Staff Writer

Top athletes were among the honorees, but the most well-known inductees to the Greater Washington DC Jewish Sports Hall of Fame this year were probably those owning and reporting about the teams.

Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, WTTG Channel 5 sportscaster Dave Feldman and Washington Times sportswriter David Elfin were among those installed in the hall Saturday night at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington in front of about 550 people. Joining them were University of Maryland all-ACC women's basketball star Shay Doron, former Maryland and George Washington University basketball player Mark Karver, high school and college tennis player Steve Gittleson and the late Herman Littman, a longtime coach of sports teams in District high schools.

Proceeds from the annual Dinner of Champions benefit the center's camp for special needs children.

The controversial Snyder stood out from his fellow inductees by being the only one not to give an acceptance speech.

All of this year's living honorees, and all the inductees for at least the previous two years before this one, recorded a videotaped message in which they thank those important to them, reflect on their career, show photos and often salute the JCCGW special needs camp.

But Snyder sent a videotaped message from Redskins coach Joe Gibbs instead. Gibbs jokingly wondered why he didn't qualify for the honor and asked if "some research" could be done about that. He then said that Snyder's history of growing up a Redskins fan and becoming successful enough to buy the team was one of the "great sports stories in America."

Snyder did speak to WJW about his induction. He said he was "honored" and wished that his father, Gerald, who died in 2003, had been alive to share it with him.

Asked what the impact of his Judaism was on his team, Snyder said his religion had "nothing to do with" the Redskins, but he did say Judaism is "a part of my everyday life."

Earlier in the day, Snyder spoke during Shabbat services at B'nai Israel Congregation in Rockville. A building was dedicated in memory of his father.

The inductions of Feldman and Elfin added to a long list of sports media members in the hall. The two said they ended up in the industry for similar reasons.

Elfin, the president of the Pro Football Writers of America, said that he did not want to play into stereotypes, but in his case, "I fell in love with sports [but] discovered I wasn't very good at it."

Sportswriting was "my way of staying in sports," he said.

Feldman ‹ the third Channel 5 sportscaster to receive the hall honor, after Steve Buckhantz and Bernie Smilovitz ‹ had more success as an athlete, playing Division III basketball at Tufts University. He realized, though, that a pro career was not in the offing, but working in the sports media was "the next best thing."

Feldman speculated that so many Jews are attracted to sports because, among other things, "Jews love competition" and "fair play."

In addition to both spending time playing at the University of Maryland, the two basketball players inducted Saturday shared something else in common: a strong connection to Israel.

Doron is a native of the Jewish state, while Karver spent 10 of his 11 years playing professional basketball in Israel.

Karver, who made aliyah but returned to the U.S. two years ago because of the weak Israeli economy, said the honor was particularly special because his picture would now be alongside that of his late father, Elliot, who was inducted last year. Karver noted that the first basketball team he played on, at the age of 9, was a JCCGW team coached by his dad.

Doron said she hoped to be an example for other Jewish and Israeli girls now playing basketball.

Also at the dinner, Daryle Bobb received the Abe Pollin Humanitarian Award. Bobb is the co-founder of Most Valuable Kids, a national nonprofit organization that distributes tickets to sports and entertainment events to low-income and underserved children. The organization is on pace to distribute more than 34,000 tickets to children in the Washington area this year.

With Pollin still recovering from heart surgery earlier this year, Fox sportscaster James Brown, a member of MVK's board, presented the award via videotaped message.

This year's Hyman M. & Phillip D. Perlo Sports Awards, saluting top Jewish high school athletes, were presented to Wootton High School cross-country runner Michele Levy and Churchill High School basketball player Daniel Sack.

Richard Andrew Helgeson, a first team All-Montgomery County lacrosse goalie for Blair High School last spring, received the Perlo posthumously. Helgeson died from a sudden cardiac arrythmia just a week before his graduation in May and just a few weeks before he was scheduled to spend his third summer as a Camp JCC counselor.