Street Ballin'
Last night, I dreamed that I was playing basketball at a famous New York City street court where people show up to see the local legends and even NBA players gather from time to time. I was a little intimidated at first, because there was quite a few people watching and I didn't know if I belonged. I finally hit a couple of jump shots and started to get in the groove, but then things went downhill. I fumbled a couple of passes and one even bounced off my head. People started to laugh and then I woke up.
I gotta work on my dreams. I'm supposed to be dunking on people when I dream of playing basketball!
Anyway, I was suprised to find this article on espn.com this morning that talks about Rucker Park in Harlem.NEW YORK -- Walking into the playground at just after 2 p.m. Monday afternoon, things looked normal … and not so normal. There were swarms of kids riding the swings, chasing each other around. But there were also a couple large trailer trucks, a satellite dish, and a stage set up.
That's what happens when SportsCenter comes to town on its "50 States in 50 Days" tour.
But this isn't any old playground. In fact, Harlem's Holcombe Rucker Playground might be the most famous playground in America.
If you're a basketball fan, and you haven't heard of Rucker Park … well, you better go back to school.
A quick refresher course: Holcombe Rucker, a local playground director, started a basketball tournament in 1947 at a playground on 7th Avenue between 128th and 129th streets. In 1965, he moved the tournament to another location, at 155th Street and 8th Avenue (the former site of the Polo Grounds, which served as the home to baseball's Giants, Yankees and Mets, and football's Giants and Jets). And over the years, the league grew in prominence to the point when NBA superstars like Wilt Chamberlain and Julius Erving were coming to compete against local streetball legends like Earl "The Goat" Manigault and Pee Wee Kirkland.
