Chatting with the Harlem Globetrotters
Posted on April 10th, 2008 – 3:20 PMBy Michael Rand
It’s hard to think of the Harlem Globetrotters without your senses being flooded with precise visual images (to your right) and sounds. It’s a powerful thing to keep running for more than 8 decades on a premise that is altered some but more or less stays the same because that’s the way fans want it. The Globetrotters are bringing their act back to the Twin Cities this weekend with a show Friday and two performances Saturday at Target Center. We had a chance to catch up recently with the legendary Curly Neal (above) and current player Wildkat Edgerson (below) about the team and what it’s like to be a Globetrotter. These things stuck out from our meeting:
*Curly Neal: “Nobody knows the score of the games, but we put smiles on faces.”
*Wildkat: “Everything we do is genuine, sincere and entertaining. We don’t have egos — we treat everyone the way we want to be treated.” True to form, several fans at the restaurant we met at came up asking for autographs. Both men carry glossy photos on tearaway sheets and have Sharpies always at the ready for autographs. They seem to understand their roles very well.
*Curly Neal talked about his eclectic acting career: Gilligan’s Island, The Love Boat, Sesame Street and Donnie & Marie, to name a few. “So many good things have happened to me because of the Globetrotters,” said Neal, who still works with the team in a public relations capacity.
*Minneapolis is very close to the final stop on a North American tour that has been going virtually non-stop since mid-November. After this, there’s an international tour. Sounds like a grind at times. “Any job is going to have its pros and cons,” said Edgerson, who played college ball at Arizona and has also played in the NBA Development League. “But this isn’t work to us. Somebody pays us to have fun, and we’re the only entertainment that reaches every member of the family.” Adds Neal: “It’s in our blood.”
*Tryouts for the Globetrotters feature hundreds of hopefuls and are intense basketball affairs. “We’re unique individuals,” Edgerson said.
*Neal said there are some new “antics” in the works for this weekend, but Edgerson also knows the formula shouldn’t be tampered with too much. “If it ain’t broken, don’t fix it,” he said. “The same things you laughed at 20 years ago are the same things you’ll laugh at today.”
*True story: We saw the Globetrotters in Grand Forks a long time ago; and last night, our little brother (Ben, who is eight) was scheduled to do the same in GF. We haven’t received the full report yet, but we’re guessing he laughed at a lot of the same things we did
3 Responses to "Chatting with the Harlem Globetrotters"
If Ben wasn’t 8, I might have to a make a joke about the age difference.
I’ve never seen the Globetrotters, other than on TV. I imagine it would be a good time. I’m willing to bet good money, or at least 5 Arby melts that their slogan has never been “Let’s Build It” to try to lure fans.
Wouldn’t a stop in Grand Forks already make the tour “international”?
Since when did Eugene Edgerson change his name to Wildkat? I know he played for Arizona but come on, he could do better than that. I wonder if he still wears the knee high socks like he did with AU?
