Washington Generals

Washington Generals
Founded	1917
History	Philadelphia Sphas (1917–52) Washington Generals (1952–present) Boston Shamrocks (1971-72) New Jersey Reds (1971-72) Baltimore Rockets (1971-72) Atlantic City Seagulls (1971-72) New York Nationals (1995-2006)
City	Washington, DC
Team colors	green yellow
Owner(s)	Red Klotz
Head coach	Red Klotz
Championships	ABL: 7 (1933-34, 1935-36, 1936-37, 1939-40, 1940-41, 1942-43, 1944-45)
Division titles	None
Official website	washingtongenerals.com

The Washington Generals are an American exhibition basketball team, best known for their spectacular losing streak in exhibition games against the Harlem Globetrotters.

History

The Generals were created in 1952 by Louis "Red" Klotz as a redesignation of the Philadelphia Sphas basketball team. Globetrotters’ owner Abe Saperstein had invited Klotz to create a squad to accompany his team on their tours. With a nod to Dwight D. Eisenhower, the team was named the Washington Generals.

The Generals provided deliberately ineffective opposition as a foil for the Globetrotters' comedy routines. The Globetrotters' acts often featured incredible coordination and skillful handling of one or more basketballs, such as passing or juggling balls between players, balancing or spinning balls on their fingertips, and making unusual, difficult shots. The Generals on the other hand would try to play a game of "serious" basketball in return.

During the 1971-72 season, the Generals' name was alternated with the Boston Shamrocks, New Jersey Reds, Baltimore Rockets, and Atlantic City Seagulls. It was actually the same team of players but they would change uniforms between games to give the appearance of more teams. The team would rotate between these identities for a few seasons before going back to the Generals identity full-time.

From 1953 until 1995, the Generals played exhibitions against the Globetrotters, winning only six games, the last in 1971, and losing more than 13,000. It was as the New Jersey Reds that the Generals' last win came in a game against the Globetrotters. On January 5, 1971, the Globetrotters lost a game in Martin, Tennessee, in overtime to the Reds. It was Klotz himself who sank the winning basket for a 100-99 score that ended the Globetrotters' 2,499-game winning streak.

Klotz eventually "disbanded" the Generals in 1995, forming a new team, the New York Nationals, which also has achieved an impressive losing streak. In reality, of course, it was the same team; Klotz merely retired the Washington Generals identity. The Nationals remain a separate organization from the Globetrotters. Harlem claims its exhibition games are "real" and "competitive" contests.

After a 12-year hiatus, the Generals returned on October 9, 2007, playing against the Globetrotters at the 369th Harlem Armory. The Globetrotters won 54-50. In a landmark decision, Samuel Hochberg was hired as the team's assistant general manager in early 2012.

Just prior to the 2011-12 World Tour the Washington Generals underwent yet another name change. They began facing the Harlem Globetrotters as both the "International Elite" and the "Global Select", alternating between the two from game to game.

Current roster

Washington Generals roster
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight DOB (Y–M–D) From USA ! Beal, Eric 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) – Whitworth University USA ! Birch, David 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) – KS Ottawa University USA ! Bonner, Marcus 73 !6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) – Guilford College USA ! Byrnes, Matthew 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) – Rowan University USA ! Davis, Ephrem 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) – Robert Morris University USA ! Faust, Shawn 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) – University of West Florida USA ! Hall, Jonte 69 !5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) – Catonsville Community College USA ! Herren, Grant 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) – Presbyterian College USA ! Howell, Dwayne 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) – Snead College USA ! Jackson, James 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) – Bellarmine University USA ! Jones, Cameron 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) – Robert Morris USA ! Bush, Andy 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) – Prairie State Community College USA ! Lancaster, Ryan 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) – Holy Family USA ! Leasure, Richard 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) – Lake Erie College DIV II USA ! Malone, Clifton 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) – NY Fashion Institute of Technology USA ! McClurkin, Julian 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) – North Carolina A&T University USA ! Miles, Jimmie 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) – Robert Morris University USA ! Samuels, Dwane 71 !5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) – Virginia State University USA ! Smith, Anthony 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) – Robert Morris University USA ! Spann, Abraham 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) – CW Post College USA ! Talley, Lemeire 73 !6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) – Gwynedd-Mercy College USA ! Thomas, Jadin 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) – Mt. Veron Nazarene University USA ! Vilsaint, James 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) – University of West Florida USA ! White, Tyler 77 !6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) – Tusculum College USA ! Brady, Daniel 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) – University of Missouri Kansas City
Head coach Louis Klotz (Villanova) Assistant coach(es) Ben Augustine (Misericordia College) Ammer Johnson (Idaho State) Legend (C) Team captain (DP) Unsigned draft pick (FA) Free agent (S) Suspended Injured Roster • Transactions Last transaction: 2010-12-14

Beating the Harlem Globetrotters

The Reds defeated the Globetrotters 100-99 on January 5, 1971 in Martin, Tennessee. It ended a 2,495-game winning streak. Klotz credits the overtime win to a guard named Eddie Mahar, who was team captain. Harlem's captain, Curly Neal, did not play in this game.

While the Globetrotters were entertaining the crowd that day, they lost track of the game and the score. They found themselves down 12 points with two minutes left to go. Forced to play normal basketball, the Globetrotters rallied but could not recover.

The Reds secured their victory when Klotz hit the winning basket with seconds left. Then Meadowlark Lemon missed a shot that would have given the game back to Globetrotters. The timekeeper tried to stop the clock and couldn't. When the final buzzer sounded, the crowd was dumbfounded and disappointed. Klotz described the fans' reaction: "They looked at us like we killed Santa Claus."

Some children in the stands cried after the loss. The Reds celebrated by dousing themselves with orange soda instead of champagne. Lemon was furious, saying "You lost, I didn't lose," but still visited the opposing team’s locker room to congratulate the Reds.

Reds player Roy Kieval later said Globetrotters owner Abe Saperstein threatened his team over the event. As this was theater basketball, it is uncertain how much, if any, of the upset story was an angle created to promote Globetrotters games. Both teams claimed that all their exhibitions were real, competitive contests.

See also

• Harlem Globetrotters
• Philadelphia Sphas

External links

• Washington Generals - Official Website.
• Crothers, Tim. "The General Whose Army Never Wins," Sports Illustrated, February 20, 1995.
• Branch, John. "When the Generals Lose to the Globetrotters, Everyone Wins," The New York Times, Friday, February 13, 2009.