1 00:00:09,562 --> 00:00:10,242 Speaker 1: Originals. 2 00:00:10,322 --> 00:00:12,522 Speaker 2: This is an iHeart original. 3 00:00:20,922 --> 00:00:24,162 Speaker 3: In the two thousand film Little Nikky, Adam Sandler plays 4 00:00:24,202 --> 00:00:27,282 Speaker 3: one of the Devil's three sons, sent to Earth to 5 00:00:27,442 --> 00:00:32,442 Speaker 3: retrieve his vastly more evil brothers. One is so vile, 6 00:00:32,882 --> 00:00:36,642 Speaker 3: so beyond any trace of goodness, that he uses his 7 00:00:36,802 --> 00:00:41,602 Speaker 3: other worldly powers to cause a natural disaster. He rigs 8 00:00:41,642 --> 00:00:45,922 Speaker 3: a Harlem Globetrotter's game in favor of their arch rivals, 9 00:00:46,362 --> 00:00:50,962 Speaker 3: the Washington Generals. And there's the scene in a nineteen 10 00:00:51,082 --> 00:00:55,842 Speaker 3: ninety five episode of The Simpsons where a despondent Krusty 11 00:00:55,882 --> 00:01:00,082 Speaker 3: the Clown loses big money betting on the Generals, shouting 12 00:01:00,122 --> 00:01:04,002 Speaker 3: that I thought the Generals were due. These jokes work 13 00:01:04,082 --> 00:01:09,922 Speaker 3: because we all innately understand one thing. The Globetrotters always 14 00:01:10,202 --> 00:01:15,482 Speaker 3: always beat the Generals. As of January nineteen seventy one, 15 00:01:15,922 --> 00:01:19,442 Speaker 3: they had done it two thousand, four hundred and ninety 16 00:01:19,442 --> 00:01:23,882 Speaker 3: five times, traveling from town to town, across the country 17 00:01:23,922 --> 00:01:28,562 Speaker 3: and globally. They are, after all, Globetrotters. The team has 18 00:01:28,642 --> 00:01:34,122 Speaker 3: made a basketball empire out of roundly trouncing the hapless Generals, 19 00:01:34,442 --> 00:01:38,122 Speaker 3: who are no match for either their basketball skills or 20 00:01:38,242 --> 00:01:43,082 Speaker 3: they're on court stunts think of the Globetrotters as Bugs 21 00:01:43,082 --> 00:01:47,802 Speaker 3: Bunny and the Generals as Almer Fut Like Elmer, they 22 00:01:48,002 --> 00:01:52,682 Speaker 3: can't really win, and they usually get humiliated in the process. 23 00:01:53,322 --> 00:01:56,282 Speaker 3: And just like no one can ever remember a cartoon 24 00:01:56,482 --> 00:02:01,042 Speaker 3: where Bugs gets his comeupance, you probably won't find anyone 25 00:02:01,082 --> 00:02:04,362 Speaker 3: who can remember a time they saw the globe Trotters lose. 26 00:02:05,122 --> 00:02:09,882 Speaker 3: They're never supposed to lose, they can't lose. But the 27 00:02:10,042 --> 00:02:14,522 Speaker 3: night of January fifth, nineteen seventy one is going to 28 00:02:14,562 --> 00:02:18,762 Speaker 3: be different. The Globetrotters are about to walk into a 29 00:02:18,842 --> 00:02:23,642 Speaker 3: small arena in a modest college town in Tennessee. They're 30 00:02:23,722 --> 00:02:26,802 Speaker 3: planning to do exactly what they've done for the past 31 00:02:27,002 --> 00:02:32,322 Speaker 3: umpteen games, win and embarrass the Generals, however, possible to 32 00:02:32,522 --> 00:02:36,882 Speaker 3: extend their wind streak to two thousand, four hundred and 33 00:02:37,042 --> 00:02:41,922 Speaker 3: ninety six. But by the time the final buzzer sounds, 34 00:02:42,362 --> 00:02:47,082 Speaker 3: the Globetrotters are ambling off the court with their heads down. 35 00:02:47,802 --> 00:02:51,642 Speaker 3: Kids in the crowd are tearing up, and the Generals 36 00:02:51,682 --> 00:02:55,922 Speaker 3: are both ecstatic and looking for the fastest way out 37 00:02:56,002 --> 00:02:59,922 Speaker 3: of the arena and then out of town. That's because 38 00:03:00,202 --> 00:03:06,282 Speaker 3: they've done the impossible They've defeated the Harlem Globetrotters, and 39 00:03:06,482 --> 00:03:10,242 Speaker 3: for the past half century, no one has ever been 40 00:03:10,362 --> 00:03:15,722 Speaker 3: exactly sure how they did it. How this ragtag team 41 00:03:15,882 --> 00:03:21,322 Speaker 3: of professional losers managed to snatch victory from the jaws 42 00:03:21,362 --> 00:03:28,082 Speaker 3: of perennial defeat. How they pulled off arguably the biggest upset. 43 00:03:27,842 --> 00:03:29,002 Speaker 2: In sports history. 44 00:03:29,722 --> 00:03:34,442 Speaker 3: There were no cameras, no television crew, no national newspapers 45 00:03:34,482 --> 00:03:38,122 Speaker 3: there to chronicle the contest or to answer the question, 46 00:03:38,922 --> 00:03:44,682 Speaker 3: how do you lose a rigged game? Welcome to very 47 00:03:44,722 --> 00:03:50,042 Speaker 3: special episodes and iHeart original podcast. I'm your host, Danish Schwartz, 48 00:03:50,202 --> 00:03:54,282 Speaker 3: and this is the night the Harlem Globetrotters lost. 49 00:03:58,562 --> 00:04:01,522 Speaker 4: Welcome back. I'm Jason English. She's Danish Wartz. 50 00:04:01,842 --> 00:04:01,962 Speaker 5: Hi. 51 00:04:02,042 --> 00:04:03,362 Speaker 4: Hi, he's Zarreen Burnette. 52 00:04:03,402 --> 00:04:03,562 Speaker 1: Yoh. 53 00:04:03,802 --> 00:04:06,082 Speaker 4: Have either of you ever seen the Globetrotters live? 54 00:04:06,482 --> 00:04:06,682 Speaker 1: Yes? 55 00:04:06,722 --> 00:04:07,122 Speaker 6: I have. 56 00:04:08,402 --> 00:04:08,642 Speaker 1: Yeah. 57 00:04:09,082 --> 00:04:11,322 Speaker 3: When I was a kid, they came to Chicago. I 58 00:04:11,322 --> 00:04:13,962 Speaker 3: grew up in Chicago in the nineties. This is a 59 00:04:13,962 --> 00:04:15,362 Speaker 3: real basketball. 60 00:04:14,882 --> 00:04:18,202 Speaker 7: Era totally, Oh my goodness, the best basketball air possibly. 61 00:04:18,802 --> 00:04:21,042 Speaker 3: And also I didn't know they were from Chicago. I 62 00:04:21,162 --> 00:04:23,522 Speaker 3: learned it from this that they're not from Harlem. 63 00:04:23,562 --> 00:04:25,682 Speaker 8: This is the episode I will say that I feel 64 00:04:25,722 --> 00:04:29,962 Speaker 8: like I drop this lower to random people I meet. 65 00:04:30,042 --> 00:04:32,722 Speaker 8: I'm like, you'll never guess, did you know? And then 66 00:04:32,722 --> 00:04:35,242 Speaker 8: I get into this whole episode. This is so much fun. 67 00:04:35,842 --> 00:04:37,522 Speaker 7: Also, this is a fun one for me because I 68 00:04:37,522 --> 00:04:40,122 Speaker 7: always think of Harlem Globetrotters from their time on Scooby Doo. 69 00:04:40,242 --> 00:04:43,642 Speaker 7: So I was imagining the cartoon Harlem Globetrotters the whole time. 70 00:04:44,842 --> 00:04:46,522 Speaker 3: They are actually human cartoons. 71 00:04:46,722 --> 00:04:47,522 Speaker 7: Yeah, seriously. 72 00:04:50,362 --> 00:04:55,122 Speaker 3: The Harlem Globetrotters were organized by founder Abe Sapristine and 73 00:04:55,282 --> 00:04:59,962 Speaker 3: played their first full season in nineteen twenty nine. They 74 00:05:00,002 --> 00:05:05,282 Speaker 3: didn't actually originate in Harlem, but in Chicago. When Sapristine 75 00:05:05,482 --> 00:05:08,402 Speaker 3: changed the name, they did it as a hint to 76 00:05:08,522 --> 00:05:12,762 Speaker 3: promoters or arenas that the team was comprised solely of 77 00:05:12,882 --> 00:05:17,962 Speaker 3: black athletes, the Conceit soon became a touring basketball troop 78 00:05:18,402 --> 00:05:22,202 Speaker 3: that was one part athletic endeavor and one part stage show. 79 00:05:22,842 --> 00:05:26,842 Speaker 3: After building a good lead against inferior teams, there was 80 00:05:26,922 --> 00:05:31,362 Speaker 3: opportunity for showmanship. The trotters might stuff the ball under 81 00:05:31,402 --> 00:05:34,762 Speaker 3: their jerseys. They might bounce it off an opponent's head, 82 00:05:35,122 --> 00:05:38,882 Speaker 3: or dribble while lying down. They might go full junior 83 00:05:38,962 --> 00:05:42,562 Speaker 3: high school and dropkick the ball into the net. But 84 00:05:42,642 --> 00:05:45,802 Speaker 3: if that's all you know about the Globe Trotters, you've 85 00:05:45,842 --> 00:05:47,362 Speaker 3: only scratched the surface. 86 00:05:48,842 --> 00:05:50,882 Speaker 9: One of the things I didn't note was that in 87 00:05:50,922 --> 00:05:55,242 Speaker 9: the late nineteen forties they were unquestionably the best basketball 88 00:05:55,282 --> 00:05:58,842 Speaker 9: team in the world. They regularly beat white basketball teams, 89 00:05:58,842 --> 00:06:02,762 Speaker 9: including their most famous victories against the best team in 90 00:06:02,802 --> 00:06:05,362 Speaker 9: the NBA, the Minneapolis Lakers. 91 00:06:05,682 --> 00:06:09,362 Speaker 3: That's Ben Green, then, is something of an expert in 92 00:06:09,442 --> 00:06:10,682 Speaker 3: Globe Trotter's lore. 93 00:06:11,122 --> 00:06:12,682 Speaker 2: He's the author of the two. 94 00:06:12,602 --> 00:06:15,922 Speaker 3: Thousand and six book Spinning the Globe, and before he 95 00:06:16,042 --> 00:06:19,842 Speaker 3: started the book, he really had no idea how influential, 96 00:06:20,042 --> 00:06:23,082 Speaker 3: how good the Globetrotters really were. 97 00:06:24,202 --> 00:06:27,682 Speaker 9: I believe that that had a direct connection to the 98 00:06:27,722 --> 00:06:30,522 Speaker 9: integration of the NBA. I mean, the Globe Trotters beat 99 00:06:30,922 --> 00:06:33,522 Speaker 9: the Lakers in forty eight and forty nine, and the 100 00:06:33,642 --> 00:06:37,442 Speaker 9: very next season the NBA integrated for the first time, 101 00:06:37,562 --> 00:06:41,442 Speaker 9: and the first black player to sign an NBA contract 102 00:06:41,722 --> 00:06:44,882 Speaker 9: was Sweetwater Clifton, the star center of the Globe Trotters. 103 00:06:45,922 --> 00:06:49,842 Speaker 3: That's right. Despite the tricks, the Trotters were up for 104 00:06:50,122 --> 00:06:55,202 Speaker 3: sirious basketball. They played so called serious teams like the Lakers, 105 00:06:55,682 --> 00:07:01,442 Speaker 3: and they beat them. Legitimately, they'd play college teams, local teams, anyone. 106 00:07:01,922 --> 00:07:05,922 Speaker 3: They toured internationally and helped bring the game of basketball 107 00:07:05,962 --> 00:07:09,962 Speaker 3: to new country, some of which needed to have basketballs 108 00:07:10,362 --> 00:07:14,842 Speaker 3: or even the court itself shipped over. They even managed 109 00:07:15,002 --> 00:07:19,282 Speaker 3: to land Wilt Chamberlain, the legendary NBA player before he 110 00:07:19,362 --> 00:07:24,082 Speaker 3: went to that league. They were also wildly popular, so 111 00:07:24,242 --> 00:07:27,042 Speaker 3: much so that the NBA would ask the Trotters to 112 00:07:27,082 --> 00:07:31,242 Speaker 3: play doubleheader games. The NBA hoped the crowd that showed 113 00:07:31,322 --> 00:07:35,042 Speaker 3: up to watch the dazzling performance would stick around for 114 00:07:35,202 --> 00:07:39,362 Speaker 3: the league game. When the Trotters finally got on television, 115 00:07:39,642 --> 00:07:43,442 Speaker 3: they'd often draw a bigger audience than an NBA broadcast. 116 00:07:44,322 --> 00:07:48,682 Speaker 9: They were legitimately a great basketball team. Back in the day, 117 00:07:48,842 --> 00:07:52,082 Speaker 9: they had a monopoly on the best black ball players 118 00:07:52,522 --> 00:07:56,002 Speaker 9: in the country. But by the nineteen fifties, when they 119 00:07:56,042 --> 00:07:59,762 Speaker 9: started going overseas, I would argue that they were the 120 00:07:59,802 --> 00:08:05,322 Speaker 9: most popular and successful sports franchise in the world. I 121 00:08:05,362 --> 00:08:08,562 Speaker 9: mean they were traveling all over the world. They were 122 00:08:08,602 --> 00:08:12,842 Speaker 9: going to Latin America to Europe. To set you, five 123 00:08:12,922 --> 00:08:16,762 Speaker 9: thousand people would show up in a rainstorm in Paris 124 00:08:17,042 --> 00:08:20,762 Speaker 9: to watch them practice, they would fill stadiums all over 125 00:08:20,802 --> 00:08:21,282 Speaker 9: the world. 126 00:08:22,842 --> 00:08:26,442 Speaker 3: All that travel was one reason why the Trotters eventually 127 00:08:26,602 --> 00:08:31,162 Speaker 3: left competitive basketball largely behind them to focus more on 128 00:08:31,282 --> 00:08:35,362 Speaker 3: the antics. In addition to shipping balls, they needed to 129 00:08:35,482 --> 00:08:39,922 Speaker 3: ship opponents. Basketball was so new to some countries that 130 00:08:39,962 --> 00:08:43,842 Speaker 3: they simply couldn't provide any competitive players. 131 00:08:44,082 --> 00:08:46,562 Speaker 6: So the games were not faked at all. 132 00:08:46,762 --> 00:08:50,162 Speaker 9: But what happened was when they started going overseas, there 133 00:08:50,162 --> 00:08:52,682 Speaker 9: weren't any basketball teams that a lot of the countries 134 00:08:52,682 --> 00:08:53,402 Speaker 9: they were going to. 135 00:08:53,482 --> 00:08:55,722 Speaker 6: I mean, the Globe Trinders introduced. 136 00:08:55,162 --> 00:08:57,722 Speaker 9: Basketball all over the world, and so they had to 137 00:08:57,762 --> 00:09:00,602 Speaker 9: take a team with them, and that's when they started 138 00:09:01,082 --> 00:09:03,562 Speaker 9: developing basically these stooge teams. 139 00:09:04,122 --> 00:09:07,402 Speaker 3: That shift also meant creating stars out of the guys 140 00:09:07,402 --> 00:09:11,522 Speaker 3: who could entertain as well as they played. Guys like 141 00:09:11,682 --> 00:09:15,882 Speaker 3: Goose Tatum, who was considered the standout of early Globetrotters, 142 00:09:16,282 --> 00:09:21,442 Speaker 3: was a born showman. Come the nineteen sixties, Meadow Lark Lemon, 143 00:09:21,722 --> 00:09:24,642 Speaker 3: the star of the team who was once benched when 144 00:09:24,802 --> 00:09:29,322 Speaker 3: Sirius basketball was needed, was now dominating the court. So 145 00:09:29,562 --> 00:09:33,122 Speaker 3: was Frederick curly Neil, another standout. 146 00:09:33,442 --> 00:09:35,882 Speaker 9: He was being mom and one of the retired Globe 147 00:09:35,882 --> 00:09:39,762 Speaker 9: Trotters said that back in the seventies, in his heyday, 148 00:09:40,002 --> 00:09:43,802 Speaker 9: he said that he believed that Curly Neil and Muhammad 149 00:09:43,842 --> 00:09:47,922 Speaker 9: Ali were the two most recognizable sports figures in the world. 150 00:09:48,202 --> 00:09:51,202 Speaker 9: Curly because of his bald head and because he went 151 00:09:51,282 --> 00:09:53,482 Speaker 9: all over the world and was on TV with the. 152 00:09:53,402 --> 00:09:57,962 Speaker 3: Globe Shoors, and they also had a perpetual rival, the 153 00:09:58,122 --> 00:10:03,162 Speaker 3: Washington Generals. The Generals were founded in the early nineteen 154 00:10:03,242 --> 00:10:08,122 Speaker 3: fifties by Lewis Klotz, who was nicknamed Red. Klotz was 155 00:10:08,162 --> 00:10:12,202 Speaker 3: a good player, though short by basketball standards at about 156 00:10:12,242 --> 00:10:15,242 Speaker 3: five feet seven inches. He was a member of the 157 00:10:15,322 --> 00:10:18,682 Speaker 3: Baltimore Bullets in nineteen forty eight when they won the 158 00:10:18,722 --> 00:10:23,562 Speaker 3: Basketball Association of America Championship, a precursor to the NBA. 159 00:10:24,482 --> 00:10:27,482 Speaker 3: He had played for a few different teams who went 160 00:10:27,562 --> 00:10:31,122 Speaker 3: up against the Globe Shrotters before forming his own troupe, 161 00:10:31,442 --> 00:10:35,962 Speaker 3: which he named after General Dwight D. Eisenhower. The Generals 162 00:10:36,002 --> 00:10:41,482 Speaker 3: were mainly white, mostly talented, and some were even NBA refugees. 163 00:10:42,282 --> 00:10:46,802 Speaker 3: Klotz pulled triple duty. He was team owner, team coach, 164 00:10:47,202 --> 00:10:51,242 Speaker 3: and player who could nail long range shots, shooting two 165 00:10:51,322 --> 00:10:54,602 Speaker 3: handed and he was able to keep games with the 166 00:10:54,642 --> 00:11:00,082 Speaker 3: Trotters competitive, but his main obligation, the team's main obligation, 167 00:11:00,762 --> 00:11:04,922 Speaker 3: was being the straight man to their famous rivals. If 168 00:11:05,082 --> 00:11:09,002 Speaker 3: both teams are clowning around, it's too much. You need 169 00:11:09,042 --> 00:11:12,322 Speaker 3: someone to bounce off of literally in the case of 170 00:11:12,402 --> 00:11:16,802 Speaker 3: dribbling off someone's head. So it was understood that while 171 00:11:16,842 --> 00:11:20,242 Speaker 3: the Generals could play a good game of basketball, they'd 172 00:11:20,362 --> 00:11:23,322 Speaker 3: back off a bit when the Globe Trotters had possession, 173 00:11:23,922 --> 00:11:27,602 Speaker 3: enough time for the Trotters to start executing what they 174 00:11:27,602 --> 00:11:33,602 Speaker 3: were best known for, the comic routines, which were called rems. 175 00:11:34,522 --> 00:11:36,042 Speaker 6: There were all kinds of gags. 176 00:11:36,082 --> 00:11:38,882 Speaker 9: The most famous one was the confetti in a bucket, 177 00:11:38,962 --> 00:11:41,202 Speaker 9: where they made it look like they were going to 178 00:11:41,202 --> 00:11:43,362 Speaker 9: throw a bucket of water on somebody in the crowd, 179 00:11:43,402 --> 00:11:45,802 Speaker 9: and it was full of confetti. But there was the 180 00:11:45,882 --> 00:11:48,242 Speaker 9: ball on a string on a rubber pan they would 181 00:11:48,482 --> 00:11:51,042 Speaker 9: come back when you shot a free throw, and just 182 00:11:51,082 --> 00:11:54,842 Speaker 9: the wobbly balls. And they'd played going to this baseball 183 00:11:54,882 --> 00:11:57,842 Speaker 9: thing where they were actually acting like they were playing baseball. 184 00:11:57,922 --> 00:12:03,282 Speaker 9: So in between playing regular good basketball, then there was 185 00:12:03,322 --> 00:12:06,202 Speaker 9: all this funny stuff what they called the rims. 186 00:12:06,442 --> 00:12:08,602 Speaker 6: The gag that the Globe Trotters did. 187 00:12:08,922 --> 00:12:12,882 Speaker 3: Think of it this way. If the Globetrotter games were musicals, 188 00:12:13,282 --> 00:12:17,522 Speaker 3: Reams would be the big musical numbers, all the crazy 189 00:12:17,562 --> 00:12:20,522 Speaker 3: ball handling, all the goofing off, and they didn't have 190 00:12:20,562 --> 00:12:25,002 Speaker 3: to worry about running up against real defense. The Generals 191 00:12:25,042 --> 00:12:28,682 Speaker 3: were also prohibited from pass interference when the ball was 192 00:12:28,762 --> 00:12:33,402 Speaker 3: tossed to meadow lark lemon. Together, these restrictions made it 193 00:12:33,562 --> 00:12:37,082 Speaker 3: all but impossible for the Generals to mount a victory. 194 00:12:37,922 --> 00:12:40,682 Speaker 9: So they would play in you know, every quarter. There'd 195 00:12:40,722 --> 00:12:42,882 Speaker 9: be the first four or five minutes they would just 196 00:12:42,882 --> 00:12:46,802 Speaker 9: play basketball, and you know, the Generals would play as 197 00:12:46,802 --> 00:12:49,722 Speaker 9: hard as they could as well, but there was like 198 00:12:49,762 --> 00:12:52,082 Speaker 9: a signal they knew at a certain point in every 199 00:12:52,162 --> 00:12:55,322 Speaker 9: quarter that they would go into this funny stuff, you know, 200 00:12:55,882 --> 00:12:59,402 Speaker 9: and that was what they became most famous for them. 201 00:13:00,242 --> 00:13:04,482 Speaker 3: In twenty twenty, a former General named Mickey Greenberg said 202 00:13:04,482 --> 00:13:07,242 Speaker 3: that the games could be competitive for a bit before 203 00:13:07,282 --> 00:13:11,202 Speaker 3: the Trotters would inevitably take the victory. He could recall 204 00:13:11,362 --> 00:13:15,082 Speaker 3: only one time, at a show in Flint, Michigan, in 205 00:13:15,122 --> 00:13:18,682 Speaker 3: the late nineteen sixties, that the owner of the Trotters 206 00:13:18,842 --> 00:13:21,842 Speaker 3: told the Generals that they could really try to win. 207 00:13:22,682 --> 00:13:26,162 Speaker 3: Mickey said that switching from cooperating with the Trotters to 208 00:13:26,402 --> 00:13:30,682 Speaker 3: really trying to beat them was hard. The Generals lost 209 00:13:30,882 --> 00:13:35,522 Speaker 3: that night, like most every night they played and lost 210 00:13:35,682 --> 00:13:39,602 Speaker 3: to the Trotters everywhere from Madison Square Garden to a 211 00:13:39,722 --> 00:13:44,322 Speaker 3: leper colony in the Philippines. While Klotz himself said he 212 00:13:44,402 --> 00:13:47,282 Speaker 3: never went out to lose any games or was ever 213 00:13:47,362 --> 00:13:51,842 Speaker 3: told to lose a game, the loss is piled up, end, up, 214 00:13:52,202 --> 00:13:56,282 Speaker 3: and up. You'll recall that by the time nineteen seventy 215 00:13:56,322 --> 00:14:00,402 Speaker 3: one rolled around, the Trotters had won two thousand, four 216 00:14:00,482 --> 00:14:04,762 Speaker 3: hundred and ninety five games in a row. Their last 217 00:14:04,962 --> 00:14:09,082 Speaker 3: recognized loss had come back in nineteen sixty two against 218 00:14:09,082 --> 00:14:13,762 Speaker 3: a college team. There were isolated reports of the Generals 219 00:14:13,802 --> 00:14:17,722 Speaker 3: winning a game here or there very early on, including 220 00:14:17,762 --> 00:14:21,962 Speaker 3: an incident where the scoreboard malfunctioned in nineteen fifty seven, 221 00:14:22,602 --> 00:14:26,602 Speaker 3: but no one could really confirm it. Because the Trotters 222 00:14:26,682 --> 00:14:29,442 Speaker 3: were more of a show than a sports team, no 223 00:14:29,522 --> 00:14:33,682 Speaker 3: one really bothered to keep a running tally or box score, 224 00:14:34,562 --> 00:14:38,482 Speaker 3: and come the nineteen sixties, it didn't really matter. The 225 00:14:38,562 --> 00:14:42,402 Speaker 3: Generals were Charlie Brown trying to kick a football. The 226 00:14:42,442 --> 00:14:45,882 Speaker 3: Globe Trotters were a team of Lucy's pulling it away 227 00:14:46,042 --> 00:14:47,322 Speaker 3: at the last second. 228 00:14:48,122 --> 00:14:54,162 Speaker 9: They built this long term business relationship that became really 229 00:14:54,762 --> 00:14:55,642 Speaker 9: at that point. 230 00:14:55,722 --> 00:14:56,802 Speaker 6: From that point. 231 00:14:56,522 --> 00:15:02,242 Speaker 9: On, neither the Trotters nor the Generals were playing anybody else. 232 00:15:02,322 --> 00:15:05,682 Speaker 9: They just played each other, and the Globe Trotters always 233 00:15:05,722 --> 00:15:08,242 Speaker 9: won and the General's always lost. 234 00:15:08,282 --> 00:15:10,442 Speaker 6: That was just kind of the nature of the world 235 00:15:10,842 --> 00:15:11,802 Speaker 6: at that point. 236 00:15:12,242 --> 00:15:16,922 Speaker 3: Which brings us to Martin, Tennessee, on January fifth, nineteen 237 00:15:17,202 --> 00:15:20,602 Speaker 3: seventy one, the date when the natural order. 238 00:15:20,402 --> 00:15:22,682 Speaker 2: Of things got turned upside down. 239 00:15:28,082 --> 00:15:31,562 Speaker 3: As a touring show, the Globetrotters were more than willing 240 00:15:31,642 --> 00:15:35,282 Speaker 3: to visit smaller towns and venues, which is how the 241 00:15:35,322 --> 00:15:38,882 Speaker 3: team wound up at the University of Tennessee at Martin, 242 00:15:39,402 --> 00:15:44,122 Speaker 3: a somewhat rural campus in the modestly sized town of Martin. 243 00:15:44,762 --> 00:15:49,242 Speaker 3: Martin is currently home to the Tennessee Soybean Festival. At 244 00:15:49,242 --> 00:15:52,602 Speaker 3: the time, there were roughly five thousand students. 245 00:15:53,042 --> 00:15:57,722 Speaker 10: It was basically do what you want to do. I mean, 246 00:15:57,762 --> 00:16:01,242 Speaker 10: we had some recreation things right off of campus. 247 00:16:01,242 --> 00:16:01,442 Speaker 5: There. 248 00:16:01,482 --> 00:16:04,162 Speaker 1: We had a couple of areas where they had. 249 00:16:04,162 --> 00:16:08,362 Speaker 10: Some many machines and Pool Taie Wolves had a movie 250 00:16:08,442 --> 00:16:13,162 Speaker 10: theater and Martin, which was about three blocks from the campus. 251 00:16:13,522 --> 00:16:14,802 Speaker 2: That's Jerry Carpenter. 252 00:16:15,322 --> 00:16:19,002 Speaker 3: Jerry was a UTM student who graduated back in nineteen 253 00:16:19,082 --> 00:16:22,842 Speaker 3: sixty six. Growing up on a rural farm, he was 254 00:16:22,882 --> 00:16:26,482 Speaker 3: the first in his family to attend college. Later, he 255 00:16:26,602 --> 00:16:29,242 Speaker 3: began working there as a coach for the golf team 256 00:16:29,642 --> 00:16:33,762 Speaker 3: and in other sports programs. Like a lot of Martin residents, 257 00:16:34,002 --> 00:16:36,802 Speaker 3: he was intrigued by the Trotters coming to town. 258 00:16:37,482 --> 00:16:41,602 Speaker 10: I had watched them on TV that you know, was extensive. 259 00:16:41,842 --> 00:16:44,602 Speaker 10: I got married in sixty six and started to work 260 00:16:44,602 --> 00:16:47,482 Speaker 10: here in sixty eight. So whenever they came, you know, 261 00:16:47,562 --> 00:16:49,722 Speaker 10: I said, woll it's bally something to go see. 262 00:16:49,842 --> 00:16:51,682 Speaker 1: So I got tickets for me. 263 00:16:51,842 --> 00:16:55,162 Speaker 10: And I had a little brother that was seventeen years 264 00:16:55,242 --> 00:16:57,362 Speaker 10: younger than me, and he was about nine or ten 265 00:16:57,442 --> 00:16:58,522 Speaker 10: years old at that time. 266 00:16:59,282 --> 00:17:02,722 Speaker 3: Martin isn't exactly a hotbed of entertainment. 267 00:17:03,242 --> 00:17:03,842 Speaker 2: At the time. 268 00:17:04,042 --> 00:17:08,522 Speaker 3: It was a dry town where purchasing alcohol wasn't legal. 269 00:17:09,162 --> 00:17:10,122 Speaker 3: Well kind of. 270 00:17:10,762 --> 00:17:11,922 Speaker 1: It's still a dry county. 271 00:17:11,962 --> 00:17:15,882 Speaker 10: We don't have package liquor stores in Wiky County. I 272 00:17:15,922 --> 00:17:19,002 Speaker 10: mean you still had your local night spots and all 273 00:17:19,082 --> 00:17:21,362 Speaker 10: that you know where you could get that. But now 274 00:17:21,762 --> 00:17:24,562 Speaker 10: Folk in Kentucky was only about eight or nine miles away, 275 00:17:24,602 --> 00:17:27,722 Speaker 10: and they had three or four package stores over there. 276 00:17:29,402 --> 00:17:33,162 Speaker 3: The Globe Trotters touched down on January fifth, which fell 277 00:17:33,242 --> 00:17:37,282 Speaker 3: on a Tuesday. Thanks to their popularity, they managed to 278 00:17:37,362 --> 00:17:41,442 Speaker 3: attract thousands of fans to the arena, including Jerry and 279 00:17:41,522 --> 00:17:42,322 Speaker 3: his younger brother. 280 00:17:42,922 --> 00:17:45,122 Speaker 10: It was just a small arena, but all of sat 281 00:17:45,202 --> 00:17:47,842 Speaker 10: were just right on the floor. I mean, you were 282 00:17:47,962 --> 00:17:50,642 Speaker 10: just right there. It was a packed crowd. 283 00:17:51,282 --> 00:17:54,162 Speaker 3: The fans stared at the shiny floor of the court 284 00:17:54,322 --> 00:17:56,802 Speaker 3: as the Globe Trotters came in to the sounds of 285 00:17:56,922 --> 00:18:00,122 Speaker 3: Sweet Georgia Brown, their theme song and anthem. 286 00:18:00,562 --> 00:18:02,002 Speaker 2: They were greeted with cheers. 287 00:18:02,722 --> 00:18:07,522 Speaker 3: The generals probably were not, we need to say probably because, 288 00:18:07,602 --> 00:18:11,642 Speaker 3: as we've mentioned, Sports Illustrated didn't cover the hundreds of 289 00:18:11,642 --> 00:18:15,922 Speaker 3: Globetrotter's games played each year, the local press didn't cover it, 290 00:18:16,042 --> 00:18:19,042 Speaker 3: and the student press was supposed to be on vacation 291 00:18:19,202 --> 00:18:22,842 Speaker 3: that week on account of the holiday. So here's what 292 00:18:22,922 --> 00:18:27,242 Speaker 3: we know based on recollections, including Jerry's. But bear in 293 00:18:27,322 --> 00:18:30,922 Speaker 3: mind that accounts of this game have usually come well 294 00:18:30,962 --> 00:18:34,962 Speaker 3: after the fact. Relying on memory, and memory, as we 295 00:18:35,042 --> 00:18:36,562 Speaker 3: all know, is fallible. 296 00:18:37,082 --> 00:18:38,922 Speaker 2: This was fifty four years ago. 297 00:18:39,722 --> 00:18:43,882 Speaker 10: What amazed me was the shots that they took and 298 00:18:43,922 --> 00:18:46,722 Speaker 10: they hid it. I mean, I just hadn't seen any 299 00:18:46,722 --> 00:18:49,642 Speaker 10: of that, even in the college games that I walked. 300 00:18:49,882 --> 00:18:51,722 Speaker 1: That was what was amazing everybody. 301 00:18:51,962 --> 00:18:54,482 Speaker 10: And then of course it was so entertaining with everything 302 00:18:54,522 --> 00:18:57,682 Speaker 10: that they did and talking and carrying on and everything. 303 00:18:59,242 --> 00:19:02,842 Speaker 3: Still, there are some things most accounts agree on. For 304 00:19:02,922 --> 00:19:07,082 Speaker 3: one thing, something had been building earlier that season and 305 00:19:07,242 --> 00:19:11,522 Speaker 3: the Generals had taken the Trotters into overtime another game, 306 00:19:11,842 --> 00:19:15,922 Speaker 3: the Trotters won only via a buzzer beater. Tonight, the 307 00:19:15,962 --> 00:19:19,722 Speaker 3: Globe Trotters were up to their usual tricks. They dribbled 308 00:19:19,802 --> 00:19:24,562 Speaker 3: circles around the hapless Generals, antagonized the referee, and played 309 00:19:24,562 --> 00:19:28,242 Speaker 3: to the crowd and just for kicks. We asked our 310 00:19:28,322 --> 00:19:33,642 Speaker 3: basketball reporter friend, Izzie Gutierrez of ESPN to recreate the broadcast. 311 00:19:35,002 --> 00:19:37,842 Speaker 11: The Globe Trotters are up to their usual antics, interacting 312 00:19:37,882 --> 00:19:40,602 Speaker 11: with the crowd and what appears to be a total 313 00:19:40,682 --> 00:19:44,882 Speaker 11: disregard for their opponents. Here comes metal Lark Lemon hitting 314 00:19:44,922 --> 00:19:48,362 Speaker 11: a shot from half court. The Generals are helpless to 315 00:19:48,402 --> 00:19:52,162 Speaker 11: do anything about it. This is truly the worst team 316 00:19:52,202 --> 00:19:53,002 Speaker 11: in all of sports. 317 00:19:53,802 --> 00:19:57,522 Speaker 3: Of course, the Globetrotters were often aided by the official 318 00:19:57,882 --> 00:20:01,522 Speaker 3: who traveled with the teams and held a clear pro 319 00:20:01,682 --> 00:20:03,042 Speaker 3: Globe Trotter bias. 320 00:20:03,802 --> 00:20:06,722 Speaker 10: I won't tell you once I stuck out in my mind, 321 00:20:07,642 --> 00:20:11,802 Speaker 10: especially as I went along later on in life and I. 322 00:20:11,722 --> 00:20:16,122 Speaker 1: Became a referee. A referee wasn't very good. You know. 323 00:20:16,202 --> 00:20:19,642 Speaker 10: He wasn't exactly straight up on all his call and everything. 324 00:20:20,322 --> 00:20:22,802 Speaker 10: As I got older and everything, I thought back on it. 325 00:20:23,202 --> 00:20:26,082 Speaker 10: He was part of the show, and of course whatever 326 00:20:26,122 --> 00:20:28,762 Speaker 10: he did was arc medalle Ark made it entertaining. 327 00:20:29,522 --> 00:20:32,642 Speaker 3: At halftime, the Globe Trotters were up by twenty to 328 00:20:32,642 --> 00:20:36,082 Speaker 3: twenty three points depending on the source, which was pretty 329 00:20:36,122 --> 00:20:39,842 Speaker 3: typical of how they fared against the Generals. It was 330 00:20:39,922 --> 00:20:43,882 Speaker 3: another route of beating a kind of torture. To be 331 00:20:44,042 --> 00:20:47,242 Speaker 3: a Generals fan, if there ever were such a thing, 332 00:20:47,842 --> 00:20:49,762 Speaker 3: was to make peace with disappointment. 333 00:20:50,522 --> 00:20:54,322 Speaker 10: I guess I's county naive about the Globe Trotters. I 334 00:20:54,402 --> 00:20:57,682 Speaker 10: knew that they always won. Of course, being a young guy, 335 00:20:58,162 --> 00:21:01,562 Speaker 10: didn't understand all that that time, But I later on 336 00:21:01,682 --> 00:21:04,042 Speaker 10: found out that more or less. The end of the 337 00:21:04,082 --> 00:21:07,082 Speaker 10: game has already been decided for ever throw the basketball 338 00:21:07,362 --> 00:21:08,362 Speaker 10: hard playing. 339 00:21:08,962 --> 00:21:13,482 Speaker 3: But starting in the third quarter, something began to shift. 340 00:21:14,402 --> 00:21:18,282 Speaker 11: Meadowlark Lemon is looking a little off tonight. That was 341 00:21:18,322 --> 00:21:21,362 Speaker 11: an easy layup, but it bounced off the rim. The 342 00:21:21,402 --> 00:21:24,762 Speaker 11: Generals have the ball, red cloths scores. 343 00:21:25,362 --> 00:21:28,282 Speaker 3: Meadow Lark, who could sink half court shots the way 344 00:21:28,322 --> 00:21:30,682 Speaker 3: normal people can get a lot of paper into a 345 00:21:30,722 --> 00:21:35,002 Speaker 3: trash can, couldn't touch the net. The Trotters were still 346 00:21:35,042 --> 00:21:37,722 Speaker 3: doing their thing, using the ball as a prop for 347 00:21:37,762 --> 00:21:42,482 Speaker 3: their comedy, but the Generals seemed bound and determined to 348 00:21:42,522 --> 00:21:46,442 Speaker 3: do what they could hardly ever manage, turn this into 349 00:21:46,482 --> 00:21:48,522 Speaker 3: an actual game of basketball. 350 00:21:49,202 --> 00:21:51,522 Speaker 11: It's the end of the third quarter and I can't 351 00:21:51,522 --> 00:21:54,482 Speaker 11: believe I'm saying this, but the Generals have closed the 352 00:21:54,482 --> 00:21:57,402 Speaker 11: gap against the Globetrotters. This is no longer a game 353 00:21:57,442 --> 00:22:01,322 Speaker 11: between professionals and junior varsity players, but an actual even match, 354 00:22:01,762 --> 00:22:03,922 Speaker 11: and it's happening right here in Martin, Tennessee. 355 00:22:04,282 --> 00:22:06,922 Speaker 3: The crowd had a sense of change in the air, 356 00:22:07,482 --> 00:22:11,282 Speaker 3: and probably a little bit of confusion. Weren't the Globe 357 00:22:11,282 --> 00:22:15,562 Speaker 3: Trotters too good to touch? Weren't the Generals just well 358 00:22:15,962 --> 00:22:20,242 Speaker 3: stooges in the fourth quarter. The Generals had an answer. 359 00:22:20,602 --> 00:22:24,002 Speaker 3: If it wasn't clear already, they didn't come to lose, 360 00:22:24,722 --> 00:22:25,642 Speaker 3: not tonight. 361 00:22:26,762 --> 00:22:29,442 Speaker 11: With just a few minutes left in this game, the 362 00:22:29,562 --> 00:22:31,682 Speaker 11: Generals have taken a twelve point lead. 363 00:22:33,082 --> 00:22:38,362 Speaker 3: Our highly fictitious announcer is correct. The Generals moved ahead 364 00:22:38,362 --> 00:22:41,962 Speaker 3: of the Trotters by twelve points late in the game, 365 00:22:42,482 --> 00:22:45,922 Speaker 3: not only erasing the comfortable lead the Trotter's built up, 366 00:22:46,242 --> 00:22:50,522 Speaker 3: but putting them way behind. And that could mean only 367 00:22:50,802 --> 00:22:51,642 Speaker 3: one thing. 368 00:22:52,882 --> 00:22:55,242 Speaker 11: If the Globe Trotters want to take this game, they're 369 00:22:55,242 --> 00:22:57,882 Speaker 11: going to have to limit the theatrics and focus on 370 00:22:57,962 --> 00:22:58,922 Speaker 11: playing basketball. 371 00:23:00,762 --> 00:23:01,762 Speaker 1: Metal lark Lemon. 372 00:23:01,642 --> 00:23:05,442 Speaker 3: Drives to the basket. That's good for two. And you 373 00:23:05,482 --> 00:23:06,042 Speaker 3: can tell. 374 00:23:05,882 --> 00:23:08,082 Speaker 11: He's feeling the pressure because he didn't stop to pull 375 00:23:08,162 --> 00:23:09,242 Speaker 11: down the referees pants. 376 00:23:10,082 --> 00:23:11,722 Speaker 2: As the seconds ticked down. 377 00:23:11,842 --> 00:23:15,442 Speaker 3: Whether they realized it or not, the crowd was watching 378 00:23:15,602 --> 00:23:21,562 Speaker 3: one of the most suspenseful Globetrotter's games ever. The Trotters surged, 379 00:23:21,922 --> 00:23:25,282 Speaker 3: closing that twelve point gap and taking a one point lead, 380 00:23:25,682 --> 00:23:28,922 Speaker 3: making the score ninety nine to ninety eight with just 381 00:23:29,202 --> 00:23:30,202 Speaker 3: seconds remaining. 382 00:23:31,082 --> 00:23:34,842 Speaker 11: The General's half possession if the clock winds down, they 383 00:23:34,842 --> 00:23:37,762 Speaker 11: have just one last chance to score and make history 384 00:23:37,842 --> 00:23:40,362 Speaker 11: for the losingest franchise in sports history. 385 00:23:41,202 --> 00:23:44,362 Speaker 3: During a timeout, Red who is by this point fifty 386 00:23:44,442 --> 00:23:48,322 Speaker 3: years old, demands the ball. Whether he wanted the glory 387 00:23:48,602 --> 00:23:52,002 Speaker 3: or just wanted to avoid a more expendable player getting 388 00:23:52,082 --> 00:23:57,002 Speaker 3: canned for making a shot, well, who knows. Clops evades 389 00:23:57,242 --> 00:24:03,362 Speaker 3: several Globetrotters pivots, and roughly twenty feet out from the basket, shoots. 390 00:24:05,242 --> 00:24:10,442 Speaker 11: And it's in the General lead one hundred to ninety nine. 391 00:24:10,522 --> 00:24:14,202 Speaker 3: The Generals knew there was just one opportunity to take 392 00:24:14,282 --> 00:24:17,762 Speaker 3: the lead. Red Klotz would later say he made the 393 00:24:17,802 --> 00:24:21,522 Speaker 3: shot because he was afraid another General's player might not 394 00:24:21,642 --> 00:24:25,762 Speaker 3: know what to do miss on purpose. No, that wasn't 395 00:24:25,842 --> 00:24:29,322 Speaker 3: what Red Klotz was about. He wanted to play a 396 00:24:29,442 --> 00:24:34,002 Speaker 3: sincere game, but he wasn't home free. The Globetrotters take over. 397 00:24:34,042 --> 00:24:36,802 Speaker 11: With three seconds left, Meadowlark Lemon eyes the basket and 398 00:24:36,802 --> 00:24:39,082 Speaker 11: takes his shot just as time is about to expire, 399 00:24:40,322 --> 00:24:41,642 Speaker 11: and it's no good. 400 00:24:41,762 --> 00:24:46,282 Speaker 3: The Globetrotter's fall. The Washington Generals have won. I don't 401 00:24:46,282 --> 00:24:50,162 Speaker 3: believe what I just saw after meadow Lark missed, the 402 00:24:50,202 --> 00:24:53,922 Speaker 3: ball went out of bounds, and possession went to the Generals, 403 00:24:54,242 --> 00:24:58,362 Speaker 3: who let the time run out. The scoreboard displayed the 404 00:24:58,402 --> 00:25:03,042 Speaker 3: most improbable score of all time. The Generals had won 405 00:25:03,722 --> 00:25:08,162 Speaker 3: one hundred to ninety nine. So what does Jerry remember. 406 00:25:09,202 --> 00:25:13,482 Speaker 10: I just remember that they took a shot, and the 407 00:25:13,602 --> 00:25:17,002 Speaker 10: globe Trotters had been clowning around as usual and everything, 408 00:25:17,042 --> 00:25:19,722 Speaker 10: and I think the Generals made a little run and 409 00:25:19,762 --> 00:25:23,762 Speaker 10: they made that last shot, and I thought, oh, they 410 00:25:23,802 --> 00:25:26,282 Speaker 10: got a score. And I don't remember who shot for 411 00:25:26,362 --> 00:25:30,242 Speaker 10: the Globetrotters on the last shot, but they didn't make it, 412 00:25:30,242 --> 00:25:30,882 Speaker 10: and the game. 413 00:25:30,802 --> 00:25:34,442 Speaker 1: Was over with. Everybody just said, okay, they lost. 414 00:25:35,162 --> 00:25:38,642 Speaker 3: The mood in the campus area was one of confusion. 415 00:25:39,282 --> 00:25:40,522 Speaker 2: The Generals did what? 416 00:25:41,562 --> 00:25:45,402 Speaker 3: But the expression on the faces of the Globetrotters was 417 00:25:45,482 --> 00:25:49,802 Speaker 3: all too real. They're a little shot and the Generals, well, 418 00:25:49,962 --> 00:25:53,202 Speaker 3: they're elited, but they're also not the heroes in the 419 00:25:53,242 --> 00:25:57,602 Speaker 3: eyes of fans. Some accounts, including those of players, mentioned 420 00:25:57,682 --> 00:26:01,922 Speaker 3: kids in the audience crying. Others mentioned the crowd booing 421 00:26:02,882 --> 00:26:07,762 Speaker 3: this happened. The Globetrotters fell to the Generals, but one 422 00:26:07,962 --> 00:26:19,202 Speaker 3: question remains how the fallout of the loss to the 423 00:26:19,282 --> 00:26:24,042 Speaker 3: Generals lingered over the next several weeks. One globe Trotter 424 00:26:24,162 --> 00:26:27,522 Speaker 3: recalled he thought the entire team was going to get fired. 425 00:26:28,162 --> 00:26:32,562 Speaker 3: As the story goes, George Gillette, then owner of the Globetrotters, 426 00:26:32,962 --> 00:26:37,082 Speaker 3: boarded a plane so he could personally chastise the players 427 00:26:37,122 --> 00:26:41,042 Speaker 3: for losing. This was more than a defeat, This was 428 00:26:41,162 --> 00:26:46,762 Speaker 3: jeopardizing a lucrative franchise. Fans came to see the Globetrotters 429 00:26:46,842 --> 00:26:51,682 Speaker 3: embarrass the Generals, not get embarrassed themselves. But the team 430 00:26:52,002 --> 00:26:55,642 Speaker 3: soon had an idea. They certainly could have buried the 431 00:26:55,762 --> 00:26:59,722 Speaker 3: loss entirely. Again, no one was really around to make 432 00:26:59,762 --> 00:27:03,562 Speaker 3: it a national story. The team could have simply opted 433 00:27:03,642 --> 00:27:08,482 Speaker 3: to ignore it and move on. Instead, they did the opposite. 434 00:27:08,962 --> 00:27:12,602 Speaker 3: In an interview with a journalist in Shreveport, Louisiana, just 435 00:27:12,722 --> 00:27:17,442 Speaker 3: a week later, the team's business manager, Chuck McKay, accepted 436 00:27:17,562 --> 00:27:21,482 Speaker 3: the loss quote they kind of surprised the Globetrotters when 437 00:27:21,482 --> 00:27:24,442 Speaker 3: a few of the former collegians scored in high figures. 438 00:27:24,602 --> 00:27:30,082 Speaker 3: McKay said, why acknowledge it for a good reason. Knowing 439 00:27:30,122 --> 00:27:34,962 Speaker 3: the Globetrotters could lose kept the games more interesting. It 440 00:27:35,042 --> 00:27:38,722 Speaker 3: was no longer a foregone conclusion that trotters would succeed 441 00:27:39,242 --> 00:27:43,282 Speaker 3: pay to see a game, and maybe, just maybe the 442 00:27:43,362 --> 00:27:47,682 Speaker 3: underdogs could claw and scratch their way to another upset. 443 00:27:48,522 --> 00:27:50,362 Speaker 2: But how did it happen in. 444 00:27:50,362 --> 00:27:55,602 Speaker 3: The first place. Globe Trotter's historians, players, and eyewitnesses have 445 00:27:55,762 --> 00:28:01,122 Speaker 3: offered differing accounts over the decades. Like a Globe Trotter's Raschiman, 446 00:28:01,642 --> 00:28:05,082 Speaker 3: everyone seems to have a different reason for how the 447 00:28:05,162 --> 00:28:08,842 Speaker 3: generals pulled off the upset of the century. 448 00:28:09,922 --> 00:28:12,162 Speaker 10: I thank you for something that just slipped up on 449 00:28:12,202 --> 00:28:15,042 Speaker 10: the end. And maybe it was a shot made it 450 00:28:15,082 --> 00:28:18,162 Speaker 10: wasn't supposed to be made, or somebody was supposed to 451 00:28:18,202 --> 00:28:20,962 Speaker 10: be guarding somebody and they didn't. You know, that's just 452 00:28:21,082 --> 00:28:22,362 Speaker 10: something that happened. 453 00:28:23,002 --> 00:28:25,602 Speaker 3: Of course, the best people to ask would be the 454 00:28:25,682 --> 00:28:30,562 Speaker 3: players themselves. Unfortunately, many from both teams have passed away 455 00:28:30,642 --> 00:28:34,362 Speaker 3: in the preceding decades. We reached out to the National 456 00:28:34,442 --> 00:28:39,602 Speaker 3: Basketball Retired Players Association, which counts the teams among their alumni, 457 00:28:40,082 --> 00:28:43,802 Speaker 3: but no one surfaced who had any recollection of the game, 458 00:28:44,722 --> 00:28:48,482 Speaker 3: but some did have their perspective on the game. Documented. 459 00:28:49,042 --> 00:28:53,442 Speaker 3: One story that keeps getting repeated is that somehow, somewhere 460 00:28:53,802 --> 00:28:58,002 Speaker 3: the teams got into a personal dispute. It comes from 461 00:28:58,162 --> 00:29:02,682 Speaker 3: Rory Keevil, a Washington General's player who spoke with journalist 462 00:29:02,842 --> 00:29:07,602 Speaker 3: Tom Condon of the Hartford Current in two thousand. Kievel 463 00:29:07,802 --> 00:29:11,242 Speaker 3: said the travel schedule had been long and that the 464 00:29:11,282 --> 00:29:15,162 Speaker 3: two teams were quote a little chapped at one another, 465 00:29:15,602 --> 00:29:20,682 Speaker 3: though he doesn't recall why. Remember, the Globetrotters were the stars. 466 00:29:21,282 --> 00:29:24,402 Speaker 3: The Generals made a fraction of what the Trotters got. 467 00:29:24,922 --> 00:29:29,882 Speaker 3: They had underdog energy. Maybe being paid less finally got 468 00:29:29,882 --> 00:29:34,002 Speaker 3: to them one night. Ben Green isn't sure about the 469 00:29:34,042 --> 00:29:38,362 Speaker 3: animosity between the teams, and some other elements of these 470 00:29:38,402 --> 00:29:43,722 Speaker 3: stories don't quite add up. One player remembers Globetrotter's owner 471 00:29:43,842 --> 00:29:47,642 Speaker 3: Abe Sapristein, threatening to fire the Generals in the locker 472 00:29:47,722 --> 00:29:52,562 Speaker 3: room afterward, but Abe Sapristein had died five years earlier. 473 00:29:53,442 --> 00:29:58,002 Speaker 3: Ben does believe there was animosity between the Globetrotters, well 474 00:29:58,282 --> 00:30:03,602 Speaker 3: one Globetrotter and everyone else. Ben believes meadow Lark Lemon 475 00:30:03,962 --> 00:30:07,322 Speaker 3: wasn't well liked by the rest of the Trotters, that 476 00:30:07,442 --> 00:30:10,642 Speaker 3: he took too much of his style from his predecessor, 477 00:30:10,802 --> 00:30:15,322 Speaker 3: goose Tatum and wasn't a very good straight basketball player. 478 00:30:15,922 --> 00:30:19,762 Speaker 3: He had an ego, a chiff on his shoulder. It 479 00:30:19,922 --> 00:30:23,362 Speaker 3: was in many ways the meadow Lark Show, and meadow 480 00:30:23,402 --> 00:30:27,322 Speaker 3: Lark liked it that way. And according to Ben, the 481 00:30:27,482 --> 00:30:31,082 Speaker 3: night in Martin was a night when meadow Lark wanted 482 00:30:31,122 --> 00:30:32,722 Speaker 3: to stick it to the generals. 483 00:30:33,522 --> 00:30:37,682 Speaker 9: The generals are gonna let the Glow Trotters win. And 484 00:30:37,722 --> 00:30:42,082 Speaker 9: then basically metal Arc showed his ass. This is kind 485 00:30:42,122 --> 00:30:44,802 Speaker 9: of the way we had Klass described it. Metal Arc 486 00:30:44,962 --> 00:30:47,922 Speaker 9: just said, Hey, we're going to really take it to 487 00:30:48,002 --> 00:30:51,602 Speaker 9: the generals. So he wanted to make a point and 488 00:30:51,842 --> 00:30:55,562 Speaker 9: read kind of said, okay, let's bring it on. So 489 00:30:55,642 --> 00:30:58,802 Speaker 9: he told his players, let's play to win, and that's 490 00:30:58,842 --> 00:31:02,042 Speaker 9: why it happened. It all happened because of Pedal Ark, 491 00:31:02,562 --> 00:31:07,522 Speaker 9: and at that point they started playing real basketball version. 492 00:31:07,722 --> 00:31:11,242 Speaker 3: Meadow Lark is throwing down the gauntlet. Let's drop the 493 00:31:11,242 --> 00:31:16,362 Speaker 3: theatrics and play for real. Maybe because, as roy Kievil said, 494 00:31:16,562 --> 00:31:20,442 Speaker 3: there was some personal beef and maybe he and the 495 00:31:20,482 --> 00:31:23,922 Speaker 3: rest of the Trotters weren't prepared for the Generals to 496 00:31:24,042 --> 00:31:29,042 Speaker 3: put up a fight, leading to their undoing. Others put 497 00:31:29,082 --> 00:31:32,442 Speaker 3: the blame for the loss on the absence of Curly Neil, 498 00:31:32,882 --> 00:31:37,482 Speaker 3: the Globe Trotter's other marquee player. But Neil's presence there 499 00:31:37,642 --> 00:31:41,802 Speaker 3: is a question mark. Neil himself told Ben Green he 500 00:31:42,002 --> 00:31:47,082 Speaker 3: wasn't playing. In other interviews he places himself there fairness 501 00:31:47,162 --> 00:31:50,002 Speaker 3: to Curly. When you play hundreds of games a year, 502 00:31:50,522 --> 00:31:54,082 Speaker 3: you probably don't know which town you were in. We 503 00:31:54,162 --> 00:31:58,282 Speaker 3: can also look to the memories of Red Klotz. Red, 504 00:31:58,562 --> 00:32:02,082 Speaker 3: like many of the players, had passed, but his account 505 00:32:02,122 --> 00:32:05,042 Speaker 3: of the game was documented in the book The Legend 506 00:32:05,122 --> 00:32:08,482 Speaker 3: of Red Klotz by author Tis him Kelly and in 507 00:32:08,522 --> 00:32:12,642 Speaker 3: an interview with Ben Green. In Red's telling, the Globe 508 00:32:12,682 --> 00:32:16,282 Speaker 3: Trotters were having an off night, looking as sluggish. A 509 00:32:16,362 --> 00:32:20,962 Speaker 3: General's player named Sam Sawyer was guarding meadow lark Lemon 510 00:32:21,122 --> 00:32:26,202 Speaker 3: exceptionally well, shutting down his rapid fire offense. The Generals 511 00:32:26,282 --> 00:32:31,962 Speaker 3: were motivated, grabbing rebound after rebound. The rim, according to Klotz, 512 00:32:32,402 --> 00:32:34,962 Speaker 3: was as big as a garbage candle lid. That night, 513 00:32:35,442 --> 00:32:39,082 Speaker 3: the Trotters couldn't get going, but the Generals couldn't miss 514 00:32:39,802 --> 00:32:43,842 Speaker 3: it was, Klotz remembered, as if they had just killed 515 00:32:44,002 --> 00:32:46,162 Speaker 3: Santa Claus, but no in. 516 00:32:46,202 --> 00:32:48,922 Speaker 9: Read, Red would want to take the last shot because 517 00:32:49,282 --> 00:32:51,762 Speaker 9: he knew he was good and he had a complete 518 00:32:51,762 --> 00:32:53,082 Speaker 9: confidence that he would hit it. 519 00:32:53,522 --> 00:32:55,922 Speaker 6: So he hits the shot. 520 00:32:55,962 --> 00:33:00,882 Speaker 9: The buzzer finally sounds, and the way he told the story, 521 00:33:00,922 --> 00:33:04,562 Speaker 9: there's just this dead silence, like the crowds is just 522 00:33:04,642 --> 00:33:05,642 Speaker 9: in disbelief. 523 00:33:06,042 --> 00:33:07,922 Speaker 6: They don't know what's happened. 524 00:33:07,962 --> 00:33:12,802 Speaker 9: Nobody knows what to do because there's no script for this. 525 00:33:13,082 --> 00:33:15,042 Speaker 6: That wait, the game is over. 526 00:33:15,162 --> 00:33:18,602 Speaker 9: In the globe, chatter's left and read was afraid there 527 00:33:18,682 --> 00:33:20,042 Speaker 9: might be a riot or something. 528 00:33:20,122 --> 00:33:23,602 Speaker 6: He' tell me kind of rushed his team off the court. 529 00:33:23,602 --> 00:33:24,882 Speaker 6: He said, let's get out of here. 530 00:33:25,042 --> 00:33:27,682 Speaker 9: Let's get back in the dress room, because he was 531 00:33:27,722 --> 00:33:29,602 Speaker 9: afraid of what might happen. 532 00:33:31,202 --> 00:33:34,882 Speaker 3: There's another source of information on the game. It comes 533 00:33:34,922 --> 00:33:39,002 Speaker 3: from a twenty eighteen story from the University of Tennessee 534 00:33:39,042 --> 00:33:42,442 Speaker 3: at Martin Campus News, which looked back at the game 535 00:33:42,562 --> 00:33:46,722 Speaker 3: in a retrospective and interviewed several people who were there, 536 00:33:47,242 --> 00:33:53,402 Speaker 3: both utm students and residents. The picture is interesting according 537 00:33:53,442 --> 00:33:57,522 Speaker 3: to married couple Dick and Barbara Hutcherson School alumni, who 538 00:33:57,562 --> 00:34:00,762 Speaker 3: went to the game with their young son. The Trotters 539 00:34:00,802 --> 00:34:05,362 Speaker 3: never took a big lead, the game remained competitive, and 540 00:34:05,522 --> 00:34:08,282 Speaker 3: the couple felt that well, it was all part of 541 00:34:08,322 --> 00:34:11,762 Speaker 3: the show. It was supposed to be suspenseful before the 542 00:34:11,762 --> 00:34:15,642 Speaker 3: Trotters pulled off the victory. And when Red Clots hit 543 00:34:15,842 --> 00:34:20,122 Speaker 3: that game winning shot, well, the Hutchersons felt that maybe 544 00:34:20,202 --> 00:34:24,802 Speaker 3: Red wasn't supposed to make that shot. Others in attendance 545 00:34:24,842 --> 00:34:28,842 Speaker 3: felt that way too. It was a mistake. The Trotters 546 00:34:28,842 --> 00:34:32,162 Speaker 3: were just goofing off a little too much. And the 547 00:34:32,202 --> 00:34:35,362 Speaker 3: shot that Lemon took that could have sensed a victory, 548 00:34:35,962 --> 00:34:39,762 Speaker 3: he took a half court hook shot, hard for even 549 00:34:39,842 --> 00:34:43,682 Speaker 3: a Globe Trotter to nail. Now, all of these accounts 550 00:34:43,762 --> 00:34:48,002 Speaker 3: have one thing in common. They're trying to recall details 551 00:34:48,042 --> 00:34:52,002 Speaker 3: of a game that's way in the rear view. To 552 00:34:52,082 --> 00:34:55,282 Speaker 3: find out what really happened that night, you'd need a 553 00:34:55,322 --> 00:34:59,402 Speaker 3: time machine. You'd need someone who was jotting down whatever 554 00:34:59,482 --> 00:35:02,202 Speaker 3: details they could as soon as the game was over. 555 00:35:02,882 --> 00:35:04,082 Speaker 2: But, like we keep. 556 00:35:03,922 --> 00:35:08,882 Speaker 3: Saying, covering Globe Trotters wasn't really part of anyone's sports beat. 557 00:35:09,602 --> 00:35:12,842 Speaker 3: But then we got an interesting email from the good 558 00:35:12,922 --> 00:35:17,322 Speaker 3: people at UTM, the people who helped connect us with 559 00:35:17,522 --> 00:35:22,242 Speaker 3: Jerry Carpenter. Their public relations person had dug up something 560 00:35:22,762 --> 00:35:26,722 Speaker 3: no one had seen in over fifty years, and it 561 00:35:27,002 --> 00:35:32,922 Speaker 3: kind of blew our minds. The Globetrotters definitely lost that night, 562 00:35:33,962 --> 00:35:43,282 Speaker 3: but they didn't play the Washington Generals. At the time 563 00:35:43,362 --> 00:35:47,602 Speaker 3: the Globe Trotters visited the UTM Arena in January nineteen 564 00:35:47,682 --> 00:35:51,722 Speaker 3: seventy one, Aaron Tatum was a freshman. He was also 565 00:35:51,762 --> 00:35:54,682 Speaker 3: writing for The Valette, the school's newspaper. 566 00:35:55,162 --> 00:35:58,162 Speaker 5: I was on the campus newspaper the first year. Within 567 00:35:58,642 --> 00:36:03,402 Speaker 5: a couple of months I was freshman, signed the newly 568 00:36:03,482 --> 00:36:07,522 Speaker 5: created position of Fine arts editor and say that I 569 00:36:07,602 --> 00:36:10,322 Speaker 5: knew a lot about fine arts, but as it turned out, 570 00:36:10,442 --> 00:36:13,042 Speaker 5: they sort of immersed myself went to New York and 571 00:36:13,522 --> 00:36:15,962 Speaker 5: saw all your museums up there for about a week 572 00:36:16,042 --> 00:36:19,762 Speaker 5: or two around Christmas to get myself a bit educated. 573 00:36:20,322 --> 00:36:24,722 Speaker 3: That to Aaron, under normal circumstances, Aaron wouldn't be the 574 00:36:24,762 --> 00:36:28,482 Speaker 3: guy to dispatch to any sporting event, let alone the 575 00:36:28,522 --> 00:36:32,202 Speaker 3: Globe Trotters. But on this night, the Valette was down 576 00:36:32,442 --> 00:36:33,762 Speaker 3: one sports reporter. 577 00:36:34,562 --> 00:36:38,682 Speaker 5: Just to bring it into the focus, here was really 578 00:36:38,722 --> 00:36:41,162 Speaker 5: something that the sports editor came to me at the 579 00:36:41,242 --> 00:36:47,522 Speaker 5: last minute. He says, our sports reporter is sick or 580 00:36:47,562 --> 00:36:51,482 Speaker 5: having to leave campus, something was going on with his family. 581 00:36:51,522 --> 00:36:52,282 Speaker 1: I can't remember. 582 00:36:52,922 --> 00:36:55,122 Speaker 5: Came to me about an hour or two before the game, 583 00:36:55,682 --> 00:36:58,762 Speaker 5: and I'd already seen the Globe Trotters, I guess three 584 00:36:58,882 --> 00:37:02,042 Speaker 5: or four years before, and sort of was tempted to 585 00:37:02,122 --> 00:37:04,362 Speaker 5: go ahead and pay for a ticket, but I'm pretty 586 00:37:04,362 --> 00:37:09,402 Speaker 5: conservative and pretty cheap. First question Dennis was, well, that 587 00:37:09,442 --> 00:37:11,042 Speaker 5: means I'm going to get in free. 588 00:37:11,362 --> 00:37:15,322 Speaker 3: The answer was yes. Aaron played a little basketball when 589 00:37:15,362 --> 00:37:18,122 Speaker 3: he was younger, and had been a fan of the 590 00:37:18,122 --> 00:37:21,762 Speaker 3: Philadelphia seventy six ers. He knew enough about the game 591 00:37:21,882 --> 00:37:26,082 Speaker 3: to get by. What's remarkable about his attendance is that, 592 00:37:26,602 --> 00:37:31,202 Speaker 3: unlike virtually everyone else watching, he was really paying attention 593 00:37:31,962 --> 00:37:35,642 Speaker 3: and had to write it all down afterward, so, some 594 00:37:35,962 --> 00:37:39,842 Speaker 3: fifty years on, even though he doesn't remember a whole 595 00:37:39,882 --> 00:37:43,762 Speaker 3: lot about it now, the other Aaron, the young reporter. 596 00:37:43,922 --> 00:37:49,122 Speaker 3: Aaron scribbled things down right away. It was published just 597 00:37:49,402 --> 00:37:54,282 Speaker 3: days later in the January thirteenth, nineteen seventy one edition 598 00:37:54,402 --> 00:37:58,442 Speaker 3: of The Vallette under the headline Trotter's Net more humor 599 00:37:58,522 --> 00:38:02,282 Speaker 3: than points, and as far as we know, it's the 600 00:38:02,282 --> 00:38:05,962 Speaker 3: most accurate account of the game ever recorded. 601 00:38:06,002 --> 00:38:08,642 Speaker 5: And I've I think I featured that in what I 602 00:38:08,682 --> 00:38:11,482 Speaker 5: turned in to the paper, But I do recall we 603 00:38:11,562 --> 00:38:15,882 Speaker 5: had an advisor for the paper who really believed in 604 00:38:15,962 --> 00:38:20,602 Speaker 5: the truism of if dog bites man, it's not a story. 605 00:38:20,642 --> 00:38:24,082 Speaker 5: If man bites dog, it's a story. And I believe that. 606 00:38:24,362 --> 00:38:27,282 Speaker 5: But he was excessive about He says we got a 607 00:38:27,362 --> 00:38:29,002 Speaker 5: lead with the fact that they got beat. 608 00:38:30,282 --> 00:38:34,322 Speaker 3: Maybe the most interesting thing about Aaron's account is that 609 00:38:34,402 --> 00:38:39,082 Speaker 3: the Globe Trotters didn't play the Generals. Well. They did, 610 00:38:39,402 --> 00:38:44,002 Speaker 3: let me explain. Oftentimes Redklots would have his team don 611 00:38:44,122 --> 00:38:47,962 Speaker 3: the jerseys and the name of another franchise, and an 612 00:38:47,962 --> 00:38:51,002 Speaker 3: effort to mix things up make it seem like the 613 00:38:51,042 --> 00:38:54,362 Speaker 3: Trotters were playing a whole league of teams instead of 614 00:38:54,402 --> 00:38:58,962 Speaker 3: the same happless opponents every night. Sometimes they were the 615 00:38:59,042 --> 00:39:04,402 Speaker 3: Boston Shamrocks, other times the Baltimore Rockets. In Martin they 616 00:39:04,402 --> 00:39:08,362 Speaker 3: were appearing as the New Jersey Reds. But what about 617 00:39:08,362 --> 00:39:12,962 Speaker 3: the game itself. Here's Aaron reading an excerpt of his story. 618 00:39:13,322 --> 00:39:15,802 Speaker 5: Curly Neil displayed his famous dribbling act for a few 619 00:39:15,802 --> 00:39:18,082 Speaker 5: seconds in the fourth quarter and scored on some long 620 00:39:18,122 --> 00:39:21,162 Speaker 5: shots from as far back as the mid court line. 621 00:39:22,122 --> 00:39:26,522 Speaker 5: Meadowlark was a continuous clatter of chatter, specializing many successful 622 00:39:26,522 --> 00:39:30,082 Speaker 5: over the shoulder shots. The game was, without it out, 623 00:39:30,242 --> 00:39:32,722 Speaker 5: fixed for the Globe Trotters to win, but this time 624 00:39:32,842 --> 00:39:34,242 Speaker 5: the plan was a little too late. 625 00:39:34,762 --> 00:39:38,802 Speaker 3: Wait, Curly Neil, the Curly Neil that wasn't supposed to 626 00:39:38,882 --> 00:39:39,842 Speaker 3: have been there that night. 627 00:39:40,762 --> 00:39:44,322 Speaker 5: I think I distinctly remember Curly Neil being there. I mean, 628 00:39:44,322 --> 00:39:46,522 Speaker 5: he's not someone you could forget easy. 629 00:39:47,162 --> 00:39:51,522 Speaker 3: Not really Curly. Remember it was once compared to Mohammad 630 00:39:51,562 --> 00:39:56,002 Speaker 3: Ali on the fame scale. That's important because Curly's absence 631 00:39:56,362 --> 00:40:00,202 Speaker 3: has been widely cited as a key reason for the Trotters. 632 00:40:00,282 --> 00:40:05,762 Speaker 3: Losing his presence makes the Generals or Reds win even 633 00:40:05,842 --> 00:40:10,562 Speaker 3: more impressive. Aaron also mentions the Trotters had a twenty 634 00:40:10,682 --> 00:40:14,882 Speaker 3: point head in the third quarter, which tracks with other accounts. 635 00:40:15,402 --> 00:40:18,322 Speaker 3: They were well on their way to winning, like they 636 00:40:18,362 --> 00:40:22,842 Speaker 3: always do. But here's what Aaron saw that provides what 637 00:40:23,122 --> 00:40:27,362 Speaker 3: might be the single biggest reason for the Trotters coming 638 00:40:27,442 --> 00:40:28,442 Speaker 3: up short that night. 639 00:40:28,762 --> 00:40:31,482 Speaker 5: It's quite obvious that the announcer who traveled with the 640 00:40:31,522 --> 00:40:36,202 Speaker 5: troop along with the referee and the opposing team, hopes 641 00:40:36,242 --> 00:40:38,642 Speaker 5: to give some extra time to allow the Globe Totters 642 00:40:38,642 --> 00:40:41,042 Speaker 5: to win. As soon as the buzzer sounded after a 643 00:40:41,122 --> 00:40:45,202 Speaker 5: series of timeouts in one second left, the announcer called 644 00:40:45,242 --> 00:40:47,122 Speaker 5: back to play himself as soon as he saw the 645 00:40:47,442 --> 00:40:49,962 Speaker 5: Globe Trotters weren't able to get the fall. 646 00:40:50,082 --> 00:40:53,722 Speaker 3: This is another part of the Globe Trotter's lore. The 647 00:40:53,842 --> 00:40:57,322 Speaker 3: clock would often be stopped during their reams, along with 648 00:40:57,442 --> 00:41:02,042 Speaker 3: other timekeeping manipulation to give the Trotters an edge, but 649 00:41:02,122 --> 00:41:06,002 Speaker 3: for some reason it wasn't quite working that night, so 650 00:41:06,162 --> 00:41:09,282 Speaker 3: by the end they were literally trying to not only 651 00:41:09,362 --> 00:41:12,362 Speaker 3: stop the clock, but wind it back entirely. 652 00:41:13,002 --> 00:41:14,282 Speaker 2: This tracks with what. 653 00:41:14,282 --> 00:41:18,362 Speaker 3: Red Cloths once said that the Globetrotters argued no one 654 00:41:18,442 --> 00:41:21,962 Speaker 3: had touched an inbound pass and the clock shouldn't have 655 00:41:22,042 --> 00:41:26,842 Speaker 3: run out. Apparently, the Globetrotters gave themselves a do over, 656 00:41:27,442 --> 00:41:30,802 Speaker 3: one final chance to keep their record intact. 657 00:41:31,922 --> 00:41:34,082 Speaker 5: The Reds were still in obsession from their own court. 658 00:41:34,162 --> 00:41:37,122 Speaker 5: The play was called back, tried again, but the same 659 00:41:37,162 --> 00:41:38,802 Speaker 5: action took place and the game was over. 660 00:41:39,322 --> 00:41:43,762 Speaker 3: The problem it didn't work. The Trotters got two chances 661 00:41:43,802 --> 00:41:48,322 Speaker 3: to win the game two and they flopped both times. 662 00:41:48,602 --> 00:41:52,082 Speaker 3: Would a third restart have been too egregious even for 663 00:41:52,202 --> 00:41:57,162 Speaker 3: the Harlem Globetrotters. Maybe, or maybe the team felt it 664 00:41:57,282 --> 00:42:01,362 Speaker 3: was finally time to acknowledge the generals. While read as 665 00:42:01,442 --> 00:42:07,722 Speaker 3: worthy adversaries, they played a good and real game of basketball. 666 00:42:07,762 --> 00:42:11,762 Speaker 3: And what's noteworthy about their victory isn't just that they 667 00:42:11,802 --> 00:42:15,882 Speaker 3: beat the vastly better team. They beat the vastly better 668 00:42:15,962 --> 00:42:19,882 Speaker 3: team that could literally get a second chance when things 669 00:42:19,882 --> 00:42:24,602 Speaker 3: weren't going their way. Their aura of invincibility was shattered, 670 00:42:25,082 --> 00:42:28,802 Speaker 3: at least for the crowd in attendance. Did it matter 671 00:42:29,402 --> 00:42:30,402 Speaker 3: for the Trotters? 672 00:42:30,682 --> 00:42:31,402 Speaker 2: Not really. 673 00:42:32,002 --> 00:42:36,842 Speaker 3: They went on to have another spectacularly successful decade, touring, 674 00:42:37,082 --> 00:42:41,362 Speaker 3: doing a television variety show, and then being relegated somewhat 675 00:42:41,362 --> 00:42:45,722 Speaker 3: to the sidelines. As the NBA grew and grew, It 676 00:42:45,762 --> 00:42:48,482 Speaker 3: wasn't so much that they didn't look like the NBA 677 00:42:49,002 --> 00:42:52,682 Speaker 3: as much as the NBA started to look like the Globetrotters. 678 00:42:53,122 --> 00:42:54,322 Speaker 3: Here's Ben Green. 679 00:42:54,642 --> 00:42:58,322 Speaker 9: Like, the NBA was playing Globetrotter basketball. You know, they 680 00:42:58,322 --> 00:43:02,082 Speaker 9: were running the fast break and shooting from downtown, and 681 00:43:02,122 --> 00:43:05,762 Speaker 9: there were dunks and all this really high flying style 682 00:43:06,162 --> 00:43:11,042 Speaker 9: that was really Globetrotter basketball. The ABA, the American Basketball Association, 683 00:43:11,682 --> 00:43:14,722 Speaker 9: was much more like the Globetrotters, and they were sort 684 00:43:14,762 --> 00:43:18,362 Speaker 9: of a transition to when the NBA began to play 685 00:43:18,402 --> 00:43:21,722 Speaker 9: that way as well. But eventually, like you were getting 686 00:43:21,802 --> 00:43:24,122 Speaker 9: to you didn't have to go to see the Globetrotters 687 00:43:24,202 --> 00:43:28,482 Speaker 9: to see dunks and three point shots and entertaining basketball 688 00:43:28,642 --> 00:43:32,202 Speaker 9: because the NBA was doing that as well. 689 00:43:32,282 --> 00:43:35,722 Speaker 3: They wouldn't lose again until nineteen ninety five, when a 690 00:43:35,762 --> 00:43:39,682 Speaker 3: loss ended an eight thousand, eight hundred and twenty nine 691 00:43:39,722 --> 00:43:43,082 Speaker 3: game winning streak that began with the very next game 692 00:43:43,122 --> 00:43:47,322 Speaker 3: against the Generals back in nineteen seventy one. That loss 693 00:43:47,362 --> 00:43:50,442 Speaker 3: didn't come at the hands of the Generals, however, but 694 00:43:50,522 --> 00:43:54,082 Speaker 3: to an all star team of former NBA players at 695 00:43:54,122 --> 00:43:56,722 Speaker 3: a game in Vienna, Austria, led. 696 00:43:56,522 --> 00:43:58,042 Speaker 2: By Kareem Abdul Jabbar. 697 00:43:58,642 --> 00:44:02,282 Speaker 3: But that nineteen seventy one win mattered plenty to the 698 00:44:02,362 --> 00:44:06,842 Speaker 3: Generals and to Red Klotz. Red always wanted to be 699 00:44:07,242 --> 00:44:11,202 Speaker 3: the Trotters, always suited up with that on his mind. 700 00:44:11,722 --> 00:44:16,802 Speaker 3: A combination of talent, luck, and some unsuccessful cheating gave 701 00:44:16,882 --> 00:44:22,362 Speaker 3: him his moment, one Hugh relished. It was also one 702 00:44:22,562 --> 00:44:26,002 Speaker 3: the people won't soon forget, even if some of the 703 00:44:26,082 --> 00:44:31,282 Speaker 3: details are lost to time. Jerry Carpenter hasn't forgotten, nor 704 00:44:31,322 --> 00:44:35,962 Speaker 3: has Aaron Tatum, now, a novelist whose book Shakespeare's Secrets 705 00:44:36,042 --> 00:44:40,642 Speaker 3: we promised to mention, and which uses scholarly evidence to 706 00:44:40,722 --> 00:44:44,282 Speaker 3: explore the idea Shakespeare didn't write all of his own work. 707 00:44:44,722 --> 00:44:47,002 Speaker 5: I'm not going to reveal who our man is because 708 00:44:47,362 --> 00:44:49,882 Speaker 5: that'll take away part of the excitement of going out 709 00:44:49,882 --> 00:44:53,562 Speaker 5: and buying the novel and reading it yourself. Right, I'm 710 00:44:53,602 --> 00:44:56,082 Speaker 5: not going to I'm not going to say it on. 711 00:44:56,442 --> 00:44:57,002 Speaker 1: The air here. 712 00:44:57,722 --> 00:45:01,842 Speaker 3: Before every game against the Trotters, Red Klotts told his 713 00:45:01,922 --> 00:45:06,802 Speaker 3: team the same thing, let's go win in Martin, Tennessee. 714 00:45:07,242 --> 00:45:08,242 Speaker 2: They finally did. 715 00:45:08,922 --> 00:45:11,482 Speaker 10: It's a lot of fun to watch as the years 716 00:45:11,482 --> 00:45:14,082 Speaker 10: have gone on. Say, I saw the one game but 717 00:45:14,122 --> 00:45:15,202 Speaker 10: the Globe Trotter's lost. 718 00:45:15,282 --> 00:45:15,882 Speaker 1: I was there. 719 00:45:16,602 --> 00:45:19,842 Speaker 10: I've talked to some people as I refereed basketball in 720 00:45:19,922 --> 00:45:22,522 Speaker 10: the area. You know, did you happen to be at 721 00:45:22,562 --> 00:45:25,402 Speaker 10: the game when the Globetrotter's playing, and a lot of 722 00:45:25,402 --> 00:45:28,322 Speaker 10: people from the towns around here. Yes, I was there. 723 00:45:28,402 --> 00:45:30,922 Speaker 10: I saw the game and enjoyed it very much. 724 00:45:31,682 --> 00:45:35,402 Speaker 3: There's no evidence the Generals Ever beat the Globetrotters again. 725 00:45:35,962 --> 00:45:40,082 Speaker 3: Their record, which can only be estimated sands at over 726 00:45:40,362 --> 00:45:46,202 Speaker 3: seventeen thousand losses. Statistically, there's probably a better chance of 727 00:45:46,242 --> 00:45:50,042 Speaker 3: being hit by lightning than seeing the team ever squeak 728 00:45:50,082 --> 00:45:55,482 Speaker 3: out another victory. But for one glorious night in rural Tennessee, 729 00:45:55,602 --> 00:45:59,882 Speaker 3: the underdogs got to raise their hands in victory. There 730 00:45:59,962 --> 00:46:04,762 Speaker 3: was just one drawback. Martin, being a dry town, didn't 731 00:46:04,802 --> 00:46:06,482 Speaker 3: have any champagne available. 732 00:46:07,002 --> 00:46:09,282 Speaker 2: The Generals had to settle for soda. 733 00:46:10,922 --> 00:46:14,802 Speaker 4: There are so many sports stories about someone coming in 734 00:46:14,882 --> 00:46:17,042 Speaker 4: off the bench and filling in for an injured player 735 00:46:17,082 --> 00:46:19,602 Speaker 4: and making history. And Tom Brady stepped in for Drew 736 00:46:19,642 --> 00:46:23,202 Speaker 4: Bledsoe and Luke Garrick stepping in for Wally Pip. I 737 00:46:23,242 --> 00:46:25,962 Speaker 4: want to put our guy, Aaron Tatum of the student 738 00:46:26,002 --> 00:46:26,922 Speaker 4: newspaper in there. 739 00:46:27,242 --> 00:46:28,522 Speaker 3: He was supposed to be there. 740 00:46:28,882 --> 00:46:30,722 Speaker 4: No, he is the reason. 741 00:46:30,602 --> 00:46:34,242 Speaker 3: We know did a great job too. That's real journalism, 742 00:46:34,482 --> 00:46:37,522 Speaker 3: is what that is. That's journal on a bench stepping 743 00:46:37,602 --> 00:46:38,562 Speaker 3: in covering the game. 744 00:46:38,602 --> 00:46:40,642 Speaker 7: You barely understand the fine arts reporter. 745 00:46:40,762 --> 00:46:41,322 Speaker 1: I loved it. 746 00:46:41,722 --> 00:46:43,042 Speaker 3: Saren, are we casting anyone? 747 00:46:43,722 --> 00:46:43,802 Speaker 6: Uh? 748 00:46:43,922 --> 00:46:45,042 Speaker 1: Yeah? Actually I did? 749 00:46:45,122 --> 00:46:47,242 Speaker 7: I have some casting on this because I loved Red Klotz, 750 00:46:47,282 --> 00:46:49,802 Speaker 7: the coaching player for the Washington Generals, and I was like, 751 00:46:49,882 --> 00:46:51,922 Speaker 7: the whole line that was it was as if Klotz 752 00:46:51,962 --> 00:46:54,362 Speaker 7: remembered they had just killed Santa Claus. I was like, okay, 753 00:46:54,362 --> 00:46:56,642 Speaker 7: I got to do right by Red Klotz. So I 754 00:46:56,722 --> 00:46:59,962 Speaker 7: picked Paul Rudd. Now just picture him in fifties basketball 755 00:46:59,962 --> 00:47:05,162 Speaker 7: shorts and Converse high tops. I'm right, so extig me, 756 00:47:05,442 --> 00:47:08,082 Speaker 7: yeah boom, and now he's like out there shooting like 757 00:47:08,122 --> 00:47:10,762 Speaker 7: the granny shots. So that was my pick for him. 758 00:47:10,802 --> 00:47:13,042 Speaker 7: For Metal Lark Lemon, I went with Jamie Fox with 759 00:47:13,082 --> 00:47:15,842 Speaker 7: a big afro. I thought he's got the right physicality. 760 00:47:16,122 --> 00:47:19,002 Speaker 7: And then for Curly Neil, I thought Bukeem Woodbine, who 761 00:47:19,082 --> 00:47:21,442 Speaker 7: is by the way from Harlem, even the Globetrotters are not. 762 00:47:21,882 --> 00:47:25,562 Speaker 7: And then for Aaron Tatum, the school newspaper reporter, I thought, 763 00:47:25,922 --> 00:47:27,922 Speaker 7: this is just a fun one for me. Tom Holland 764 00:47:27,922 --> 00:47:29,762 Speaker 7: who played Spider Man, but we never got to see 765 00:47:29,802 --> 00:47:31,242 Speaker 7: him as a reporter, so now we get to see 766 00:47:31,322 --> 00:47:32,002 Speaker 7: him as a reporter. 767 00:47:32,082 --> 00:47:34,402 Speaker 3: So there you go, Wow, kid reporter I love. 768 00:47:34,522 --> 00:47:36,402 Speaker 8: I mean, he's like a probably like thirty five at 769 00:47:36,402 --> 00:47:37,282 Speaker 8: this point. 770 00:47:37,922 --> 00:47:40,122 Speaker 3: It's always going to be a kid good Totally. 771 00:47:40,722 --> 00:47:42,922 Speaker 7: Do you guys, are any very special characters from this one? 772 00:47:42,962 --> 00:47:45,002 Speaker 8: You know what I'm gonna go, Tatum. I love a 773 00:47:45,122 --> 00:47:48,322 Speaker 8: journalist taking notes. I love like I started. 774 00:47:47,962 --> 00:47:51,922 Speaker 3: When I graduated college, like not ever like a real journalist, 775 00:47:51,922 --> 00:47:55,442 Speaker 3: but in in journalism, and so I really do admire that, 776 00:47:55,482 --> 00:47:58,002 Speaker 3: like boots on the ground, like I'm getting a source, 777 00:47:58,402 --> 00:48:01,202 Speaker 3: I'm reporting a story because I saw it firsthand. 778 00:48:01,722 --> 00:48:02,002 Speaker 1: Totally. 779 00:48:02,002 --> 00:48:04,162 Speaker 7: I was imagining the steno Patty's flipping through to write 780 00:48:04,202 --> 00:48:07,802 Speaker 7: his notes. In My very special character was Will Chamberlain 781 00:48:07,842 --> 00:48:09,042 Speaker 7: as a Harlem glowstrotterer. 782 00:48:09,082 --> 00:48:10,242 Speaker 1: I was like, are you kidding me? 783 00:48:10,242 --> 00:48:12,242 Speaker 7: And also I was having fun imagining if they ever 784 00:48:12,322 --> 00:48:14,242 Speaker 7: lost while he was on the team. I don't think 785 00:48:14,282 --> 00:48:15,362 Speaker 7: you could ever live that down. 786 00:48:15,522 --> 00:48:18,162 Speaker 8: I remember my husband loves basketball, and I did want 787 00:48:18,202 --> 00:48:20,442 Speaker 8: to ask him whether it was against the rules in 788 00:48:20,522 --> 00:48:23,882 Speaker 8: real basketball to give a player on your team uppies 789 00:48:24,042 --> 00:48:27,202 Speaker 8: to lift him up so that he could jump. And 790 00:48:27,242 --> 00:48:29,482 Speaker 8: it turns out, yes, that is against the rule. You're 791 00:48:29,562 --> 00:48:32,042 Speaker 8: not allowed to give a player on your own team uppies. 792 00:48:32,202 --> 00:48:34,122 Speaker 7: It's a great question, though. I love that question. 793 00:48:34,202 --> 00:48:36,202 Speaker 4: I'm going to give my very special character to the 794 00:48:36,242 --> 00:48:40,202 Speaker 4: many people on eBay. I've just discovered who make knockoff 795 00:48:40,362 --> 00:48:42,602 Speaker 4: Washington General's throwback jerseys. 796 00:48:44,202 --> 00:48:44,242 Speaker 6: You. 797 00:48:44,922 --> 00:48:47,802 Speaker 4: I was wondering, now we need to add some point 798 00:48:47,882 --> 00:48:51,082 Speaker 4: level up where we're getting prop contents for each of 799 00:48:51,122 --> 00:48:53,802 Speaker 4: these recordings. And I'd love to get all of you 800 00:48:54,162 --> 00:48:57,722 Speaker 4: Washington General's outfits. And if we get that budget allowance, 801 00:48:58,002 --> 00:49:00,162 Speaker 4: there are plenty of eBay sellers ready to. 802 00:49:00,122 --> 00:49:00,762 Speaker 7: Meet that need. 803 00:49:01,042 --> 00:49:03,162 Speaker 8: Do they make them in onesie sizes? Can I have 804 00:49:03,242 --> 00:49:06,682 Speaker 8: a large yes? 805 00:49:06,922 --> 00:49:10,202 Speaker 4: So that we might need to just get very special 806 00:49:10,202 --> 00:49:13,642 Speaker 4: episodes is made by some very special people. Today's episode 807 00:49:13,682 --> 00:49:16,402 Speaker 4: is a Jake Rosson special. Jake have written many of 808 00:49:16,442 --> 00:49:20,162 Speaker 4: our most popular episodes, including Et and Me about the 809 00:49:20,202 --> 00:49:23,162 Speaker 4: eleven year old who helped bring Et to life, and 810 00:49:23,282 --> 00:49:26,962 Speaker 4: Super Streaker about the Tom Brady of streaking. I've mentioned 811 00:49:27,002 --> 00:49:30,202 Speaker 4: this before, I think, but Jake wrote a book called 812 00:49:30,562 --> 00:49:34,842 Speaker 4: Action Park. The subtitle is Fast Times, Wild Rides and 813 00:49:34,882 --> 00:49:38,682 Speaker 4: the Untold Story of America's most Dangerous Amusement Park. You 814 00:49:38,682 --> 00:49:41,162 Speaker 4: should get it for your summer reading list. Our show 815 00:49:41,202 --> 00:49:44,762 Speaker 4: is hosted by Danis Schwartz, Zaren Burnett, and Jason English. 816 00:49:44,962 --> 00:49:46,522 Speaker 1: Our producer is Josh. 817 00:49:46,202 --> 00:49:50,602 Speaker 4: Fisher Editing and sound design by Jonathan Washington. Mixing and 818 00:49:50,642 --> 00:49:55,642 Speaker 4: mastering by Jonathan Washington. Additional editing by Mary Doo, original 819 00:49:55,722 --> 00:49:59,842 Speaker 4: music by Elise McCoy. Show logo by Lucy Kintonia. Our 820 00:49:59,882 --> 00:50:03,042 Speaker 4: executive producer is Jason English. You'd like to email the 821 00:50:03,082 --> 00:50:06,202 Speaker 4: show tell us about the time you were seriously injured 822 00:50:06,202 --> 00:50:08,682 Speaker 4: at Action Park. You can reach us at Very Special 823 00:50:08,722 --> 00:50:10,802 Speaker 4: Episodes at gmail dot com. 824 00:50:10,882 --> 00:50:12,682 Speaker 1: I'll board the Action part. Emails to Jake. 825 00:50:13,402 --> 00:50:16,442 Speaker 4: Very Special Episodes is a production of iHeart Podcasts.