Balls in the Box

Danny and I attended the Harlem Globetrotters game tonight. It has been many, many years since we witnessed the antics of the Globetrotters. Watching them tonight was more interesting than entertaining, at least to me.

It was interesting that so many kids were laughing and enjoying the show because it was slapstick comedy at its best. There was no high-tech gimmicks or light shows or anything over the top but the audience was eating it up. The crowds buying the Globetrotter merchandise was a clear indicator that the kids were loving it and wanted to take a piece of history home with them. Did you know that the Harlem Globetrotters have been entertaining audiences for 82 years? Didn't look like much of a recession was going on at the St. Pete Times Forum.

I found it quite refreshing to see children, and adults, enjoying simple rather hammy comedy acts instead of excessively contrived computer-generated animations and the like. There were three boys sitting next to us ranging in age from probably 10 to 15 and they seemed to genuinely enjoy the players and cheered loudly when the Globetrotters scored a point against the Generals.

The basketballs that were bounced across the court and purchased from vendors are symbols of simple things. It's what we used to play with neighborhood friends after school. It's just a rubber ball that bounces when dribbled or thrown against a backboard. It's not high tech or fancy, it's just a ball. But, that simple object has brought many hours of pleasure to young and old alike; the gifted player or the driveway star. We can relate to that rush as the ball swooshes through the net. I played basketball in college and loved the feel of recovering a rebounding ball.

Yes, a basketball in my box is a good thing. Wish I could still run a full-court press!

God bless.