Harlem Globetrotters entertain thousands at Lincoln’s Pinnacle Bank Arena
The last time the Harlem Globetrotters lost to the Washington Generals was in 1971. Since then, The Globetrotters have won thousands of games over 43 years.
The Generals came into the recent game at Lincoln’s Pinnacle Bank Arena intent on ending that streak. They even had a “secret weapon” to accomplish the task.
Washington came close to upsetting the Clown Princes of Basketball. Tied at 100-100 with less than 20 seconds left in the “game,” it was “discovered” that the Generals had help during the game. SPOILER ALERT: For the enjoyment of future game attendees, we will not disclose the secret weapon. We will say it could have surprised a few people, but didn’t take a lot of investigative skills to figure it out. It was an enjoyable part of the game.
A running gag through the performance included team leader “Ant” making fun of one of the officials. Ant said the referee reminded him of former football player Ickey Woods in a Geico insurance commercial. Woods does a song and dance (The Ickey Shuffle from his playing days in the NFL) when his number is called to get lunchmeat.
“Get your cold cuts! Get your cold cuts!” Ant sings while doing Ickey’s dance behind the ref’s back.
The Globetrotters hit a 35-point jumper for four points at the buzzer to score the 104-100 victory. The Harlem Globetrotters’ tour is using a 4-point circle that is 12 feet beyond the NBA’s 3-point mark and about 16 feet beyond college basketball’s 3-point line.
The roughly 10,000 people attending the event were entertained Jan. 16th. The Globetrotters performed several entertaining acts with the basketball, and also included members of the audience.
The team did its famous pregame ball control antics to the tune of “Sweet Georgia Brown.” Ant controlled the red, white and blue basketball, passing it to players to perform tricks.
One act involved stuffing the ball through the hoop and then basically climbing through the hole and hanging on it.
TNT – the ninth female member of the team – did the famous one-finger ball spinning act with a young girl from the audience. The people picked to perform with the team received cool souvenirs, from a basketball to an autographed jersey. One woman got to keep a used wrist sweatband from a player…and three kisses.
We had a great time, as did our guests. It was the second time for us seeing the Globetrotters, but they do a good job of changing up the routines, so it stays fresh. There’s a reason they’ve been performing for almost 90 consecutive years.
For more information on the Harlem Globetrotters and their schedule, please visit its website at www.harlemglobetrotters.com.
It also marked our first visit to Pinnacle Bank Arena, home of Nebraska men’s and women’s college basketball.
Along one wall hang retired jersey numbers from both sets of teams. From Maurtice Ivy on the women’s team to Eric Piatkowski on the men’s squad, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln honors its all-time best players.
In the lobby of the arena in the Railyard section of the Haymarket district hangs a piece of artwork using a box of chocolates as the base. Several pieces have state symbols or logos, such as the O! for Omaha or the Sower that stands atop the state capitol building.
Since the game started at 7, we decided to have dinner afterward. The Mellow Mushroom pizza restaurant is located across the street from the arena. As always, the pizza was delicious.
Disclaimer: Thank you to US Family Guide for the complimentary tickets to the Globetrotters. However, all opinions and views are ours.
