The Passing of a Globetrotters Legend

This morning we lost Harlem Globetrotters’ legend Curly Neal at the age of 77 years old. I was introduced to Neal and the Globetrotters when they were on Scooby Doo, it was good to be a kid in the 1970s, and then later Gilligan’s Island. It really was a treat to watch him play the game.

RIP Fred “Curly” Neal

Some Globetrotters Additions

 

What better way to top adding the 2010 SportKings Curly Neal relic that I got a couple of weeks ago? By adding two 2012 A&G framed relics of Curly Neal and Meadowlark Lemon for less than what I paid for the 2010 SK Neal relic.

The 2012 A&G Neal was uncirculated so I had to break him out of the Topps holder, a simple snip of the Topps sticker and Curly Neal was on the fast break in to my basketball binder. The 2012 A&G Lemon came in today and initially when I saw the card in the auction I figured that the relic has slid out of the frame a bit, I thought that the dark upper corners were the back of the frame, but it is actually a three-colored relic. The relic is grey with the top left corner being black and the top right corner being green.

 

These are some very cool card, though I think that they are from t-shirts. I would have preferred jersey relics of the Globetrotter greats but I am not going to complain about two nice additions.

A Relic That Brings Back Memories

I think that most sports fans can appreciate the Harlem Globetrotters. The team, which began as the Chicago GlobeTrotters in 1926, has traveled the world enlightening both children and adults for 88 years. In that time they have won over 22,000 games and over the years they have had some serious talent wear the red, white and blue uniform including Wilt Chamberlin, Connie Hawkins, Marquis Haynes and even Baseball Hall of Famers Bob Gibson and Ferguson Jenkins.

 

I loved watching the Globetrotters on Scooby Doo and Gilligan’s Island and a couple years ago I was able to take my son to a game, which is a memory of a lifetime. After the game the players sign autographs and we were able to get a couple of them to sign our program including the current “Showman” Special K. 

 

Growing up in the 70s and 80s was a special time to be a Globetrotters fan with Meadowlark Lemon playing “Showman” and Curly Neal dribbling the ball with a talent that is nearly impossible to duplicate. In recent years Topps and Panini have done a nice job getting some of these players in to their releases which has drawn plenty of attention. I have been hunting for years to add some of these cards but the relics and autographs tend to be on the expensive side but when I came across 2010 SportKings Curly Neal jersey relic I put in a bid of $10 and prayed to the eBay gods that my bid would outlast the torrent of bids that I expected in the last few minutes of the auction. In the end the clock ticked down and for a mere $8.50 plus $2.30 shipping I was holding this beautiful 2-color swatch.