NET LAUGHTER

Gazette, The (Colorado Springs), Apr 2, 2004 by J. ADRIAN STANLEY THE GAZETTE

It's not every day a country calls time out in the middle of a civil war to watch a few basketball games.

Legend has it that's what happened for four days in Peru in 1956 when the Harlem Globetrotters played there for four days.

Turns out the legend isn't true -- there wasn't a civil war in Peru in 1956. But the pervasiveness of the story, which has made its way into various publications, shows how much larger than life the Globetrotters are.

Colorado Springs does not plan to stall any of its daily grind when the Globetrotters play the New York Nationals at the World Arena on April but the famous troupe of slam-dunking, trick-pass ing, whirlwind-dribbling ballplayers are sure to attract their share of attention.

It's the mix of sport and entertainment that has earned the Globetrotters their fame.

Although the games no longer are scripted, as they were in the 1960s and '70s, the players earn plenty of audience reaction with tricks and acrobatics.

"We are doing competitive games because we wanted to kill the stereotype of the Globetrotters being, I guess you could say, 'clown players,'" said Wun "The Shot" Versher, a Globetrotters guard.

Although team members are "athletes first and then entertainers," Versher said the team's mission is to entertain the crowd, and local fans can expect plenty of new tricks and old favorites.

And although not every story about the Globetrotters is true, many of the most impressive ones are. The Globetrotters are truly a piece of American history.

"Basketball today owes a lot to the Harlem Globetrotters," Versher said. The team began in 1926 as a basketball team for black men. At the time, sports teams were segregated.

The clowning around didn't begin until a game in 1939.

The Globetrotters were leading by such a large margin that they took the end of the game as an opportunity to show off, much to the amusement of the crowd.

Abe Saperstein, the coach and team founder, said the antics were OK, as long as the team had a big lead. Inman Jackson was the original "Clown Prince" of the team.

He developed the pivot position, a way to navigate a shot while leaving one foot on the ground, now used at all levels of basketball.

The playful tradition became more prominent after Reece "Goose" Tatum was signed to the team in 1942.

Tatum and later players such as Robert "Showboat" Hall developed many of the team's classic comedy routines.

Although the Globetrotters were making a name for themselves as entertainers, they remained a serious team until the 1960s, when the NBA began signing more black players.

The first black athlete to sign an NBA contract, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton, was a Globetrotter before signing with New York in 1950.

Wilt Chamberlain also got his start with the Globetrotters.

The Globetrotters have been the subject of television shows, specials and two films. The team has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and has received numerous awards for sporting prowess and humanitarian work. The Globetrotters have played in more than 100 countries and in front of presidents, popes and world leaders.

Bob Hope, Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Pope John Paul II have been named honorary Globetrotters.

Today's Globetrotters include funnyman Paul "Showtime" Gaffney, skilled dribbler Curley "Boo" Johnson and Michael "Wild Thing" Wilson.

Wilson set the world record for the vertical slam dunk after soaring to the top of a 12-foot basket in 2000.

THE DETAILS

Where: World Arena

When: 7 p.m. Wednesday

Tickets: $13.50-$55

Where to buy tickets: World Arena box office, local King Soopers, Fort Carson and Peterson Air Force Base. Or call 576-2626, or go to www.ticketswest.com.