BUFFALO — When he was asked about the Harlem Globetrotters’ continued relevance in the 21st century, Curly Neal chuckled and grinned.
The Globetrotters legend, in town earlier this month to promote Friday’s Globetrotters game at the University at Buffalo’s Amherst campus, pulled out a piece of paper that had printed on it the team’s itinerary for its current tour. The “Magical Memories” tour schedule listed two cities per day (two teams concurrently circumnavigate North America), six days per week, from late December through May 2.
“You look at that and tell me we’re not busy,” Neal said.
The Globetrotters have played more than 25,000 games since the team’s inception about 1926, but team members try to make sure every night holds something special for audience members. Routines such as the confetti-filled water bucket and spinning ball on the finger remain for older fans, while new routines and a post-game on-court autograph session help maintain the interest of younger fans.
That connection with fans is what Neal has focused since hanging up his sneakers in 1985. The 22-year Globetrotter veteran joined the team in 1963 out of Johnson C. Smith University and is one of five Harlem players to have his number retired by the team.
“I get my gratification meeting people like you, shaking hands,” Neal said during an interview in a hotel lobby, which preceded a press conference that afternoon at Women’s & Children’s Hospital of Buffalo and a subsequent drive to Rochester for a promotional appearance that evening. “People always tell me, ‘Thanks for the memories.’ ”
Despite being 67 years old and having four grandchildren in addition to five children, Neal keeps a busy schedule in his role as a Globetrotters ambassador. He was on the road 27 days in December and about half as many days this month discussing all things Globetrotter. Wearing his full warm-up outfit and sporting the signature three-colored Globetrotters basketball, Neal traded amusing banter with hotel staffers and negotiated a room service meal in between fielding a reporter’s questions.
“We’re about a lot of laughter, a lot of love,” said Neal, whose voice was raspy from a lingering cold. “We offer great family entertainment.”
Friday’s game will be a homecoming of sorts for Brian Addison, who left Western New York in the spring after playing two seasons as a power forward for the UB men’s basketball team. Addison is now a member of the Washington Generals, the Globetrotters’ longtime foil.
The Globetrotters reached their pinnacle in the 1970s, when the team had a Saturday morning cartoon based on it and made multiple appearances on the “Scooby-Doo” series. The team has largely been absent from television since appearing in a 1981 film based on the “Gilligan’s Island” TV series, but deals are in the works to have the team return to cartoon form later this year.
In addition, Neal said, the Globetrotters are working to have their games once again televised, perhaps on NBC or ESPN, and team members Nathaniel Lofton and Herb Lang recently competed on the CBS reality show “The Amazing Race.”
But the Globetrotters have remained a force in the entertainment realm, Neal said, due to their incessant touring. There no longer are any barns being stormed, but some of the team’s best games are in tinier venues similar to the high school gyms and YMCAs from which the Globetrotters blossomed, Neal said.
“Some of our best crowds are in the smaller cities,” said Neal, citing places without major sports franchises. “They say, ‘When’s the next game?’ That’s what they want to know.
“We just want to spread joy throughout everywhere we play. It’s about basketball, fun, laughter ... (A Globetrotters game) is one thing you always remember in your heart.”
Contact Paul Laneat 693-1000, ext. 116.
IF YOU GO
• WHAT: Harlem Globetrotters game
• WHEN: 7 p.m. Feb. 5
• WHERE: Alumni Arena at the University at Buffalo, Amherst
• MORE INFORMATION: Visit harlemglobetrotters.com
Lifestyle
Related Photos
Discussion
LIFESTYLE: Hardcourt clowns return to WNY
- Lifestyle
-
-
Family ties come in time
When it comes to genealogy, all you need to do sometimes is catch a break.
-
Imagination is a wonderful — and scary — thing
Tiger, squirrel, what's the difference when you're 2?
-
The law of conservation of energy — with kids
Watching the thundering herd pass us, the father shook his head ... and called to the children:
“How can you have so much energy when I’m so tired?”
We looked at each other and laughed, each then, perhaps, seeing our future in the tired parents. To this day, eight years later, there are still moments when we look at our kids, then each other, and repeat those words. -
Albany man visits WNY-based hockey legend
An Albany-area man was the guest of hockey legend Scotty Bowman when the Stanley Cup made what seems like its nearly annual trek to Bowman’s Amherst home.
-
NT-based service offers support, counseling to cancer patients
There used to be a time when the word “cancer” wasn’t even in most people’s vocabularies.
Rather than utter the disease’s name, according to Hillary Ruchlin, people would use the term “the big C” to denote what illness they were talking about.
Times have changed for the better, said Ruchlin, executive director of the Cancer Wellness Center in North Tonawanda. People now know that there is hope. -
Parenting can be easy to say but hard to do
The parental saying is so commonly used that it’s almost become cliché: “I would do anything for my children.”
But what they don’t tell you is that, some days, it’s harder than others to fulfill that mantra. -
Green Day is Rock Hall shoo-in
Green Day will one day see the inside of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — and I don't mean merely as a visitor.
-
Tonawanda native delivers some of TV world’s biggest scoops
When people want the latest big news about the goings-on in the world of television, they generally turn to the New York Times, Variety and other major media outlets.
When the reporters at those outlets want to get informed, they have been known to turn to a one-man operation that operates out of a small Florida bedroom. -
When a dad needs to be a dad
I don't condone the actions of vigilante fathers ... but I understand.
-
Reeves’ Buffalo film tests well
Early indications are that the Keanu Reeves that filmed throughout the Buffalo-Niagara region late last fall will be worth watching.
- More Lifestyle Headlines
-
Pop Music Superstar Whitney Houston Dies at 48
Police: Houston Found Dead in Her Hotel Room
Paul Suffers Narrow Loss to Romney in Maine
Recording Superstar Whitney Houston Dead at 48
Maine GOP Chairman Says Romney Wins Caucuses
Palin Brings Anti-Washington Message to CPAC
Obama Scraps Birth Control Mandate
US Airmen's Killer Sentenced to Life in Germany
Navy Names Ship for Gabrielle Giffords
Raw Video: Deadly Blasts in Syria
Romney Slams President Obama at CPAC
Gingrich: Pres. Obama 'waging War on Religion'
5 Killed in Wrong-way Crash on I-10 in La.
Uzbek Man Pleads Guilty in Plot to Kill Obama
Denver's Largest-Ever Drug Bust Nets Dozens
Marines: No Punishment for Nazi-like Flag
Vets Look to Translate Military Skills Into Jobs
Raw Video: School Bus Burst Into Flames
LA School Reopens Amid Sex Abuse Scandal
$25B Settlement Reached Over Foreclosure Abuses
