January 7, 1975
Omaha, NE
Claire,
On the road again with the team and visiting some of the friendly faces in the Midwest.
Funny how they call it the Midwest, isn't it? If our founding fathers had landed in Los Angeles, I guess they'd call it the Mideast.
These are just some of the wandering thoughts you get crossing the country by bus with your basketball team.
All of us Washington Generals are doing fine, thank you. John sends his love and Michael said to be sure and save him some of your next apple pie! I can't wait to be home again. Looks like we'll be finishing out the season in late May if all goes as planned.
This season continues to be an incredibly poor one. I'm sad to say that we have yet to win one single game. Again. After so many consecutive losses over so many successive seasons, I'm beginning to wonder if the Generals are suffering from some sort of curse.
I'm being too hard on us, of course. The plain fact is, being the only team to oppose the incredibly gifted Harlem Globetrotters for the last 10 years has its good and bad points.
Like Meadowlark Lemon getting me again with that yo-yo basketball trick yesterday.
Which is one of the bad points.
I don't know why I go for that ball every time, but like Charley Brown and his nemesis Lucy, I always feel that this will be the time I get that basketball.
And the way he pulls it back right at the last moment; it's just infuriating, Claire.
And it's not just me. All the Generals agree that no matter how unprofessional the Globetrotters become, the referees never call fouls on them. (They do, however, catch all our fouls. At least once a game I manage to knock down Meadowlark, then he gets carried off to the bench moaning and groaning while they bandage his arm. When I ask him what's the matter, he always tells me, "I hurt my other arm." It never fails!)
Another example, Curly Neal always runs through the stands with a bucket of "water" and the ref actually chases after him! Of course the "water" turns out to be confetti, but still, it does make you wonder whose side these referees are actually on.
Balls are attached to long elastic bands and pop right out of the basket, sometimes they're weighted so they bounce erratically across the court, and every so often one won't bounce at all because it's made of clay.
You would think that with two professional teams playing a competitive basketball game more of the official NBA regulations would be enforced, but this just doesn't seem to be the case.
I have actually started to believe that we are all involved in some sort of enormous joke, with the Generals playing the straight men to the Globetrotters' comedic antics.
I know you'd say it's just paranoia talking, but after 1,335 successive losses to the same team, I am beginning to have some of my suspicions confirmed.
I haven't mentioned this to any of the other guys, as I don't want to dishearten them while we're still in the season.
Probably just my rather active imagination running away with me, as the Temptations might say.
Well, it's getting late, so I'd better put on my headphones and get some sleep. I just got the new KC & the Sunshine Band 8-Track, and I will tell you that it's awesome!
One of the guys here has one of those new 8-Track burners; I'll make you a copy and send it along as soon as I have time.
Tomorrow's another day and another opportunity, right?
And this time I'm sure we'll get those Globetrotters for sure!!
Yours forever,
Gary
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