Basketball stars give 2,000 fans plenty of laughs

BY SCOTT BROWN
FLORIDA TODAY

MELBOURNE -- An hour before an American institution would take center court, a line snaked out of Florida Tech's Clemente Center and wound its way past the WA1A van playing music. It didn't stop until it had almost reached the parking lot that had long been full.

Harlem Globetrotters Curley "Boo" Johnson dribbles at the Clemente Center at Florida Tech in Melbourne. Photo by Emily Barnes, FLORIDA TODAY

When Melbourne resident Carla Tomasura saw the volume of people, she told her husband, Paul, to park the car as she and her older daughter took a place in line.

"I'm very excited. We just came from basketball practice," Tomasura said nodding to her 10-year-old daughter, Gabriella. "She's going to learn some new moves."

Bleacher space may have been in short supply Monday night in the Clemente Center, but moves and tricks most assuredly were not.

From the time Curly "Boo" Johnson led the Harlem Globetrotters onto the floor with a red, white and blue basketball spinning like a globe on his index finger, the world's most famous hoops squad more than lived up to its title as a "show" team.

Using their opponents, the referees and occasionally fans from the standing-room only crowd as foils, the Globetrotters elicited as many laughs as they did "oohs" and "aahs" on the way to a 70-54 victory over the New York Nationals.

So much for the nightmare Mike Richman had about the Nationals upsetting the team that never loses.

In fact, the evening was a smashing success for Richman, the Blue Ducks owner who brought the Globetrotters to Brevard County and squeezed a little more than 2,000 people into Florida Tech's gym Monday night.

"I could have had 6,000," said Richman, whose goal is to build a sports-entertainment arena in Brevard County. "I could have filled an arena. That's why we need an arena."

Fans started pouring into the gym long before the Globetrotters emerged from the locker room in their red, white and blue uniforms.

Traffic Alexander had his 10-year-old stepson and 5-year-old son in tow and said his reasons for attending the, uh, game were simple.

"Bring the kids and have a good time," the 26-year-old Melbourne resident said. "And I've never seen them before."

Never seen the world-famous Globetrotters?

Alexander paused for a second and them smiled.

"Yeah, on 'Gilligan's Island,' " he said.

The Globetrotters have a way of turning a basketball court into their own personal island with their sleight-of-hand passing and dribbling and the constant tricks and playful showboating that also make the opposition all but invisible.

Their popularity is such that the Globetrotters play in front of packed gyms all over the world.

"The big venues like Madison Square Garden are normally capacity crowds too," Globetrotters tour manager Stuart Sternberg said. "We bring smiles to children around the world wherever we go."

They brought their share to the many kids who stayed up past their bed-time Monday night, and not just because Curley "Boo" Johnson entertained them with a dribbling exhibition or Chris Richardson threw down one thunderous dunk after another.

Paul "Showtime" Gaffney and Michael "Wild Man" Wilson took turns as literal court jesters. The two were miked throughout the game and when they weren't harassing the referees or the players in the garnet uniforms with gold trim, they were fishing kids out of the crowd or, in the case of one startled lady, sitting in fans' laps.

They broke out some of their patented pranks, including the one where a Globetrotter tucks the basketball into the jersey of an opponent and that player is called for traveling when he starts running. And, of course, they doused the crowd with water at various times throughout the game.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it," Pam Munch said. "It was exactly what I expected."

Well, not quite exactly what she expected.

The Melbourne Beach resident had her purse taken by one of the Globetrotters during one prank. To get it back she had to dance with Wilson at midcourt and then kiss him on each cheek. Munch got a Globetrotters wristband for playing along and she wore it on her right arm as she tried to get her program signed after the game.

The Globetrotters' signature prank came near the end of the third quarter when one of the players doused fans with a bucket of water that turned out to be confetti.

By then the Globetrotters were comfortably leading the Nationals and it was time to celebrate. Fittingly, before the start of the final quarter, the Globetrotters danced to "YMCA" while the crowd clapped and joined along.

Soon after the final buzzer sounded on all of the fun, Gabriella Tomasura wanted to know one thing: when could they go see the Globetrotters again.

"I think it's great," her mother said of the event. "We didn't have to travel to Orlando, 10 minutes from home. I hope they have more."

Contact Brown at 242-3698 or sbrown@flatoday.net

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