Thursday, February 22, 2007
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Who Are The Harlem Globetrotters? by Billy Bonds
The Harlem Globetrotters are a basketball team that combines athleticism and comedy to create one of the best-known sports entertainment franchises in the world. Created by Abe Saperstein in 1927 in Chicago, Illinois, the team adopted the name Harlem because of its connotations as a leading African-American community. Over the years it has toured over 118 countries, playing more than 20,000 exhibition games, mostly against deliberately ineffective opposition like the Washington Generals (1953-1995) and the New York Nationals (1995-present).
There is no clear consensus as to the very beginnings of the Globetrotters. The official history contains several facts which are clearly untrue, such as the team being organized in 1926 in the Savoy Ballroom, which opened in 1927. What is clear is that the genesis of the Globetrotters takes place in the South Side of Chicago in the 1920s, where all the original players grew up. Most, if not all of the original players attended Wendell Phillips High School. When the Savoy Ballroom opened in November of 1927, one of the premier attractions was the Savoy Big Five, a basketball team that played exhibitions before dances.
In 1928, several players left the team in a dispute over bringing other players who had left the team back. That fall, several players led by Tommy Brookins formed a team called the "Globe Trotters" which would tour Southern Illinois that winter. A white man named Abe Saperstein became involved with the team, though to exactly what extent is unclear. In any event, by 1929 Saperstein was touring Illinois and Iowa with his basketball team, called the "New York Harlem Globe Trotters". Saperstein decided to pick Harlem as their home city since Harlem was considered the center of African-American culture at the time, and an out of town team name would give the team more of a mystique. After four decades of existence, the Globetrotters played their first "home" game in Harlem in 1968.
The first star player of those early Globe Trotters (the name would be merged into one word later on was Albert "Runt" Puller, an adept dribbler and shooter. Soon he would be joined by 6'3" Inman Jackson, who played center and had a flair for showboating. They would originate the two roles that would stay with the 'trotters for decades, the showman and the dribbler.
The Globetrotters were initially a serious competitive team, and despite a flair for entertainment, they would only clown for the audience after establishing a safe lead in the game. In 1940, they accepted an invitation to participate in the World Professional Basketball Tournament. Defeating the New York Rens in the semi-finals, they advanced to the championship game, where they beat the Chicago Bruins in overtime by a score of 31-29.
The Globetrotters beat the premier professional team, George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers, for two games in a row in 1948 and 1949, with the Lakers winning the third contest. The February 1948 win (by a score of 61-59, on a buzzer beater) was a hallmark in professional basketball history, as the all-black Globetrotters proved they were on an equal footing with the all-white Lakers. Momentum for ending the NBA's color line grew, and in 1950, Chuck Cooper became the first black player drafted by an NBA team. From that time on the Globetrotters had increasing difficulty attracting and retaining top talent.
The Globetrotters gradually worked comic routines into their act until they became known more for entertainment than sports. The Globetrotters' acts often feature incredible coordination and skillful handling of one or more basketballs, such as passing or juggling balls between players, balancing or spinning balls on their fingertips, and making unusual, difficult shots.
Among the players who have been Globetrotters are NBA (National Basketball Association) greats Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain, Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins and Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, as well as Marques Haynes, George "Meadowlark" Lemon, Jerome James, former Temple coach John Chaney, and Reece "Goose" Tatum. Another popular team member in the 1970s and 1980s was Fred "Curly" Neal who was the best dribbler of that era of the team's history and was immediately recognizable due to his shaven head. Baseball Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Ferguson Jenkins and Lou Brock also played for the team at one time or another. Another famous former player is comedy legend Bill Cosby who had a contract with the Globetrotters when he was younger.[citation needed] In 1985, the Globetrotters signed their first female player, Olympic gold medalist Lynette Woodard, and their second, Joyce Walker, just three weeks later.
Because virtually all of its players have been African American, and because of the buffoonery involved in many of the Globetrotters' skits, they drew some criticism in the Civil Rights era. The players were derisively accused of "Tomming for Abe", a reference to Uncle Tom and white owner Abe Saperstein. However, prominent civil rights' activist Jesse Jackson came to their defense by stating, "I think they've been a positive influence. (...) They did not show blacks as stupid. On the contrary, they were shown as superior."
During the 1970s and 1980s, the team was controlled by Metromedia and, in addition to their touring and playing the Washington Generals or the New York Nationals, were featured in numerous television series and specials, including appearances in live-action variety shows and several Hanna-Barbera cartoons (see "Media" section below).
After a period of decline the Globetrotters franchise was purchased by former team member Mannie Jackson in 1993, and its fortunes revived again. In 2002 the team was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
To try to offset the criticism that they do not play "real basketball", in recent years the Trotters have scheduled games against college teams and pickup teams like Magic Johnson's All Stars with varying results. This renews a tradition of playing NBA teams, which the Globetrotters did during the 1950s.
The Harlem Globetrotters visited Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in November of 2000 and named the Pontiff an Honorary Harlem Globetrotter.
There is no clear consensus as to the very beginnings of the Globetrotters. The official history contains several facts which are clearly untrue, such as the team being organized in 1926 in the Savoy Ballroom, which opened in 1927. What is clear is that the genesis of the Globetrotters takes place in the South Side of Chicago in the 1920s, where all the original players grew up. Most, if not all of the original players attended Wendell Phillips High School. When the Savoy Ballroom opened in November of 1927, one of the premier attractions was the Savoy Big Five, a basketball team that played exhibitions before dances.
In 1928, several players left the team in a dispute over bringing other players who had left the team back. That fall, several players led by Tommy Brookins formed a team called the "Globe Trotters" which would tour Southern Illinois that winter. A white man named Abe Saperstein became involved with the team, though to exactly what extent is unclear. In any event, by 1929 Saperstein was touring Illinois and Iowa with his basketball team, called the "New York Harlem Globe Trotters". Saperstein decided to pick Harlem as their home city since Harlem was considered the center of African-American culture at the time, and an out of town team name would give the team more of a mystique. After four decades of existence, the Globetrotters played their first "home" game in Harlem in 1968.
The first star player of those early Globe Trotters (the name would be merged into one word later on was Albert "Runt" Puller, an adept dribbler and shooter. Soon he would be joined by 6'3" Inman Jackson, who played center and had a flair for showboating. They would originate the two roles that would stay with the 'trotters for decades, the showman and the dribbler.
The Globetrotters were initially a serious competitive team, and despite a flair for entertainment, they would only clown for the audience after establishing a safe lead in the game. In 1940, they accepted an invitation to participate in the World Professional Basketball Tournament. Defeating the New York Rens in the semi-finals, they advanced to the championship game, where they beat the Chicago Bruins in overtime by a score of 31-29.
The Globetrotters beat the premier professional team, George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers, for two games in a row in 1948 and 1949, with the Lakers winning the third contest. The February 1948 win (by a score of 61-59, on a buzzer beater) was a hallmark in professional basketball history, as the all-black Globetrotters proved they were on an equal footing with the all-white Lakers. Momentum for ending the NBA's color line grew, and in 1950, Chuck Cooper became the first black player drafted by an NBA team. From that time on the Globetrotters had increasing difficulty attracting and retaining top talent.
The Globetrotters gradually worked comic routines into their act until they became known more for entertainment than sports. The Globetrotters' acts often feature incredible coordination and skillful handling of one or more basketballs, such as passing or juggling balls between players, balancing or spinning balls on their fingertips, and making unusual, difficult shots.
Among the players who have been Globetrotters are NBA (National Basketball Association) greats Wilt "The Stilt" Chamberlain, Connie "The Hawk" Hawkins and Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, as well as Marques Haynes, George "Meadowlark" Lemon, Jerome James, former Temple coach John Chaney, and Reece "Goose" Tatum. Another popular team member in the 1970s and 1980s was Fred "Curly" Neal who was the best dribbler of that era of the team's history and was immediately recognizable due to his shaven head. Baseball Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Ferguson Jenkins and Lou Brock also played for the team at one time or another. Another famous former player is comedy legend Bill Cosby who had a contract with the Globetrotters when he was younger.[citation needed] In 1985, the Globetrotters signed their first female player, Olympic gold medalist Lynette Woodard, and their second, Joyce Walker, just three weeks later.
Because virtually all of its players have been African American, and because of the buffoonery involved in many of the Globetrotters' skits, they drew some criticism in the Civil Rights era. The players were derisively accused of "Tomming for Abe", a reference to Uncle Tom and white owner Abe Saperstein. However, prominent civil rights' activist Jesse Jackson came to their defense by stating, "I think they've been a positive influence. (...) They did not show blacks as stupid. On the contrary, they were shown as superior."
During the 1970s and 1980s, the team was controlled by Metromedia and, in addition to their touring and playing the Washington Generals or the New York Nationals, were featured in numerous television series and specials, including appearances in live-action variety shows and several Hanna-Barbera cartoons (see "Media" section below).
After a period of decline the Globetrotters franchise was purchased by former team member Mannie Jackson in 1993, and its fortunes revived again. In 2002 the team was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame.
To try to offset the criticism that they do not play "real basketball", in recent years the Trotters have scheduled games against college teams and pickup teams like Magic Johnson's All Stars with varying results. This renews a tradition of playing NBA teams, which the Globetrotters did during the 1950s.
The Harlem Globetrotters visited Pope John Paul II at the Vatican in November of 2000 and named the Pontiff an Honorary Harlem Globetrotter.
Kids' Sports Injuries on the Increase
FRIDAY, Feb. 16 (HealthDay News) -- Kids' sports are becoming more like pro sports, at least when it comes to injuries.
New research finds that serious injuries in young athletes are happening more frequently, and at a younger age.
"This research basically adds to the current concerns and climate that orthopedics have been seeing for probably the last decade," said Dr. Richard Schultz, an assistant professor of surgery at Texas A&M Health Science Center and chief of staff at Scott & White University Medical Campus, at Round Rock.
"The incredible popularity and widespread nature of the club sports or select sports create a level of year-round intensity and single-sports efforts that can really lead to a lot of the overuse injuries in these children," he said. Those types of injuries, "we used to never see until they were late in high school or even college," Schultz said.
But because pediatric athletes are still growing and developing, they are at a higher risk for injury than adult players.
The current research, being presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery in San Diego, found that 40 percent of all emergency room visits involving children aged 5 to 14 are for sports injuries.
More pre-high school students are sustaining shoulder injuries serious enough to require surgery, the study found. That distinction used to be reserved for older athletes.
And injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) are now being seen in 9- and 10-year-olds. Surgery to deal with the injury can cause more lasting "growth plate disturbances;" growth plates being the areas of developing tissue at the end of the body's long bones.
Another study being presented at the meeting noted a rapid increase in arm injuries in young pitchers, apparently the results of an improper throwing motion. One of these injuries, "little league elbow," seems to result when the athlete winds up and uncurls the body too late before releasing the ball.
According to the first study, about 60 percent of 11- to 18-year-olds have sustained an injury due to the repetitive motion and overuse of the elbow and shoulder.
The issues are complicated by year-round playing.
"Baseball is a good example. It traditionally has been a spring sport, but now these children are playing baseball year round," Schultz said. "We're not seeing the selective stress distributed about their body like we used to see in childhood athletes where they played baseball for fun this month and next month was basketball and next season was football. Stress would be placed in different areas of the child's body, allowing time for recovery. There is widespread overtraining of children."
The experts agreed that players, parents and coaches need to pay better attention to the needs of these developing bodies.
"The two key problems are the focus on a single sport and the lack of expertise in coaching/training these kids from a physiological, biomechanical, psychological and medical perspective," said Malachy McHugh, director of research at the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
The neural system needs many different types of activity to develop motor control, he added. "In the past, the star athletes in high school and college were adept at several sports and had a natural talent for all sports," McHugh said. "Today I am amazed at how athletically inept these athletes are when taken out of their single sport comfort zone."
And training needs to match the developmental stage of the child.
"Having a 12-year-old doing strength training is working against the child's natural development. That is an age for working on coordination and speed, which are best improved by a variety of activities rather than one specialized activity," McHugh said. "Additionally, the rigid application of rules and regimens at an early age suppresses natural creativity. For the 5- to 12-year-old, free play is essential for stimulating creativity."
More information
For more on preventing sports injuries in kids, visit the Nemours Foundation.
New research finds that serious injuries in young athletes are happening more frequently, and at a younger age.
"This research basically adds to the current concerns and climate that orthopedics have been seeing for probably the last decade," said Dr. Richard Schultz, an assistant professor of surgery at Texas A&M Health Science Center and chief of staff at Scott & White University Medical Campus, at Round Rock.
"The incredible popularity and widespread nature of the club sports or select sports create a level of year-round intensity and single-sports efforts that can really lead to a lot of the overuse injuries in these children," he said. Those types of injuries, "we used to never see until they were late in high school or even college," Schultz said.
But because pediatric athletes are still growing and developing, they are at a higher risk for injury than adult players.
The current research, being presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgery in San Diego, found that 40 percent of all emergency room visits involving children aged 5 to 14 are for sports injuries.
More pre-high school students are sustaining shoulder injuries serious enough to require surgery, the study found. That distinction used to be reserved for older athletes.
And injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) are now being seen in 9- and 10-year-olds. Surgery to deal with the injury can cause more lasting "growth plate disturbances;" growth plates being the areas of developing tissue at the end of the body's long bones.
Another study being presented at the meeting noted a rapid increase in arm injuries in young pitchers, apparently the results of an improper throwing motion. One of these injuries, "little league elbow," seems to result when the athlete winds up and uncurls the body too late before releasing the ball.
According to the first study, about 60 percent of 11- to 18-year-olds have sustained an injury due to the repetitive motion and overuse of the elbow and shoulder.
The issues are complicated by year-round playing.
"Baseball is a good example. It traditionally has been a spring sport, but now these children are playing baseball year round," Schultz said. "We're not seeing the selective stress distributed about their body like we used to see in childhood athletes where they played baseball for fun this month and next month was basketball and next season was football. Stress would be placed in different areas of the child's body, allowing time for recovery. There is widespread overtraining of children."
The experts agreed that players, parents and coaches need to pay better attention to the needs of these developing bodies.
"The two key problems are the focus on a single sport and the lack of expertise in coaching/training these kids from a physiological, biomechanical, psychological and medical perspective," said Malachy McHugh, director of research at the Nicholas Institute of Sports Medicine and Athletic Trauma at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
The neural system needs many different types of activity to develop motor control, he added. "In the past, the star athletes in high school and college were adept at several sports and had a natural talent for all sports," McHugh said. "Today I am amazed at how athletically inept these athletes are when taken out of their single sport comfort zone."
And training needs to match the developmental stage of the child.
"Having a 12-year-old doing strength training is working against the child's natural development. That is an age for working on coordination and speed, which are best improved by a variety of activities rather than one specialized activity," McHugh said. "Additionally, the rigid application of rules and regimens at an early age suppresses natural creativity. For the 5- to 12-year-old, free play is essential for stimulating creativity."
More information
For more on preventing sports injuries in kids, visit the Nemours Foundation.
Confident Cole counts down career with Colonels
By David Driver Special to The Gazette
George Washington University women’s basketball standout Kenan Cole played for three coaches during a four-year varsity career at then-St. John’s at Prospect Hall. She also played for other coaches during the summer AAU season, which meant she heard more than her share of different approaches to the game. Regardless of the changes, she left St. John’s as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,230 points with 1,109 rebounds in four years.
However, stability has not been a problem for Cole, where she is a starter on a team that began this week ranked No. 8 in the nation.
Cole has played all four seasons at GW under Joe McKeown, who is in his 18th season at the school.
“I have really enjoyed my experience here. He has definitely taught me a lot,“ Cole said of McKeown, who won his 400th game at GW earlier this season. “We are really playing well together. That has definitely made a difference.“
The Colonels won their 14th straight game Sunday, with a 75-41 win at home over St. Bonaventure University of upstate New York. Cole, who has started every game this season, had 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in just 22 minutes of play Sunday.
The Colonials are 21-2 and 10-0 in the Atlantic 10 going into today’s game at Charlotte, and Cole feels the team has Final Four potential in the NCAA tournament.
“I think so. For all of us, we don’t have just one player who carries the scoring load on the team,“ she said Monday. “We are going to need everybody.“
Cole, a 5-foot-10 guard-forward, is one of four GW players scoring in double figures. She is averaging 32 minutes and about 12 points and five rebounds per game.
“She has really improved every year, which is impressive because she has had to change herself from an inside player to more of a perimeter player,“ McKeown said before this season began of his lone senior. “She’s also a terrific student, something we’re proud of.“
Added Cole, “I guess I haven’t felt any added pressure.“
And she can handle the lofty rankings.
“A lot of people congratulate us on our ranking,“ Cole said. “It is cool we are ranked that high. We try not to let that interfere with how we play.“
Cole was born in Iowa, and moved with her parents to Germantown when she was in fourth grade. The family then moved to northern Frederick County, and Cole attended Yellow Springs Elementary School and Monocacy Middle School before spending four years at St. John’s.
Among her teammates at St. John’s were Marta Merkel, now a junior at Division III Randolph-Macon in Ashland, Va. Cole’s parents, Dean and Monica, still live in the county, and attend nearly every GW home game, and also travel to some away games.
“We try to get to as many as we can,“ said Dean Cole.
Cole, an only child, also made official college visits to Lehigh, Hartford and Drexel, but picked GW because of its standing in the Atlantic 10. She is majoring in mechanical engineering, has a grade-point average around 3.9 and is on track to graduate with her class in May.
On Feb. 8 she was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team, along with teammate Sarah-Jo Lawrence, Shay Doron and Crystal Langhorne of Maryland and Jackie Adamshick of Villanova.
Cole was an all-academic player as a junior in the Atlantic 10, and won GW’s Academic Excellence Award. She averaged 8.2 points per game last season, 7.3 as a sophomore and 1.3 as a freshman.
She plans to attend graduate school, perhaps at GW, but has also mentioned to the Colonels coaches that she may want to play pro basketball overseas.
After two road games this week, GW will finish regular-season play with two home games before the Atlantic 10 tournament begins March 2 in Cincinnati. Cole injured her knee late last season, when she collided with a Richmond player on Feb. 19.
She missed the last two regular-season games, and then played in the three conference tourney games and in two NCAA tourney contests. GW’s season came to an end in a 66-53 loss to No. 6 Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA tourney last season.
Now Cole is preparing for a more-than-likely fourth straight NCAA tourney appearance, regardless of the outcome of the Atlantic 10 tourney.
“I am just enjoying every minute of it. I definitely have my sights set on the Atlantic 10 championship, and going past the second round of the NCAA,“ she said.
George Washington University women’s basketball standout Kenan Cole played for three coaches during a four-year varsity career at then-St. John’s at Prospect Hall. She also played for other coaches during the summer AAU season, which meant she heard more than her share of different approaches to the game. Regardless of the changes, she left St. John’s as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,230 points with 1,109 rebounds in four years.
However, stability has not been a problem for Cole, where she is a starter on a team that began this week ranked No. 8 in the nation.
Cole has played all four seasons at GW under Joe McKeown, who is in his 18th season at the school.
“I have really enjoyed my experience here. He has definitely taught me a lot,“ Cole said of McKeown, who won his 400th game at GW earlier this season. “We are really playing well together. That has definitely made a difference.“
The Colonels won their 14th straight game Sunday, with a 75-41 win at home over St. Bonaventure University of upstate New York. Cole, who has started every game this season, had 15 points, four rebounds and four assists in just 22 minutes of play Sunday.
The Colonials are 21-2 and 10-0 in the Atlantic 10 going into today’s game at Charlotte, and Cole feels the team has Final Four potential in the NCAA tournament.
“I think so. For all of us, we don’t have just one player who carries the scoring load on the team,“ she said Monday. “We are going to need everybody.“
Cole, a 5-foot-10 guard-forward, is one of four GW players scoring in double figures. She is averaging 32 minutes and about 12 points and five rebounds per game.
“She has really improved every year, which is impressive because she has had to change herself from an inside player to more of a perimeter player,“ McKeown said before this season began of his lone senior. “She’s also a terrific student, something we’re proud of.“
Added Cole, “I guess I haven’t felt any added pressure.“
And she can handle the lofty rankings.
“A lot of people congratulate us on our ranking,“ Cole said. “It is cool we are ranked that high. We try not to let that interfere with how we play.“
Cole was born in Iowa, and moved with her parents to Germantown when she was in fourth grade. The family then moved to northern Frederick County, and Cole attended Yellow Springs Elementary School and Monocacy Middle School before spending four years at St. John’s.
Among her teammates at St. John’s were Marta Merkel, now a junior at Division III Randolph-Macon in Ashland, Va. Cole’s parents, Dean and Monica, still live in the county, and attend nearly every GW home game, and also travel to some away games.
“We try to get to as many as we can,“ said Dean Cole.
Cole, an only child, also made official college visits to Lehigh, Hartford and Drexel, but picked GW because of its standing in the Atlantic 10. She is majoring in mechanical engineering, has a grade-point average around 3.9 and is on track to graduate with her class in May.
On Feb. 8 she was named to the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District team, along with teammate Sarah-Jo Lawrence, Shay Doron and Crystal Langhorne of Maryland and Jackie Adamshick of Villanova.
Cole was an all-academic player as a junior in the Atlantic 10, and won GW’s Academic Excellence Award. She averaged 8.2 points per game last season, 7.3 as a sophomore and 1.3 as a freshman.
She plans to attend graduate school, perhaps at GW, but has also mentioned to the Colonels coaches that she may want to play pro basketball overseas.
After two road games this week, GW will finish regular-season play with two home games before the Atlantic 10 tournament begins March 2 in Cincinnati. Cole injured her knee late last season, when she collided with a Richmond player on Feb. 19.
She missed the last two regular-season games, and then played in the three conference tourney games and in two NCAA tourney contests. GW’s season came to an end in a 66-53 loss to No. 6 Tennessee in the second round of the NCAA tourney last season.
Now Cole is preparing for a more-than-likely fourth straight NCAA tourney appearance, regardless of the outcome of the Atlantic 10 tourney.
“I am just enjoying every minute of it. I definitely have my sights set on the Atlantic 10 championship, and going past the second round of the NCAA,“ she said.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
