Hoop pioneer Zeigler speaks to MCYI
http://www.michronicleonline.com/articlelive/articles/1879/1/Hoop-pioneer-Zeigler-speaks-to-MCYI/Page1.html
Bill Hoover, Jr., SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
By Bill Hoover, Jr., SPECIAL TO THE CHRONICLE
Published on 10/24/2007
On Saturday, Oct. 6, Detroit Northern High alumnus and former Harlem Globetrotter Vertis “Dollar Bill” Zeigler was the speaker at the Motor City Youth Initiative’s monthly workshop at Church of Christ – Elmwood Park. The 81-year-old Zeigler referred to his eight-year professional basketball career, as well as his days growing up in Detroit, as he shared words of wisdom with the young men and women of the MCYI.
VERTIS "DOLLAR BILL" ZEIGLER during his playing days with the Harlem Globetrotters. - Photo courtesy of Harlem Globetrotters international, inc.
On Saturday, Oct. 6, Detroit Northern High alumnus and former Harlem Globetrotter Vertis “Dollar Bill” Zeigler was the speaker at the Motor City Youth Initiative’s monthly workshop at Church of Christ – Elmwood Park. The 81-year-old Zeigler referred to his eight-year professional basketball career, as well as his days growing up in Detroit, as he shared words of wisdom with the young men and women of the MCYI.
Zeigler’s most notable moment in athletics was playing in the first-ever Harlem Globetrotters-Minneapolis Lakers game, which took place on Feb. 19, 1948, at Chicago Stadium. This game took place some 10 months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball, on April 10, 1947. Though largely forgotten, basketball scholars argue that this game’s significance had an effect on professional basketball that was similar to the effect Robinson’s breaking the color line had in professional baseball.
During the years Zeigler played with the Globetrotters, the National Basketball Association (then called the Basketball Association) was completely segregated and lily White. Recognizing that the Harlem Globetrotters sold out wherever they went, the struggling NBA utilized the talents of Black basketball players and the tremendous popularity of the Globetrotters to fill its arenas and showcase its teams by paying the Globetrotters’ owner, Abe Saperstein, to schedule his all-Black team to play doubleheaders with the league.
Though the Globetrotter players received no additional compensation for these games, the strategy was a smashing financial success for Saperstein and the NBA. The arenas filled to capacity, but it created an embarrassing situation. With the real draw being the Globetrotters, the arenas would empty when their games were finished, leaving much smaller audiences to watch the NBA games. This caused the league frequently to modify the schedule of events and have the NBA teams play the preliminary or “warm up” games, just so that large crowds could see its teams.
When the Globetrotters and Lakers did meet for the first time, the Lakers, who were then members of the National Basketball League, were recognized as being the world champions. The Lakers were much taller than the Trotters and featured two future Hall of Famers, 6-foot-10 George Mikan and 6-foot-4 Jim “The Kangaroo Kid” Pollard. The Globetrotters featured two legendary players of their own, Hall of Famer Marques Haynes and Reece “Goose” Tatum, but the Globetrotters’ tallest men that night were only 6-foot-3. The Lakers also had the significant advantage of having played and practiced full seasons together as a team and in a “league” format, whereas the Trotters were pulled together from three units and their own barnstorming tours to play this one game.
With the odds against them, Zeigler and his teammates, who included three-sport professional and Detroit Pershing alumnus Wilbur King, defeated the Lakers, 61-59. The victory showed conclusively that not only did Blacks deserve a place in the professional leagues but also that the Harlem Globetrotters were one of the best teams in the world. The game was so sociologically significant that in 2004 John Christgau wrote an entire book on the game called, “Tricksters in the Madhouse: Lakers vs. Globetrotters, 1948.”
In addition to being mentioned in Christgau’s book, Zeigler was widely-quoted in Ben Green’s 2005 book, “Spinning the Globe, The Rise, Fall, and Return to Greatness of the Harlem Globetrotters,” and was interviewed in the Team Works Media video, “The Team that Changed the World.” Both works do a great job capturing the significance of the Globetrotters on the evolution of basketball, including the survival of and current success of the NBA.
Zeigler, who also played professionally for the Charlie Justice All American Whiz Kids, the New York Komedy Kings, Marques Haynes Harlem Magicians, and Abe Saperstein Kansas City Stars, has plenty interests to keep himself busy. Zeigler is an active member of the Detroit American Pool Checker Club and enjoys following sports with his wife of 61 years, Annie. The loving couple attend a Globetrotters game once a year and follow the men’s basketball team at Central Michigan University, which is coached by nephew Ernest Zeigler, and the baseball and football teams at Kentucky State University, which feature grandsons Rayshard Zeigler and DaZaro Zeigler, respectively.
The Motor City Youth Initiative is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization. Anyone interested in donating time or resources is encouraged to contact former Harlem Globetrotter and founding father Ernie Wagner at (313) 989-8768.
On Saturday, Oct. 6, Detroit Northern High alumnus and former Harlem Globetrotter Vertis “Dollar Bill” Zeigler was the speaker at the Motor City Youth Initiative’s monthly workshop at Church of Christ – Elmwood Park. The 81-year-old Zeigler referred to his eight-year professional basketball career, as well as his days growing up in Detroit, as he shared words of wisdom with the young men and women of the MCYI.Vertis “Dollar Bill” Zeigler
VERTIS "DOLLAR BILL" ZEIGLER during his playing days with the Harlem Globetrotters. - Photo courtesy of Harlem Globetrotters international, inc.
On Saturday, Oct. 6, Detroit Northern High alumnus and former Harlem Globetrotter Vertis “Dollar Bill” Zeigler was the speaker at the Motor City Youth Initiative’s monthly workshop at Church of Christ – Elmwood Park. The 81-year-old Zeigler referred to his eight-year professional basketball career, as well as his days growing up in Detroit, as he shared words of wisdom with the young men and women of the MCYI.
Zeigler’s most notable moment in athletics was playing in the first-ever Harlem Globetrotters-Minneapolis Lakers game, which took place on Feb. 19, 1948, at Chicago Stadium. This game took place some 10 months after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in professional baseball, on April 10, 1947. Though largely forgotten, basketball scholars argue that this game’s significance had an effect on professional basketball that was similar to the effect Robinson’s breaking the color line had in professional baseball.
During the years Zeigler played with the Globetrotters, the National Basketball Association (then called the Basketball Association) was completely segregated and lily White. Recognizing that the Harlem Globetrotters sold out wherever they went, the struggling NBA utilized the talents of Black basketball players and the tremendous popularity of the Globetrotters to fill its arenas and showcase its teams by paying the Globetrotters’ owner, Abe Saperstein, to schedule his all-Black team to play doubleheaders with the league.
Though the Globetrotter players received no additional compensation for these games, the strategy was a smashing financial success for Saperstein and the NBA. The arenas filled to capacity, but it created an embarrassing situation. With the real draw being the Globetrotters, the arenas would empty when their games were finished, leaving much smaller audiences to watch the NBA games. This caused the league frequently to modify the schedule of events and have the NBA teams play the preliminary or “warm up” games, just so that large crowds could see its teams.
When the Globetrotters and Lakers did meet for the first time, the Lakers, who were then members of the National Basketball League, were recognized as being the world champions. The Lakers were much taller than the Trotters and featured two future Hall of Famers, 6-foot-10 George Mikan and 6-foot-4 Jim “The Kangaroo Kid” Pollard. The Globetrotters featured two legendary players of their own, Hall of Famer Marques Haynes and Reece “Goose” Tatum, but the Globetrotters’ tallest men that night were only 6-foot-3. The Lakers also had the significant advantage of having played and practiced full seasons together as a team and in a “league” format, whereas the Trotters were pulled together from three units and their own barnstorming tours to play this one game.
With the odds against them, Zeigler and his teammates, who included three-sport professional and Detroit Pershing alumnus Wilbur King, defeated the Lakers, 61-59. The victory showed conclusively that not only did Blacks deserve a place in the professional leagues but also that the Harlem Globetrotters were one of the best teams in the world. The game was so sociologically significant that in 2004 John Christgau wrote an entire book on the game called, “Tricksters in the Madhouse: Lakers vs. Globetrotters, 1948.”
In addition to being mentioned in Christgau’s book, Zeigler was widely-quoted in Ben Green’s 2005 book, “Spinning the Globe, The Rise, Fall, and Return to Greatness of the Harlem Globetrotters,” and was interviewed in the Team Works Media video, “The Team that Changed the World.” Both works do a great job capturing the significance of the Globetrotters on the evolution of basketball, including the survival of and current success of the NBA.
Zeigler, who also played professionally for the Charlie Justice All American Whiz Kids, the New York Komedy Kings, Marques Haynes Harlem Magicians, and Abe Saperstein Kansas City Stars, has plenty interests to keep himself busy. Zeigler is an active member of the Detroit American Pool Checker Club and enjoys following sports with his wife of 61 years, Annie. The loving couple attend a Globetrotters game once a year and follow the men’s basketball team at Central Michigan University, which is coached by nephew Ernest Zeigler, and the baseball and football teams at Kentucky State University, which feature grandsons Rayshard Zeigler and DaZaro Zeigler, respectively.
The Motor City Youth Initiative is a non-profit 501 (c) 3 organization. Anyone interested in donating time or resources is encouraged to contact former Harlem Globetrotter and founding father Ernie Wagner at (313) 989-8768.