thependulumswings

Yesterday, the disappointing, no playoff Los Angeles Lakers lost team president Magic Johnson, as he abruptly resigned.  Meanwhile, the perennially disappointing New York Knicks won their 17th regular season game to insure that they won’t set a single season record for futility even if they lose tonight’s season ending game.  But, if you are really talking about losses and futility, look no further than the Washington Generals.

Also known as the Boston Shamrocks(1971–1972), New Jersey Reds(1971–1972), Baltimore Rockets(1971–1972), Atlantic City Seagulls(1971–1972), New York Nationals(1995–2006), International Elite(2011–2012),  Global Select(2011–2012) , and the World All-Stars (2013–2014), the Generals are the all time losers.  To give the illusion that the Globetrotters play different teams they changed names and uniforms to be the best foil that they can be.

Depending on which version of history you believe they have only won one, or three, or six games while losing over 17,000.  The Generals exist primarily as a part of the Harlem Globetrotters’ act, effectively being stooges for them. While the Globetrotters play tricks and spectacular displays of skill for the crowd, the Generals appear to attempt to play a “normal” game of basketball.

Below are ten fun facts (their history isn’t perfectly nor completely documented) about the multi decade traveling show.

1.  The Washington Generals were named so to honor Dwight D. Eisenhower.
2. The Generals would rarely, but occasionally, play teams other than the Globetrotters. They beat the Taiwanese national team and a low-level Red Army team along the way.
3. The Globetrotters official website only recognizes one loss.  That loss came in Tennessee at Tennessee Martin in 1971.  Even the date of the loss is disputed as either January 5th or 25th.
4. The loss was mostly the result of an incorrect scoreboard that showed the Globetrotters winning by four with three minutes to play.  Thinking they had the game in hand, the Trotters were mostly running out the clock.  When they realized that they were behind, the clock operator stopped the clock to allow them one final shot as they now trailed by one.  The Generals allowed Meadowlark Lemon to dribble straight to redemption, but he missed the final shot.
5. Some say that a pregame dispute between the two caused the Generals to play to win that evening vs “play along.”  Neither team has ever spoken in support or denial of that accusation.
6. There have been a scant few, but still a few players who were once Generals that became Trotters and vice versa.
7. One of the few was Paul Sturgess who made the opposite transition. The former Globetrotter, after a few seasons playing for other teams, transferred back into the setup as part of the arranged opposition. The 7 ft 8 in. Sturgess adopts the persona of “Cager”, a masked adversary who adopts a villainous role.
8.  The Generals were created in 1952 by their owner, GM, coach, and player Red Klotz.  Klotz played into his fifties.  They were a part of the staged act until 2015 when the Globetrotters decided to end their long, long relationship.   Fans actually objected to not seeing the Generals.
9. So, in 2017, Herschend Family Entertainment, the owners of the Harlem Globetrotters, bought the Washington Generals from the Klotz family and revived them as an active team with Kenny Smith as general manager.  Yep, that Kenny Smith.
10. The night of the lone recognized loss it’s reported that many children in the crowd cried in disbelief.  Meadowlark Lemon, ever the showman, was furious about the loss.  It wasn’t the game loss that concerned him in all likelihood.  It was the loss of a cornerstone of the brand.  The brand never lost.

One game tears aside, the Generals have won for a long time by losing to the beloved Globetrotters.  Creating a winning show that has prospered for 65 years is no easy task.  Ask the Knicks who are way, way off-Broadway, thankfully.  Or, ask Magic who couldn’t work his magic where he was once the lead actor in the hit play Showtime.