The World's Most Successful Team
The Harlem Globetrotters have played more than 26,000 exhibitions in 122 countries and are so tied to the New York City neighborhood in Manhattan that most people have forgotten the team got its start in Chicago.In 1927, the team started playing as the Savoy Big Five at the Savoy Ballroom on Chicago's south side. The all African-American team would play exhibitions before dances. The team's popularity grew to the point the players decided to begin touring to other cities under the name "Globe Trotters." In 1929, the team's promoter and manager, Abe Saperstein, decided to name the team's home city as Harlem because it was the center of African-American culture at the time. The Globetrotters actually didn't play a single game in Harlem until 1968.At first, the Globetrotters played straight up basketball, beating teams all over the country, including the NBA's Minneapolis Lakers, the league champions, in a famous 1948 exhibition. Once the NBA integrated, the top black players flocked to the league and the Globetrotters evolved into a comedy act. Although the games are exhibitions, score is dutifully kept and the last time the Globetrotters lost is 1971.Over the years, the team has played in Moscow, on an aircraft carrier, on the top of a New York City skyscraper, at the Vatican and on open dirt courts in Africa using its varied bag of tricks and gags to hook another generation of fans. On Dec. 30, the team will be back in Rockford to play at the BMO Harris Bank Center. The game begins at 2 p.m. and ticket prices start at $25. For more information, go to https://www.eventticketscenter.com/the-harlem-globetrotters-rockford-12-30-2017/3223236/t.A special thank you to Alex Gary for writing this Scoreboard piece.Alex Gary spent 22 years as a sports, business and education reporter and editor at newspapers in Beloit, Wis., and Rockford. He now is the communications manager at Thinker Ventures when he’s not umpiring youth baseball, running the scoreboard at Jefferson athletics, working on his NIC-10 Sports History Book website or hanging out with his two daughters.
