{"id":4438,"date":"2011-03-14T16:11:21","date_gmt":"2011-03-14T20:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=4438"},"modified":"2011-03-14T16:11:21","modified_gmt":"2011-03-14T20:11:21","slug":"harlem-globetrotter-visits-tampa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/?p=4438","title":{"rendered":"Harlem Globetrotter Visits Tampa"},"content":{"rendered":"

BY LEON B. CREWS
\nSentinel Staff Writer<\/strong><\/p>\n

Throughout the history of professional sports, only one group of people completely revolutionized athletics, and at the same time provided an outlet for African American athletes.
\nThat group is called the Harlem Globetrotters.<\/p>\n

Originally known as the Savory Big Five, the Harlem Globetrotters were obtained by Abe Saperstein<\/strong> in 1926 in Chicago, Illinois. They played their first game January 7, 1927, and officially became the Harlem Globetrotters in 1930.<\/p>\n

Aundre \u201cHot Shot\u201d Branch<\/strong> is entering his 8th season with the team, and recalled as a child when the team would visit his native Houston, Texas.<\/p>\n

\u201cI found them very entertaining, and I wrote a school report on them. Now, with the experience I\u2019ve gained as a layer, I could write a book about them.\u201d
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

Branch<\/strong> is in Tampa as the team will mark their 85th season with their dazzling \u201c4 Times The Fun\u201d World Tour. They will be at the St. Pete Times Forum Saturday to showcase their world renowned family fun and basketball entertainment.<\/p>\n

Also in celebration of their 85th season, the Globetrotters will introduce a new groundbreaking basketball innovation, a 4-point shot.<\/p>\n

Branch<\/strong> explains that the 4-point shot will be taken 35 feet from the basket, 12 feet from the NBA 3-point line.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trendsetters of everything you see today. The 4-point shot will eventually catch on with college and professional teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Branch<\/strong> said although he played basketball in high school and ran track, he was better as a wide receiver playing football.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just too hot in Houston for football, so I thought basketball would better suit me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a Globetrotter means you don\u2019t get to spend a lot of time with your family, because you\u2019re basically working 10 months out of every year. When I do get to spend time with my kids, I pour it on and tell them I\u2019m doing something positive and good, and just sharing God\u2019s blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Branch <\/strong>said to all the kids out there, he wants them to get their education, give 110% all the time, work hard at being a great individual, and work hard on their skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cNothing worth having is easy. You have to be respectful of others and mean it.\u201d<\/p>\n

To date, the Harlem Globetrotters have won 22,000 games and have competed and beaten some college teams, two of them were current NCAA champions.<\/p>\n

A former Globetrotter, Mannie Jackson<\/strong>, bought the team in 1993 as they were facing bankruptcy. He became the first African American owner of the team.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY LEON B. CREWS Sentinel Staff Writer Throughout the history of professional sports, only one group of people completely revolutionized athletics, and at the same time provided an outlet for African American athletes. That group is called the Harlem Globetrotters. Originally known as the Savory Big Five, the Harlem Globetrotters were obtained by Abe Saperstein […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":210,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/210"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4438\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/flsentinel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}