Did you ever stop to take note of the many basketball tournaments that take place this time of year? They are beginning to spread like wild fire. From the NBA to the Pony League, they seem to be spreading all over the place. In a sense, it seems that these events, and the wild celebrations that accompany them, serve as a wake-up signal for the coming spring season.
To me, however, it has a tendency to force me into reliving those events as they existed in the 1960s, before the revolution of the Civil Rights movement. Basketball tournaments were just as festive as they are today, except for their composition. From grammar school to the professional level, the public was led to believe that the forced segregated play represented an inferior brand of play by non-White players. In the smaller towns, their games were played either in converted school auditoriums or a vacant commercial building or warehouse.
Along with the forced separation of the races in sports competition came the inevitable assumption of the caliber of the teams. All of the fanfare was directed toward the White teams — both scholastic and professional. A fan was led to believe that he was watching the best athletes of the sport in Whites-only games.
I can remember one incident that contributed to the death of that myth. It was during the early ’40s, and the “legitimate” collegiate basketball team season had just completed with a big bang at the Madison Square Garden in New York City. The ultimate winner had been the Long Island University Blackbirds (an all-White team — its moniker notwithstanding). It was roasted on Broadway, and elsewhere, as the acme of the game of basketball.
However, one gambling entrepreneur at Madison Square Garden decided to take the initiative to book this “world’s best” championship team against the colored college that had won its championship conference, the Colored Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA). But contrary to all predictions of the major sports pundits, this little-unheralded Black college team from Richmond, Virginia (Union University) decisively beat the NCAA Championship team. The victory made national headlines.
However, many of the experts considered the victory a fluke and refused to take it as meaningful. This prompted the Madison Square Garden promoters to initiate a return match. It was highly promoted and was sold out shortly after its announcement. Many in the press still had trouble taking it seriously. One sports page headline screamed: “We will set the record straight this time!”
The paper was correct: This game did set the record straight. It left no doubts as to who was the better team, for the little Black college team from Richmond beat the acclaimed collegiate champions a second time — by a larger score than the first time.
After the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown v. Board Education basketball teams at all levels, including the pros, became loaded with Black players. On a basketball team today, it is not uncommon to see the first team lineup consisting of three Blacks and two Whites. Nor is it uncommon to see an African American voted “Best Player.”
Matthew Little welcomes reader responses to mlittle@spokesman-recorder.com.
