The Harlem Globetrotters are coming to a city near you in 2010. While the goodwill ambassadors of basketball play year around, their North American touring schedule generally last from late December through late April-early May.
The Globetrotters are perhaps the most fascinating team in all of professional sports. They originated in 1926 (which is incidentally the last time the New Jersey Nets won game). Since then they've played in over 25,000 games, for millions of basketball fans, in over a hundred countries.
In all those games they've accumulated just 345 losses. The
New York Knicks lose that many games in one season. Yet despite their claim that their games are "real" does anyone believe the Washington Generals are playing to win? Nonetheless, throughout their illustrious history the Trotters have played, and defeated, "real" basketball teams.
The team has its own theme song. Not even the
San Antonio Spurs can say that--then again nothing rhymes with "Ginóbili." Every time you hear "Sweet Georgia Brown" you think of the Harlem Globetrotters. In fact, every time you see the Harlem Globetrotter "Sweet Georgia Brown" starts playing in your head.
They are universally loved. What sane person dislikes the Globetrotters? They are like Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, or Charles Barkley. They've made Pope John Paul II an honorary member as well as political figures like Henry Kissinger, Jesse Jackson, and Whoopi Goldberg.
Basketball's First Fan, President Barack Obama, sang their praises in a documentary about the team. Former
Los Angeles Lakers star Magic Johnson and
Philadelphia's own Bill Cosby have signed lifetime contacts with the traveling Trotters. Johnson is paid $1 a year while Cosby is paid $1.05.
Even though their heyday was in the 1970's, with the likes of Meadowlark Lemon, Curly Neal, and Sweet Lou Dunbar, and their numerous appearances on ABC's Wide World of Sports, basketball fans of today are still very familiar with the team. Granted, you could spend all afternoon on a busy street corner in
Houston, Texas and not find ten people who've actually seen them play.
That's because everyone knows what to expect at a
Harlem Globetrotters game. It's like going to the circus. Everyone knows that under the big top you'll see trapeze artists, high wire acts, clowns, and seizures.
With the Globetrotters you know you'll see the famous weave at the top of the circle, dunks over the pudgy referee, the bucket full of confetti when everyone thinks it's full of water, the ball under the shirt gag, fancy dribbling, Globetrotter's football, and of course the playful taking of the woman's purse.
Despite all the repetition and clichés, they are still beloved and fun to watch. And that's why the Globetrotters are sports' most fascinating team.
Subscribe