Trotters still No. 1 court jesters

Victoria Sun

Monday, March 6, 2000 | 9:19 a.m.

Former Harlem Globetrotter Clyde "The Glide" Austin sat on the sidelines of the Thomas & Mack Center with family and friends, chuckling at the antics of the current Globetrotters on Sunday afternoon.

Austin, who played for the Globetrotters from 1981-91, recently moved to Las Vegas from North Carolina. He was impressed with the talent of the team's new blood.

"Everything's about the same," he said. "The energy is there and they are exciting.

"They don't have the older veterans who have been on the team for 20 or so years like we did, but they're holding their own."

In front of 7,000 or so fans including men, women and children of all ages, the Globetrotters delighted the crowd by doing tricks with the basketball to the tune of "Sweet Georgia Brown," winning a mock game filled with fan interaction over the New York Nationals (a team that travels with the Globetrotters for exhibitions) and then sticking around to sign autographs.

Former Tennessee Wesleyan player Paul "Showtime" Gaffney, in his seventh year with the traveling basketball squad, clearly stole the show. Gaffney had a microphone attached to his jersey and played jokes on everyone, including referee Ed Yancy.

Gaffney pulled people onto the floor to dance with him and his teammates and paraded around the court during the game to "incense" Yancy, resulting in more cheers from the crowd. The halftime show featured the Touch-N-Go of Las Vegas dog team participating in dog races.

It was just the stuff Henderson resident Mike Kowalewski and his son, Mike, were hoping to see.

"I used to love them as a kid," said Kowalewski. "They do nice stunts and provide good entertainment."

Making the fans happy is what sixth-year Globetrotter Wun "The Shot" Versher likes best.

"People could be having a bad day at work or whatever and come and see us," he said. "For two hours at least, we take their minds off of it. We make them smile."