I saw them live for the first time in 1972 at the Rapides Parish Coliseum in Alexandria LA. Unfortunately I do not remember too much of the evening. Since that time I have become a basketball fan (baseball is still #1, though) and wanted to see them again. As they were going to be in the New York area in February 2007 I decided to go.

Their stint at the Nassau Coliseum, home of the NHL's New York Islanders, was on February 18, 2007. I arrived early and got to watch some of the players share their secrets of how they do it. With lots of practice, it looks easy. Audience participants realized that it's a lot harder that it looks. When "Globetrotter University" was over the mascot Globie came out to the court, then the afternoon's opponents, the New York Nationals, and finally the Globetrotters themselves.

As usual, the Globetrotters won, this time by about 20 points. But even if they did not win, we all had a good time and I got my program autographed by one of the team members.

On May 10, 2008 the Harlem Globetrotters participated in Amtrak's National Train Day at New York's Penn Station. A makeshift basketball half court was set up near the Amtrak ticket offices, and 5 members of the team strutted their stuff. Since we were in Penn Station on our way to a Broadway show, I got to see them live for a little while. However, I still hoped to see a full game in an arena again, perhaps late in 2009 or in 2010.

PS: It was May 10, 1869 that the Transcontinental Railroad was finished.

On February 20, 2011 I finally got to see the Harlem Globetrotters again, in an arena. This time I opted to buy my tickets on-line but pick them up at the will call window at the Coliseum. This should not be a problem since I used a will call window back in 1997 when I bought 3 tickets for the Norwich Navigators baseball team. However, I learned that the Nassau Coliseum is NOT Dodd Stadium and the line hardly moved. I must have been on line for over 25 minutes before I finally got my ticket. I mean come on, it's not rocket science to look at a driver’s license and credit card and hand someone a few tickets. To piss me off even more, there were no people to guide me to the gate that I was supposed to enter to get to my seat. Anyway, I did find my seat in section 224 overlooking one of the goals. Luckily I only missed a part of the pre-game show and not the game itself. As usual, the Harlem Globetrotters played the Washington Generals. Besides basketball, they had a penalty box, just like hockey, and audience participation where people from the stands came out onto the court during the game to join in the comedy. The players were wearing microphones so we were all able to hear their comments to each other and to the referees. Among their antics were combining football with basketball (a 5 man line), harassing the referees and the Generals' coach, and giving a ladies purse to one of the Generals while a Trotter makes a basket. There was also some half time entertainment, and in the end, the Globetrotters won by a score of 127-108. The Generals have not beaten them since 1971. After the game we all went down to the edge of the court and to get autographs from some of the players. I did not have a basketball, program or shirt but I had my receipt from my ticket purchase so I had Zeus Stewart, who wears #25, to sign the papers. I also took his picture with my cell phone, and also several photos of the game. On the way out of the Coliseum I treated myself to a program.

The Nassau Coliseum is in pretty bad shape and we all think that it needs to be replaced. Unfortunately the New York Islanders are doing poorly and that is not going to happen in my lifetime. I do hope to see the Harlem Globetrotters again in a couple of years, but hopefully NOT at the Nassau Coliseum.