Spinning the Globe (56 page)

*
The Harlem Globetrotters
and
Sesame Street
were the only two American children’s shows bought by the BBC. In 1979, a new cartoon,
The Super Globetrotters,
debuted on NBC, although it lasted only eight episodes.

*
Abe went to his grave still owed money from Czechoslovakia, which had refused to let him take
koruny
out of the country, and from India. He was also still earning small royalties from
The Harlem Globetrotters
film.

*
In the late 1980s, Gillette would buy up a string of television stations, building one of the largest media companies in the country.

†
Silverman would go on to be head of programming at CBS, where he pioneered
All in the Family
and
Maude
, and later served as network president of both ABC and NBC.

*
Lemon later wrote in his autobiography that he would have joined the strike if the players had invited him, but Hunter disputes that: “He was asked to join, and he said he would go to management and come back and tell us what was happening. And the next time we saw him was when the strike was over.”

*
Land is best known as the producer of
Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
, and
Evita
.

*
Six of the nine losses came during one disastrous stretch in 2002, when the Trotters lost six games in a row, to Vanderbilt, defending champ Maryland, Mississippi State, UConn, Central Connecticut, and Ohio State.

*
The FUBU contract expired in 2004, and the Globetrotters are currently negotiating with other clothing distributors, hoping to expand the Globetrotters’ sales in the international market.

*
In 1998, Mannie Jackson established a $100,000 Jackson Family Endowment for the Lincoln School Alumni Foundation, to provide scholarships to local students. He insisted that the program be co-named for Joe Lucco, his old high school basketball coach. In 2003, he donated $250,000 to build a new YMCA in Edwardsville.

*
A character-based education program, CHEER stands for the traits of cooperation, honesty, effort, enthusiasm, respect, and responsibility.

*
Mannie Jackson bought out NatWest’s 20 percent share of the team within three years, and has since bought out all of his original investors, at extremely healthy returns. He now owns 100 percent of the company stock.

*
The Globetrotter players certainly can’t compete with the salaries of NBA players, but they make a good living. Mannie Jackson has increased player salaries to an average of $120,000 for a twenty-week season, with the highest-paid players making $500,000.The Trotters also receive full medical benefits, a 401(k) plan, and “impact bonuses” that have gone as high as $100,000 per player.They typically stay in four-star hotels, and receive free pregame and postgame meals, as well as free Globetrotter clothing and apparel.