January 2012

The Harlem Globetrotters came to the FedEx Forum in Memphis this month on January 7th. I bought the VIP Bench Experience, where up to 4 people can sit on the bench with the basketball players during the whole game. Lily, Madeline, Cameron and I got the 4 bench seats, while the "grownups" sat across the court from us. The players were great with the kids, talking to them a lot and joking around during the game.


Before the game, we got to meet three of the players: Special K, Slick Willie, and Flight Time. They gave us red-white-and-blue Harlem Globetrotters basketballs that the players all signed, and gave us signed programs too.


We took our seats, and before the Globetrotters came out, their mascot Globie danced around and was joined by Mini-Globie.


The players ran out, accompanied by loud cheers from the crowd, did some basketball stunts and then some took their seats on the bench with us when they weren't on the floor.


Bill and the two Michelles had seats across the court -- not nearly as fun!


Special K was the Master of Ceremonies, doing skits and adressing the crowd a lot. Here he pulled a woman named Tiffany from the crowd and gave her a present. I shouted, "Whoo hoo, Tiffany!" Hearing my hooting and hollering, a nearby player, Dizzy, asked me if that was my wife out there. I said, "No it isn't, and don't tell my wife!"


The team was playing against the International Elite, wearing all black. At one point the announcer said, "That's a score for the black team!" The player Hi-Lite, sitting next to me, shouted back, "Which black team?" Heh.


The best part of the game for me was that Curly Neal, one of the original Globetrotters, was there visiting that night as an alumnus. Lily, Madeline, and Cameron barely paid attention to him, but he could tell I recognized him. He came over and hugged me and sat next to us for a lot of the game, spinning a basketball on his fingers. Lily took the picture of me and Curly.


At halftime, the Willises bought us hot dogs, drinks, and popcorn so we wouldn't have to leave our seats. Some official-looking people gave me dirty looks for having all this food on the floor. Curly pointed to the box of popcorn, and I said, "I'm sorry, I'll move it under one of the chairs." But he responded with, "No, I want some!" So he ate some of our popcorn! Too Tall (in the third picture) grabbed some popcorn too and went out on the floor still chewing it!


Some other players we saw a lot were Hi-Lite (first picture), Tiny (tall guy in the second picture), and Flip (third picture). Hi-Lite kept telling Lily that he was her adopted brother and was coming home with us after the game. "Tiny" is the tallest Globetrotter at 7'8" and towers over even the other tall players. He periodically blocked the other team's shots just by holding up his arms. Flip was so named because he kept doing front flips and back flips on the floor. In one of the funnier parts of the game, he jumped up and sat on the basketball hoop, catching the basketball when it was about to go in the basket and throwing it back out.


At the end of the game, we got to be in the team photo with the winning trophy (spoiler alert: the Globetrotters won!). I also took a picture of Lily next to the trophy. The last picture shows all the loot we came home with: the signed basketballs and programs, team jerseys, and our VIP passes. Lily had so much fun. On the way home she said, "This is the best day of my life!" (However, she's said that other times too!)