Scoring Smiles

Cows don’t play basketball, but Moo Moo Evans sure does.
He’s a Harlem Globetrotter. Along with names like Skyscraper and Scooter, Hot Shot and Bam Bam, Evans will take to the court with the world famous Harlem Globetrotters on March 23 at Viking Hall in Bristol, Tenn.
“Hey, we’re the Harlem Globetrotters,” said Evans last Thursday by phone from Memphis, Tenn. “We like to have fun with the crowd.”
From dunks to dribbles, spinning balls on fingers to spinning bodies to the hoop, the Globetrotters entertain like no other. They are the clown princes of basketball.
“We’re near the crowd, we’re in the crowd, we’re always messing with the crowd,” Evans said.
Formed in 1926, the Harlem Globetrotters are perhaps best recognized by their red, white and blue uniforms and theme song, a whistled “Sweet Georgia Brown.”
Now based in Phoenix, Ariz., the Globetrotters have rebounded from a lackluster 1980s and ’90s.
They performed for Pope John Paul II in 2000. NBA legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson joined the Globetrotters for a single though highly publicized game in 2003. And befitting their name, the Globetrotters have trotted through more than 100 countries.
“It’s full of traveling,” Evans said, who added that he played in 102 games last year. That’s 20 more than an NBA regular season.
“It’s tiring,” he said. “But once the game has started and you see that smile from that little girl or little boy, it just picks you up.”
Now, as in all cities in which they perform, the Globetrotters will indeed play a game in Bristol. Fans will notice two- and three-point shots, blocks and fouls. However, while the Globetrotters hope to win, they shoot for a larger goal.
“We want to entertain the crowd,” Evans said. “Nobody ever knows the score of our games, but they remember being entertained from the start to the finish of the game.”
Indeed. Scan past Globetrotters of note for entertainers/players of lore like Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal. During the late 1960s and ’70s, their names were arguably larger than those of their NBA counterparts.
For example, the Globetrotters and not a single player from the NBA were regulars on such Saturday morning cartoons as “The New Scooby Doo Movies.” From 1970-1973, they even had their own Hanna-Barbera cartoon, “Harlem Globetrotters.”
“I used to always watch them, seeing them on the ‘Scooby Doo’ cartoons,” Evans said. “I was like, ‘I want to be one of those guys.’ ”
Evans achieved his dream when he joined the Globetrotters in 2006. While neither he nor his teammates’ names ring with familiarity as those of Lemon and Neal, he said that fans flock to them regardless.
“Little kids say they have seen me on ‘Scooby Doo,’ and I know they didn’t, but it says a lot about the Harlem Globetrotters,” Evans said. “It’s always special to connect with a child. Plus, we’re just big kids.”
Yeah, like, how many grown men go by a name such as Moo Moo? Evans does, for which he thanks his mother.
“My mom gave me the name when I was a little boy for drinking a lot of milk,” Evans said. “She said, ‘Let’s go ahead and buy that boy a moo moo cow.’ ”
Maybe someday the name Moo Moo will ring with recognition as Globetrotters legends Meadowlark, Goose, Geese and Curly. For now, his goals are in line with those of the Globetrotters. When they leave Bristol, they intend to leave two things behind.
“Fun and laughter,” Evans said. “We want everybody to know that the Globetrotters are still going strong.”

PAST HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS OF NOTE
Fred “Curly” Neal
George “Meadowlark” Lemon
Reece “Goose” Tatum
Wilt Chamberlain
Earvin “Magic” Johnson

HONORARY HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS
Henry Kissinger (1976)
Bob Hope (1977)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1989)
Whoopi Goldberg (1990)
Nelson Mandela (1996)
Jackie Joyner-Kersee (1999)
Pope John Paul II (2000)
Jesse Jackson (2001)

IF YOU GO
Who: The Harlem Globetrotters
When: March 23, 7 p.m.
Where: Viking Hall, 1100 Edgemont Ave., Bristol, Tenn.
Admission: $15-$70
Info: (423) 764-0188
Web: http://www.harlemglobetrotters.com
Video: http://www.harlemglobetrotters.com/photos/videos
Video with audio of “Sweet Georgia Brown: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6U2ZelXFn2U

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .