By LeVaughn Flynn, Staff ReporterIF THE diehard basketball fan went to The Harlem Globetrotters show at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) on Friday night expecting to see a competitive game they would have been disappointed.
But for the number of bubbly children among the 3,000 audience members, their night was filled with laughter, comical antics and an all-round feel-good time.
The Jamaica Basketball Association along with main sponsors Digicel and Supreme Ventures combined to bring the 'basketball magicians' to Jamaica for the second time after their first visit in 1979. Jamaica is also the team's last stop in their 2004 World of Fun tour.
For more than 70 years, The Harlem Globetrotters have successfully combined basketball and entertainment and in the process secured a place in the hearts of everyone who has seen them perform.
From seven-year-olds to their grandparents who accompanied them, the Globetrotters entertained all and sundry.
WALTZ WITH FEMALE
Led by Paul 'Showtime' Gaffney, who played the role of emcee and occasionally played defence, the Globetrotters faced the New York Nationals, their opponents around the world.
Armed with a wireless microphone and charm and humour, 'Showtime' interacted with the crowd and went from doing the waltz with a female audience member at centre court to dowsing a section of the crowd with water.
The fans didn't seem to mind getting wet and the serious basketball fans had their share of fun with high-flying slam dunks and ankle-jerking crossovers.
The marketing manager of Digicel, Harry Smith, said his company was proud to be associated with such great family entertainment.
GREAT SHOW
"This show was great and this is exactly what we wanted. It is the season of Christmas and we wanted to bring some entertainment to families so they could just smile and I think that's all they did tonight, just smile," said Smith.
"And this is the sort of clean fun that we want to be associated with at this time of the year," he said.
The owner and chairman of the Harlem Globetrotters, Mannie Jackson, who bought the team in 1993 and became the first black owner of a major international sports and entertainment organisation, said the secret behind his team's success was finding his target market and going right for it.
"I put a package together that would target 12-year-olds. And I found out that the moms and dads were appreciative of an entertainment package for a 12 or 14-year-old and that the young kids were more sophisticated than I thought and it seemed to have worked out well," stated Jackson.
The Harlem Globetrotters have two more shows: tonight at 6:00 at the NISC and tomorrow at Jarrett Park at 7:00 p.m.
