New Jersey Reds
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The New Jersey Reds were an exhibition basketball team that regularly lost kayfabe games to the Harlem Globetrotters during the 1970s. They are best known for scoring a rare upset victory over the Globetrotters in a 1971 game.
The Reds were owned by Louis Klotz (who was also a player-coach) and based in Margate, New Jersey. The team was named after Klotz's nickname and had no connection to either the Cincinnati Reds or the softball team of the same name. The Reds were never intended to win, since they only served to act as "stooges" for the Globetrotters.
[edit] Beating the Harlem Globetrotters
The Reds accidentally beat the Globetrotters 100-99 on January 5, 1971 in Martin, Tennessee. It ended a 2,495-game winning streak – and was Harlem’s only loss between 1962 and 1995. Klotz credits the overtime win to a guard named Eddie Mahar, who was team captain.[1]
While the Globetrotters were entertaining the crowd that day, they lost track of the game and the score. They found themselves down 12 points with two minutes left to go. Forced to play normal basketball, they rallied back, but couldn’t recover.[2]
The Reds secured their victory when Klotz hit the winning basket with seconds left. Then Meadowlark Lemon missed a shot that would have given the game back to Globetrotters. The timekeeper tried to stop the clock and couldn't. When the final buzzer sounded, the crowd was dumbfounded and disappointed.[3] Klotz described the fan's reaction: "They looked at us like we killed Santa Claus."[4]
Some children in the stands cried after the loss.[5] The Reds celebrated by dousing themselves with orange soda instead of champagne. Lemon was furious, saying "You lost, I didn't lose," but still visited the opposing team’s locker room to congratulate the Reds.[6]
A Reds player later said Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein threatened his team over the event, even though he had died back in 1966. [7] As this was kayfabe basketball, it is unknown how much, if any, of the upset story was an angle created to promote Globetrotters games. Both teams claimed that all their exhibitions were real, competitive contests.[8][9]
[edit] See Also
[edit] References
- ^ The Last Time the Globetrotters Came Up Short, Newsday (New York) February 17, 1991.
- ^ Showtime in NBA Can Be Traced to Trotters, The Sporting News March 12, 1990
- ^ An Upset That Shook The Globe Hartford Courant (Connecticut) March 19, 2000
- ^ http://mywebpages.comcast.net/coklotz/redklotz/news2.html
- ^ Curly Neal says he's an athlete first. Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (Little Rock, AR) January 07, 1990
- ^ An Upset That Shook The Globe Hartford Courant (Connecticut) March 19, 2000
- ^ An Upset That Shook The Globe Hartford Courant (Connecticut) March 19, 2000
- ^ http://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/news/faq.asp#4
- ^ http://mywebpages.comcast.net/coklotz/redklotz/news2.html
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