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thatcrazycajunIf all you know about the "Clown Princes of Basketball," the Harlem Globetrotters, is from memories of the cheesy Saturday-morning cartoon show based on them that CBS aired in the 1970s (which admittedly had one of the coolest opening theme songs ever), or seeing one of their somewhat-staged games against ersatz opponents, you owe it to yourself to check out this documentary on the team made by TeamWorks Media. It's been posted in seven parts on YouTube, but permission is not indicated, so watch it now while you can before it gets taken down as a DMCA infraction. If it's already gone by the time you read this, you can order a DVD copy from Amazon here.
The Team That Changed the World tells the story of an all-(African-)American professional sports franchise that, for the better part of eight decades, has had an amazing impact not only on its sport and American society, but on global politics as well. They broke the color barrier in pro basketball as Jackie Robinson had done in pro baseball, and made today's NBA superstars like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal possible. (Did you know Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain got his pro-ball start with the Trotters? It's true.) Playing against the best all-white pro team around at the time, they won—and won peaceably, with no violent incidents on or off the court—and then came back the following year and did it a second time. They lived up to their name and literally traveled the world, not just to play a game, but to act as "Ambassadors of Goodwill"...and excelled at both. In the process, they met world leaders and major movers from the Pérons to Henry Kissinger (who got made an "honorary" GlobeTrotter, if you can believe it). They went to West Berlin at the Cold War's height...and brought 1936 Olympic sensation Jesse Owens with them for a triumphal return to the very field where he'd been snubbed by Adolf Hitler. Playing in drained swimming pools and Spanish bullfight rings, against collegiate and pro players alike, they proved that basketball could be brought to any venue, anywhere; that game-winning skill and crowd-pleasing showmanship need not be mutually exclusive; and that skin color means absolutely nothing in terms of athleticism.
My only disappointment with the doc is that it contains no mention of the '70s Trotter titans I remember, like Meadowlark Lemon and Fred "Curly" Neal; but this is a minor cavil. Rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy fame narrates, and Barack Obama and Kissinger appear on camera among many others. In this weekend before a truly historic Presidential election in which race plays a major part, this program could not be more timely in its fashion.
The Team That Changed the World tells the story of an all-(African-)American professional sports franchise that, for the better part of eight decades, has had an amazing impact not only on its sport and American society, but on global politics as well. They broke the color barrier in pro basketball as Jackie Robinson had done in pro baseball, and made today's NBA superstars like Michael Jordan and Shaquille O'Neal possible. (Did you know Wilt "the Stilt" Chamberlain got his pro-ball start with the Trotters? It's true.) Playing against the best all-white pro team around at the time, they won—and won peaceably, with no violent incidents on or off the court—and then came back the following year and did it a second time. They lived up to their name and literally traveled the world, not just to play a game, but to act as "Ambassadors of Goodwill"...and excelled at both. In the process, they met world leaders and major movers from the Pérons to Henry Kissinger (who got made an "honorary" GlobeTrotter, if you can believe it). They went to West Berlin at the Cold War's height...and brought 1936 Olympic sensation Jesse Owens with them for a triumphal return to the very field where he'd been snubbed by Adolf Hitler. Playing in drained swimming pools and Spanish bullfight rings, against collegiate and pro players alike, they proved that basketball could be brought to any venue, anywhere; that game-winning skill and crowd-pleasing showmanship need not be mutually exclusive; and that skin color means absolutely nothing in terms of athleticism.
My only disappointment with the doc is that it contains no mention of the '70s Trotter titans I remember, like Meadowlark Lemon and Fred "Curly" Neal; but this is a minor cavil. Rapper Chuck D of Public Enemy fame narrates, and Barack Obama and Kissinger appear on camera among many others. In this weekend before a truly historic Presidential election in which race plays a major part, this program could not be more timely in its fashion.
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Date: 2008-11-01 04:09 pm (UTC)