1.2.13 Harlem Globetrotters

A few months ago, there was an ad in the Daily Republic about the Harlem Globetrotters coming to the Corn Palace.  I purchased 3 tickets, for Dan, Joe, and I for the second row.  (Dan had gone with Katie, who won Globetrotter tickets as a 3rd grader, for reading the most Accelerated Reader books that year.) Joey's only reference point for the Globetrotters was that they were in an old Scooby Doo episode.
Dan came down with pnuemonia or bronchitis, and was miserable.  I thought of Joey's good friend Charlie, and asked if he would like to come with us.  The show was a blast!
Some of the players this year were "TNT Maddox", (who is the 8th woman to be part of the Globetrotters) Cheese Chisolm, Hacksaw Hall, Prince Johnson, Ant Atkinson, and Dizzy Grant.  The skill of the players is truly amazing, even the team that travels with them, "The Select".  They are not all tall, in fact some were fairly short, under 6 ft., but they were fast! We truly enjoyed sitting so close to see the antics of the show.  Even the straight men, the referees, were hilarious. We enjoyed their 4 pt. shots, which were totally amazing. There were tricks with water and confetti, lots of audience participation, and amazing feats of break dancing and even climbing and standing on top of the hoop.  It was a delightful night of fun that I would recommend to anyone.
I didn't even think about merchandise being sold.  All I had was a $20 in my pocket, and they were selling basketballs ($25) and children's jerseys ($60).  A man near us sat down with a program/booklet, and when I learned it was $10, I sent Charlie and Joey with the money to buy a booklet for each, thinking they would have something to remember the show by, and be able to read it and enjoy the pictures.  It turned out to be a great purchase, as at the end of the show, they have an open autograph session for about 45 minutes.  Joey and Charlie took their books around the edge of the court, and got the autographs of all but three players that night.  We learned that Dizzy Grant was the first player to make the 4 point shot on film. We also learned that when he was 7 years old, he went to a Harlem Globetrotters show, and said he wanted to do that when he grew up.  Very cool that he reached his goal.