Harlem coming to town

MANILA, Philippines - The world-famous Harlem Globetrotters, now touring the globe in their 83rd season, will play three games at the Araneta Coliseum on May 24 and 25 with sellouts expected to welcome the basketball ambassadors whose first visit to Manila was in 1952.

Tickets are available for two games on Sunday, May 24, the first at 3 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m., and a 7 p.m. show on Monday, May 25. Prices range from P210 to P2,100 for the 7 p.m. Sunday appearance and P105 to P1,575 for the 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday and 7 p.m. game on Monday.

The tour is a joint project of Basketball TV, Total Sports Asia and Maxx Entertainment.

Solar basketball properties marketing manager Vitto Lazatin said the other day a Globetrotters representative will arrive to meet the press and perform at halftime of the PBA All-Star Game at the Big Dome on April 26.

The Globies will fly in after performing in Malaysia and Singapore where they are booked to play a game in each stop. From Manila, the Harlem squad will go to Hong Kong for another game.

Although the Trotters are billed for one-night stands through most of their Asian tour, they will play three games in Manila because of the sport’s popularity here. “Besides, they haven’t visited Manila in about 10 years,” said a source close to the organizers. “They’re excited to show the Filipino fans their latest repertoire.”

The Globies will play their touring rival team, the Washington Generals who haven’t beaten Harlem in their last 13,000 or so meetings. As of last March 30, the Trotters’ lifetime win-loss record against Washington was 23,136-345.

There are 30 players in the Harlem roster this season, split into three squads touring Europe, the Americas and Asia simultaneously.

The all-time Trotters lineup lists several former PBA imports, including Scooter McFagdon, Gee Gervin, Anthony (Pig) Miller, Chris Morris, Tremaine Fowlkes, Donald Williams, Derrick Canada, Cedric Ceballos, Ben Davis, Brandon Dean, Ronnie Fields, Kevin Holland, Kenny Battle, Brandon Williams, Monty Buckley and Kevin Holland. Newly signed Barako Bulls import Jeff Varem of Washington State has also played for Harlem.

Stars who previously suited up for the Globetrotters include Magic Johnson, Wilt Chamberlain, Connie Hawkins, actor Bill Cosby, Darryl Dawkins, Meadowlark Lemon, Curly Neal and female player Lynette Woodard.

The Trotters’ world tour is called “Spinning the Globe,” the title of author Ben Green’s book chronicling the history of the hardcourt jesters.

Among the present-day Globies are 7-3 Skyscraper Alleyne of Kentucky, 5-10 Keiron (Sweet Pea) Shine of Memphis, 6-7 Kris (Hi-Lite) Bruton of Benedict College (South Carolina), 6-4 Wun (The Shot) Versher of Arizona State, 6-8 “El Gato” Melendez of UNLV, 6-9 Apollo Fraser of Villanova, 6-6 “Slick” Willie Shaw of St. John’s, 6-4 Bull Bullard of Texas A&M Corpus Christi and 6-4 Aundre (Hot Shot) Branch of Baylor.

For over eight decades, the Globies entertained fans - young and old alike - with a wholesome comedy routine woven into a game situation. It wasn’t easy to become a Trotter who had to be skilled not only in playing basketball but also in making people laugh.

“It’s the sports equivalent of comfort food,” wrote L. Jon Wertheim in Sports Illustrated. “At a Trotters show, you still get the ball-on-the-string gag, the buckets of confetti, the half-court hook shots and eventually Sweet George Brown. It’s all part of an act that a comedy writer has ‘punched up.’ The goal - make sure the kids watching the Globetrotters today will want to take their kids to a game in the future.”

Harlem cager Kevin (Special K) Daley said, “We work in the smile factory and people need all the smiles they can get these days.”

Last February, the Trotters wore identical No. 44 jerseys to honor the US’s 44th president Barack Obama, a basketball fanatic. And in the course of their tour this season, they’re wearing patches in memory of former player Chris (Flash) Richardson who passed away during a Japan trip last December.