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June is the month of weddings, graduations and the American Friends of the Hebrew U. Sports Dinner that annually recalls the Israeli 11 Olympic stars who were cut down by Arab terrorism at the 1972 Olympics in Germany.
Howard Cosell, media sports commentator who was in Germany at that sorrowful hour covering the games, recalls it here each year, and though most of us know it by heart, the pathos is still there, the sorrow never diminishes, Israeli athletes stand as heroes. The Sports Center at Hebrew U. in Jerusalem is named after Cosell in tribute to a caring luminary.
1989 saw more than 500 guests stream into the New York Hilton Hotel
For the dinner, a shining affair with each table decorated with ornaments of a particular sports game: football with miniature football and baseball with the midget bat and ball; hockey with colorful wall pennants and so on, and on, with sports souvenir bags for the children attending with their parents. But the special treat for the youngsters and the dads, one can reasonably be assured, was the presence of more than 100 nationally famous sports stars who graciously attended and gave autographs freely (with no charge — in this area that has grown to big business.)
This year, San Francisco Giant President and GM Rosen, former slugger Orlando Cepeda, National League President Bill White, with U.S. Olympic Committee President Robert H. Helmich were honored for their contributions to education and sportsmanship. U.S. Ambassador Max Kampelman and New York business leader Howard Kaskel were co-chairmen. However, Kampelman was called away on diplomatic duty that very morning. Cosell presided as toastmaster.
A very special guest on the dais, not an athlete, was Donald Trump, new owner of the Plaza Hotel, owner of Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue and most recently acquirer of Trump Airlines, formerly Eastern.
Well, the big news is that Trump is making a visit to Israel to advise how to turn its “economy into profits and/or set up some new Trump establishments in the Jewish State. This night he could only praise the Hebrew U. and its work in educating young scholars. He was delighted that the funds raised at the affair go into a special scholarship fund.