Mark gets display of high-antics basketball

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By Dawn Feddersen | Tuesday, January 2, 2007 1:10 AM CST | () comments

Shane Christiansen, a point guard for the Harlem Globetrotters for the past two years, says he owes a lot to all of the Globetrotters who have come before him in the team’s 80 years.

“The show started in 1926 and some of the antics they did back then are still in the show today. These guys paved the way for us,” he said.

Christiansen and his fellow Globetrotters showed off their special style of play at the Mark of the Quad-Cities on Monday.

But as times have changed, so have some of the group’s antics.

“We have our own style, our own flair. We try to put our different personalities into it,” he said.

Their personal style obviously includes some serious skills on the floor. Some moments during Monday’s game against the New York Nationals seemed like a hard-fought match between two excellent teams.

And then, midplay, one of the players brings his feeble grandmother out on the court, who slowly sets her cane aside and then sprints to the hoop to dunk the ball.

This set off a dunking frenzy among the Harlem Hotboyz, using trampolines and midair under-the-leg passes to get the crowd going wild.

Laura Vigor, of Kewanee, Ill., had never been to a Globetrotters game before.

“I like the crowd interaction. It makes for a really good show,” she said.

But the crowd interaction extends beyond simply clapping to the beat or doing a group rendition of “YMCA.”

Matt Jackson, a Globetrotters point guard, showed a family sitting courtside just how thirsty antics like rolling the basketball along your arms and shoulders can make you when he picked up their soda and had a long, cool drink. The soda he gave back, but their bucket of popcorn he took onto the court with him until he slipped and spilled it, not once but twice.

While one family lost their drink, several others were getting an unexpected one. Jackson and Christiansen’s fight over a cup of water ended up dousing three different sections of the crowd. One section was even more surprised when Jackson took aim with a bucket and, as audience members cringed, nothing but small squares of paper flew out and landed softly at their feet.

Ten-year-old John Stickle, of Port Byron, Ill., had an even better view than most.

“I won a contest, so I get to sit with the team and hang out with them,” said John, who noted his friends wished they could be sitting where he was.

John and the rest of the crowd watched the Globetrotters beat the Nationals 85-52.

“With regular competition games, the fans might go home upset that their team didn’t win,” Christiansen said. “When they come to see the Globetrotters, they know they’re going to get a good show. They’ll have something to talk about on the way home. They’ll leave with a smile on their face.”

The city desk can be contacted at (563) 383-2450 or newsroom@qctimes.com.