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I would like to tell you a story about The Harlem Worldtrotters Charity Basketball Team. These guys spent a good part of their lives doing charity basketball games all over the world. They helped raise millions of dollars every year for any charity you could think of. The players of this team have led a very rewarding life. But as so often happens when you are caught up in helping other people, you forget about yourself. The years slipped by quickly and before they new it the original team members were forced to retire due to minor health reasons. They could no longer do the tricks as well as they once could. This was a difficult time for them for 2 reasons. One, they had become used to all the cheers of the crowds. They missed seeing the happy faces of the boys and girls, and the happiness of the parents as they watched their children mesmerized by the world’s most talented basketball team of all time. This was very difficult for them. The other reason it was hard for them was with all the focus on trying to be successful in the many facets of their vision to help others, they forgot to set aside proper funding for their retirement years. This was tough. But being the competitive people they were, they decided to make the best of it anyway. A few of them got a job at the local Wal-Mart down in Harlem. The first week was hard in that they kept hitting their heads on the Roll Back signs all over the store, so once in a while they’d go over to Mohammed and Abdul over in Pharmacy to get something for their head-ache. Other than that the jobs were going well. They fit right in with the other retired grand parents working there. The store was pleased to have them on staff, as well. The particular store in Harlem has been there for ages, and occasionally a ceiling tile would work itself loose, and so the manager would give one of them a couple of nails and a hammer, and ask if they would just reach up a bit, and just tack that tile back in place. The guys were only too happy to oblige. Then there were the busier times on Saturday afternoons where the store was always packed. This made it hard for the guys to get around in the main isles to get to where they had to go throughout the store. They didn’t get too bothered by it though, they would quietly and unassumingly just step over the merchandise isles. They always wore their best running shoes, as a slip of the foot in this brief straddled position could mean sever discomfort for a lengthy period of time. All the grandmothers working their at Wal-Mart were very grateful that the guys were working there, as they were only too happy to help bring product down from the upper shelves. They were definitely a good fit for the overall team environment at Wal-Mart. The toughest part about working there was when things were a little slow and they happen to find themselves in the Sports Department. They would naturally pick up a basketball and begin twirling it on the end of their finger. For minutes at a time the ball would spin as they relived the memories of all those games. And not on one occasion would a little boy come up and say, "Hey, Mista. Can you show me ha ta do dat?" This would jar then back into reality, but the memory was great while it lasted. Now the other guys were over at the McDonalds Restaurant in downtown Harlem. They too were a good fit. The grandmothers working there kept the lower half of the restaurants kitchen clean while the Worldtrotters kept the upper half and ceiling clean. They worked out exceptionally well in the burger flipping department. They could easily use two flippers, one in each hand, and flip the burgers quickly and professionally as hand coordinated movements came so intuitively to the guys. In the day the restaurants were busy, and the guys kept up without a problem, in fact, being the hard working individuals they were, they loved the fast pace, however when things got slow during the evening shifts it was a little more difficult to stay focused. Now and again, one of them, Mr. Lemmon by name, would begin to recall the days in which he was one of the bright stars on the court, and without realizing it, he would begin juggling the paddies, with a burger flipper in each hand. Two paddies, then three, and even four. Then suddenly he would be brought back to reality, rather abruptly, by the duty manager who, in a stern voice would always say, "Mr. Lemmon, please try and keep the burgers on the grill." "Oh, yes sa. Right away sa." The duty manager never saw this happen, but occasionally, and this didn’t happen to often, but occasionally, Mr. Lemmon would lose control of one of the paddies in mid air while juggling, but just before it would hit the ground, he could use the arch in his sneaker and kick the paddy back into formation, and continue juggling. It was truly amazing to watch this mystic perform magic with his hands. Then one day the telephone rang at the Worldtrotter headquarters. It was the manager of a basketball team from a country called Tahii. This was somewhat of a backward country, but they had a dream to make good one day, and put their country in a foreground position globally. It happened that for the last few years their representatives had been hobnobbing with the IOC (International Olympic Committee) members and had learned of a new sport to be hosted at the next Summer Olympics. Indeed, it was a special basketball team event made up of the world’s best pygmy basketball players. Well, it appeared that for the last 2 years, Tahii had been pouring a lot finances into this new squadron of athletes, and with the upcoming confirmation of this new sports event, Tahii decided to seek the training help of one of the world’s finest basketball teams, The Harlem Worldtrotters. As it turned out however, the Worldtrotters were booked solid for the next several years and could not be hired for training purposes. But as the manager was corresponding with the Tahii coach, he thought of the aging but still agile alumni members of the Worldtrotters, and in time was able to negotiate a tentative deal with the country of Tahii to employ the services of the now retired team members of the Worldtrotter Basketball Team, to train against the Tahii team to prepare them for the next summer Olympic games. With this good news, the Worldtrotter Basketball Team manager gave the orders to his department to somehow track down the whereabouts of the past members of the team, and inform them of this latest playing opportunity. The guys were elated, but they were equally dumb-founded as they commented, "They want us to play against who???", "A team made up of ...pygmy’s??" They were puzzled, but they all enthusiastically agreed to come in and dress for the practice sessions. Each player came back to the locker room that they had known so well. They handled the balls like it was only yesterday, that they had put in their final performance before the packed auditoriums. They had flash backs of the noise, the smiles, and most of all that catchy laid-back whistling jingle that everyone the world over was familiar with. Indeed, it was great to be home again. True, they weren’t playing for the crowds, but they were playing basketball, the game they new and loved. The practice sessions went well, and then one day it was game day. They would square off for the first time with this foreign team, a team for which they held very little hope of losing against. But to their surprise these little players were amazingly quick on their feet. They had pass formations executed flawlessly, and in effect, it was like there were two games being played at once. One was the conventional style of the taller players, and now there was this newer, more accelerated style of playing. This was definitely a switch compared to what the Worldtrotters were accustomed to. In the actual running of the ball, the Tahii team seemed stronger, but in the area of shooting the Worldtrotters capitalized. Over time things didn’t get any easier for the Worldtrotters. They were winning their games, but it seemed the Tahii team was picking up on all the weak areas of the Worldtrotters and formulating techniques to capitalize on those weaknesses. The ball running became more difficult, but because of their height, the Worldtrotters were able to stop the other team from advancing too high on the score board. Each day the Worldtrotter team loved to play, but each day they realized that it wasn’t quite as easy as they had thought it would be. When the news hit that there was indeed going to be a new entry to the roster of basketball teams for the Olympics, the Tahii team immediately signed a 5 year contract with the retired Worldtrotter team, to be the official trainers for their countries entry team for pygmy basketball. It was a dream come true for the older Worldtrotter team. The manager of the Worldtrotter alumni team was able to negotiate a generous deal for its players. The players were now earning twice what they were making at Wal-Mart and McDonald’s, and they only had to work half of the time. The players finally confirmed with their employers, Wal-Mart and McDonald’s that they would no longer be working there, but every Saturday, the team would stroll into that Harlem Wal-Mart, they would high-five all the grandma’s and grandpa’s still working there, give a wave over at Mohammed and Abdul in Pharmacy and they would take their seats at the same spot at the in-house McDonald’s restaurant each week and celebrate their good fortune, and reminisce about old times. Now, the players felt great. They were winning all their games and they were enjoying themselves, and they were even getting paid for it! Life couldn’t be better! And, the Tahii officials were happy. Their players could practice against a fine team like the Worldtrotters, and they truly felt they were well on their way toward an Olympic Gold in the category of Pygmy Basketball. Indeed, it isn’t an overstatement to say that everybody in this story lived happily ever after.
Dear Reader,
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