Sweet Georgia Brown
The Harlem Globetrotters are making their third appearance at St. Catharines’ Meridian Centre.
The Harlem Globetrotters will slam dunk their way back to Meridian Centre in April.
The legendary exhibition basketball team, founded in the 1920s, will take on longtime doormats the Washington Generals on April 17 for their third trip to the St. Catharines venue.
“The first two shows were great,” says Meridian Centre director of marketing Kay Meilleur. “They love our new building and love our team, so we expect to be a regular on their circuit.
“It’s such great family entertainment and we are delighted to offer a great mix of entertainment for our diverse fans.”
There’s also a chance, however remote, to see history made as the Generals try to end a 47-year losing streak to the Globetrotters. It was on Jan. 5, 1971, that they finally beat their flashy foes in overtime after 2,495 consecutive losses — a result which stunned the crowd and both teams. Since then, they have been trounced, tormented and outright humiliated. In total, they’ve lost more than 13,000 games to the Globetrotters.
Since they formed, the Globetrotters have played more than 26,000 exhibition games in 123 countries and six continents. The current lineup includes Big Easy Lofton, Ant Atkinson, Cheese Chilton and female players TNT Lister, Ace Jackson and Hoops Green. Former players such as Wilt Chamberlain and Connie (The Hawk) Hawkins would go on to star in the NBA. Baseball legends Bob Gibson and Fergie Jenkins also played for the team on some nights.
Tickets for the Meridian Centre game start at $22, on sale Dec. 11, 10 a.m., at www.ticketmaster.ca, www.harlemglobetrotters.com or by phone at 1-855-985-5000. Box office sales start Dec. 12.