporter and host), Barry Lorge (former San Diego Union sports columnist and editor, named Tennis Writer of the Year), Ken Schwartz (national and Maccabiah fast-pitch softball champion) and Dara Torres (nine-time Olympic medal swimmer).

Also included: Stacy Margolin (Potter) (ranked college, national and world tennis player-turned coach), Carl Earn (top junior tennis star, pro player and head pro at Hillcrest Country Club), Richard Perelman (track and field event manager, reporter and statistician, ran press operations for 1984 Olympics) and Leland Faust (high school, college and Maccabiah water polo and swimming champion, currently in sports management).

The 2004 Pillar of Achievement award will be given to Dana and David Pump (owners of Double Pump basketball camps and clinics) and posthumously to Bill Libby (sports biographer, reporter and national Magazine Sportswriter of the Year).

Harvard-Westlake senior and school paper editor Steve Dunst will receive the Alan Malamud Scholarship for sportswriting. Dunst will study communications at Cal next year. Taft High School point guard and UCLA basketball recruit Jordan Farmer will be named Jewish High School Athlete of the Year.

In addition to sponsoring the JCC at Milken’s permanent Hall of Fame exhibit, the organization is in the process of creating a traveling exhibit to be displayed in local synagogues. The Hall of Fame also supports the World Maccabiah Games in Israel, JCC Maccabi Youth Games, Jewish Community Centers of Greater Los Angeles’ sports programs, as well as the Malamud scholarship.

“We look to support programs that use sports as a vehicle to build a Jewish identity in our community,” Marks said. “We’re always looking to form new partnerships and identify additional programs we can help.”

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