Globetrotters looked great

[Mark Padgett]

No real point here. Just wanted to mention I was watching an old rerun of "What's My Line" from December, 1956 on GSN. They had the entire team of the Harlem Globetrotters on as "mystery" guests. Of course, the panel guessed them pretty quickly. As they left the stage, one of the players did some fancy dribbling with the ball and the audience went crazy. It was good to see Meadowlark Lemon when he was fairly young. One other nice thing was that the host, John Daly, mentioned all the goodwill tours the team performed to help raise money for worthy causes.

It was kind of weird, however, to see them all dressed in suits or sport coats with ties.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

One other nice thing was that the host, John Daly...

Wow, he's really sunk low. The alcohol really knocked him out of the PGA. Maybe we should take a collection.

[grunewar]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

Of course, the panel guessed them pretty quickly.

Ya think it woulda been tougher to guess the Washington Generals?

Saw the 70's version of the Trotters with Meadowlark, Curly, etc., up close in person. Great fun!! Looking back on it, I wonder if those refs went on to the NBE - they never called a walk either!

[Back In The Saddle]

I guess I'm getting old. Doing a girl's AAU game recently, and while we're sorting out last minute scorebook issues before the jump (i.e., one team FINALLY got us a scorekeeper), one of the centers is doing some fancy ballhandling just to pass the time. I commented that I didn't know the Globetrotters were playing today. Nobody on the floor had ever heard of them.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by Back In The Saddle

I guess I'm getting old. Doing a girl's AAU game recently, and while we're sorting out last minute scorebook issues before the jump (i.e., one team FINALLY got us a scorekeeper), one of the centers is doing some fancy ballhandling just to pass the time. I commented that I didn't know the Globetrotters were playing today. Nobody on the floor had ever heard of them.

Wow, that's sad! If it makes you feel any better, I'm only in my mid-20's and have seen the Globetrotters twice in person.

Mark, I mean no offense by this at all but you remind me of my father. He would watch game shows all the time on GSN and call me up to tell me about them. I'd just have to laugh as he'd tell me about the lady who was winning $1,500 in a game show from the 70's. He loved his GSN.

[chartrusepengui]

they need to bring back ABC's Wide World of Sports ........ you always had at least one globetrotter game a year - sometimes two.

[Mark Padgett]

Originally Posted by Welpe

Mark, I mean no offense by this at all but you remind me of my father. He would watch game shows all the time on GSN and call me up to tell me about them.

No offense taken. GSN and Turner Classic Movies are my favorite cable channels. I can't get over that the "What's My Line" contestants winning $50 was considered a huge prize back in the 50s. Everything's relative, I guess. I remember my dad saying that if he could only make $250 a week we'd never have to worry about anything. I also remember our first ranch style house in the suburbs cost $17,500 - and it was brand new. This was in 1956. I was in 3rd grade.

Besides "What's My Line", my favorite GSN show is "Trivia Trap" from the mid-80s.

[LDUB]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

No offense taken. GSN and Turner Classic Movies are my favorite cable channels. I can't get over that the "What's My Line" contestants winning $50 was considered a huge prize back in the 50s.

They were paid so much just for appearing on the show. On top of that they could win $50 if the panel couldn't figure out what they did.

I looked it up on Wikipedia and it said that guests were paid $750 just to be on the show. So they were actually winning $800 not $50.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by chartrusepengui

they need to bring back ABC's Wide World of Sports. You always had at least one globetrotter game a year - sometimes two.

If I recall correctly, they once played on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Mark Padgett

I can't get over that the "What's My Line" contestants winning $50 was considered a huge prize back in the 50s. Everything's relative.

Do we have a Forum correct math guy to account for inflation and tell us what this would be in 2008 dollars? How about the guy that makes all those geometric, trigometric, diagrams? I think it's Camnron Rust. He seems pretty bright, in a geeky, nerdy, kind of way.

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Do we have a Forum correct math guy to account for inflation and tell us what this would be in 2008 dollars? How about the guy that makes all those geometric, trigometric, diagrams? I think it's Camnron Rust. He seems pretty bright, in a geeky, nerdy, kind of way.

$50 1956 USD is $381.85 2007 USD.

Source: http://www.miseryindex.us/irbyyear.asp

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by BillyMac

If I recall correctly, they once played on the deck of an aircraft carrier.

That was back in the B&W days.

Jurassic Referee was just out of high school then and took a job reffing these games for extra cash. He was called out to sea to ref this game and a pass was made on the carrier when it was out in the Pacific Ocean. He blew his whistle for a 10-second violation. Turns out it was really 1 day that had elapsed!

[JugglingReferee]

Originally Posted by LDUB

They were paid so much just for appearing on the show. On top of that they could win $50 if the panel couldn't figure out what they did.

I looked it up on Wikipedia and it said that guests were paid $750 just to be on the show. So they were actually winning $800 not $50.

$800 is just over $6.1k in '07 $.

[LDUB]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

$50 1956 USD is $381.85 2007 USD.

Source: http://www.miseryindex.us/irbyyear.asp

Which comes out to $6,190.60 if the $750 appearance feed was included. That is a lot of money for basically doing nothing, it makes sense that they were so excited.

[Welpe]

Originally Posted by JugglingReferee

Turns out it was really 1 day that had elapsed!

They must've been playing near the International Dateline.

Mark, my dad's favorite was whatever happened to be on at the time. He was pretty easy to pleas as long as it was a game show. Same with watching sports on TV. He'd watch everything, poker, pool, bowling...as long as it was a sport and it was on at the time. It seemed silly at the time but I miss talking to him about those things.